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September 2 2025: Fat Mao uses its noodle

September 2 2025: Fat Mao uses its noodle

Plus: Stylist Jason Pillay, Dovetail’s new offerings, and cross-cultural choreography

September 02, 2025

Hey there. Happy September. We’ve made it another month.

If you’ve been missing fall, now is your time. There’s just one or two weeks left to squeeze the juice of summer into your eager mouth before we all universally move to autumn mode. Sweaters! Soup! Pumpkin spice lattes! That one guy who still wears shorts and sandals because he’s from northern Saskatchewan! Keep doing you, coldproof king.

— V.
Senior editor

— FEATURE —

Fat Mao is still the cat's pyjamas 10 years after opening

Fat Mao sure has lived up to its name. The noodle bar—named ”prosperous cat” in Cantonese—has spent a decade as a foodie favourite in Chinatown. Even owner and chef Angus An says it’s his number one spot: “It’s comforting. It’s the soup I want to eat all the time.”

— LIVING —

Stylist Jason Pillay plays dress-up with the stars

The 604 isn’t exactly known for being a fashion city. But stylist Jason Pillay is blazing his own trail. We caught up with the local fashionista to chat about vintage stores, Vancouver fashion, and styling the stars.

The hosts of Building Baeumler head to the Vancouver Fall Home Show

— ARTS —

TvT Interlink builds radical trust across an ocean

For the past few years, dance artists from across Taiwan and Canada have been working together in an innovative kind of cultural sharing. “Our proximity to the much larger economic, political, and social forces of China and the U.S., the ways we were experimenting and questions we were asking—the dialogue really expanded,” explains choreographer Andrea Nann, ahead of this week’s dance symposium.

Comedy meets horror in I Know What You Did Last Weekend
Coast Salish traditions take centre stage at stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wow

Can you help PHS Community Services Society?

CALL TO ACTION: Only three weeks until the Under Armour Eastside 10K and PHS Community Services Society needs your help to raise another 50% of their $25,000 target to support their critical frontline services.

Can you donate to the PHS Run Team today?

Join or donate to Team PHS here.

— PERKS OF THE WEEK —

This week’s perks for Straight Insiders include:

Free tickets:

New shows announced at the Hollywood Theatre including Superbad & Booksmart (Back to School Double Feature), Indie Night, and Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend Album Listening Party

Food & drink deals:

NEW: B House: Complimentary appetizers
Loam Bistro: 10 percent off food and drinks
Desi Indian Lounge: Free dessert (with a meal)
Minami: 10 percent discount on food during Happy Hour (3-5 p.m.), from Sunday to Thursday

To unlock these perks (worth $50-100 worth of tickets a month) become a Straight Insider for just $8.25 on an annual plan.

— FOOD & DRINK —

We Tried It: Dovetail’s fall menu is nostalgia done right

From chicken caesar wraps to heirloom tomato salads, we sample Dovetail’s new menu offerings—unfussy, confident food that shines no matter what.

Contemporary Cambodian concept Touk to open on Alberni St.

— ICYMI —

Kits Pool is open for one more week
VIFF 2025 announces full lineup
DD Mau kicks off a new collab series
The Hoagie Half wants you to run, eat, and party

— THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK —

MUSIC: A reimagined Carmen will tug at your heartstrings. (To September 7 @ 9205 Shaughnessy St.)

VISUAL ARTS: Three painters join forces for the Wild Women Art Show. (September 2-27 @ White Rock Uptown Gallery, White Rock)

MUSIC: Haul a chaise lounge to Stanley Park for Wet Leg. (September 3 @ Malkin Bowl)

MARKETS: Send off the summer with a curated shopping experience. (September 4 @ Plenty)

THEATRE: Vancouver Fringe Festival kicks off 10 days of weird and wonderful. (September 4-14 @ various venues)

VISUAL ARTS: Michelle Sound’s Cherish weaves familial narratives into traditional and contemporary works. (September 4-28 @ Ferry Building Gallery, West Vancouver)

THEATRE: A Doll’s House remains a feminist fable. (September 4 to October 5 @ Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage)

Want to know what else is happening in Vancouver? Check out our events listings.

That’s it!

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