Date night in Vancouver, planned end to end

Chef Hector Laguna's plant-draped Coal Harbour room, where the world-ranked cocktails alone justify the good shirt.

French technique and Gastown cobblestones, with an atrium, award-winning cocktails, and a bar that doesn't rush you out.

A dim, jazz-soaked 1960s Tokyo cafe in Chinatown, where tajarin with uni is just how dinner starts.

Prince of Whales runs heated catamarans out of Granville Island after orcas and humpbacks, with a 95 percent sighting rate and hot chocolate on board.

Michelin-listed Main Street kitchen where Peru meets Tokyo and Canton: alpaca tartare, arroz con pato, and a pisco bar that hums until close.

Michelin-starred Mount Pleasant room with zero attitude, precise West Coast cooking, and a wine list that will respectfully wreck your schedule.

Michelin-starred Kitsilano fine dining with vintage toys on the shelves, steps from the beach, and zero sense of its own importance.

A sandwich board and some stairs in Gastown lead to a brick-arched basement with two live bands a night until 2am.

A storybook heritage corner store turned French-countryside cafe, so charming it feels slightly unfair to the competition.

A century-old Port Moody building reborn as a cafe-slash-art-gallery, with vinyl, plants, cortados and a built-in conversation starter on every wall.

A sun-filled European room on West 4th with a hidden garden patio and a weekend tiramisu worth planning your day around.

Vancouver's original multi-roaster, where the coffee list rotates weekly and the baristas take your pour-over more seriously than you take most things.