BURST
As Vancouver prepares to host the World Cup, restaurants, cafés and social clubs across the city are racing to get ready for a wave of international fans — adjusting menus, staffing and spaces to capture the business of match-day crowds looking for a taste of home.
Yaletown’s Moltaqa Moroccan Café, a Michelin-recommended restaurant, is being transformed into a match-day viewing space, with television screens installed throughout the restaurant and a projector spanning the front wall.
Just steps from B.C. Place stadium, the restaurant is bracing for a surge of fans from Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and the broader Middle East and North Africa region during matches, leaning into its role as a halal, communal-style dining spot serving guests from morning through night.
“We mounted TVs so that the games are viewable from every angle of the restaurant,” said restaurant owner Mimo Bucko.
Moltaqa has hosted large sporting crowds before, including during the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, when more than 100 fans gathered to watch Morocco versus Senegal in the final.
“Guests from countries all over North Africa were cheering for Morocco,” Bucko said. “For many of our regulars, football is their country’s sport — like hockey is for Canada.”
Moltaqa is expecting a boost in foot traffic during the tournament, with nearby streets funnelling more pedestrians past the restaurant. It is offering reservable dining packages with kebab platters and mint tea, alongside homemade specials including lamb dishes and traditional sweets, such as baghrir, for groups seeking familiar flavours.
“We’re really excited,” Bucko said.
There will be seven World Cup matches at B.C. Place between June 13 and July 7, including Canada vs. Qatar on June 18, New Zealand vs. Egypt on June 21 and New Zealand vs. Belgium on June 26, bringing teams and fans from all over the world to the city.
“There’s a lot of excitement , but also a lot of preparation,” said Cheryl Maitland Muir, vice-president, Western Canada, at Restaurants Canada.
Muir said the downtown core is expected to see the biggest impact, with about 350,000 spectators anticipated, but international visitors are expected to travel beyond downtown in search of unique dining experiences.
It will be more traffic than a typical summer rush, Muir added. “Restaurants are already reviewing their operations, preparing by hiring additional staff in advance and ordering extra inventory for the period.”
The provincial government announced a change Friday to liquor distribution rules as part of a three-year pilot that will let restaurants buy products directly from private liquor stores. Muir said the move will help operators respond to sudden changes in demand during the international sporting event.
“It’s good news,” she said. “Restaurants that run out of a certain bottle of wine, or want to add specialty menu items, will be able to quickly restock by picking it up at a nearby liquor store.”
For Australian visitors, few places are as instantly familiar as Peaked Pies, the Australian bakery café founded by expat Kerri Jones.
With three locations across Metro Vancouver — including a downtown shop in the city’s West End and another a short distance from the FIFA Fan Festival in Burnaby Heights — the business is bracing for a wave of incoming fans during the tournament.
Best known for its hearty Australian meat pies piled with mashed potatoes, mushy peas and gravy, Peaked Pies serves classics like sausage rolls. Jones said the café is also rolling out FIFA-themed treats inspired by Aussie sweets, including country flag-decorated Lamington sponge cakes dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.
“We are in the process of designing them right now,” Jones said. “There will be Aussie flags on them, but we’ll throw in a Canadian flag version, too.”
She said she hopes that local residents hosting watch parties will stock up on pies, sausage rolls and desserts for the June 13 Australia vs. Turkey match.
“We’ve got our staff on standby to see what happens,” she said, noting the shops already stay open until 9 p.m., which is later than the evening kickoffs.
Shahni Arshad, the chef behind Vancouver catering company Supper Club YVR, is launching take-home fondue dinners for the Canada vs. Switzerland match on June 24, pairing the classic Swiss dish with Canadian touches including maple chocolate strawberries.
“Not everyone has fondue sets and pots to use at home, so we deliver everything needed to put the meal together, which serves a maximum of six people,” said Arshad.
“I created this to showcase Vancouver’s local delicacies, including our strawberries, while capturing the attention of those watching the World Cup.”
Another gathering spot for Australian and New Zealand fans may be the ANZA Club in Mount Pleasant.
Originally founded by expats, the Australia New Zealand Association social club has evolved into more of a neighbourhood community hub, according to general manager Nahanni Ridley.
“We’re off the beaten path, but we’ll advertise that we are playing the games for sure,” Ridley said, adding the club expects increased traffic during the tournament despite being outside the main stadium district.
FIFA says businesses that are not official partners can still promote tournament-related offerings using general sport terminology and country references. However, they cannot use official branding such as the World Cup trophy or FIFA logos, which are reserved for paying sponsors.
“We won’t be able to use the words FIFA or World Cup, but we’ll be able to say there’s an international soccer game on.”