Like so many Vancouver restaurant industry veterans, Sean Flynn's story begins at one of the region's major chains. In this case, it was at The Keg where Flynn got his first taste of the business, working as a server to help him get through university.
Flynn's drive to make moves in the restaurant franchise sector took him around the world, with stints at high-profile chains like Pizza Hut and A&W and at locales like Malaysia, Singapore, Los Angeles, and Calgary.
But it was a Vancouver-based fast-casual concept that really fuelled his entrepreneurial mind: the now-defunct Steamrollers brand that used steam heat to cook ingredients for its burritos, bowls, and salads. After 14 years in Singapore, Flynn returned to Canada in December 2020 to get to work on his own steam-centric concept, a quick-serve restaurant with fresh, vibrant, familiar eats showcasing global flavours and a focus on sustainability.
The first Bamboo World Kitchen opened in February 2022 in South Granville, followed just a few months later by the second outpost, located along West Broadway steps from Vancouver General Hospital.
What's on the menu at Bamboo World Kitchen
Flynn says the menu at Bamboo World Kitchen is "inspired by kitchens from around the world," and offers approachable, flexible options that span a variety of cuisines. Customers can journey to Hanoi with a rice noodle-based bowl or wrap loaded with veggies, a choice of protein, spiced cashews, and house-made sweet chili sauce, or venture off towards Greece with the Aphrodite Salad, which has greens, marinated chickpeas, veggies, feta and a refreshing citrus vinaigrette. Those dressings and sauces, by the way, are among the nearly dozen all made in-house by staff.
"I didn't want to recreate how people eat," Flynn explains, "just what they eat."
To that end, Bamboo World Kitchen puts the emphasis on layers of flavours in dishes that can be easily customized for a variety of dietary needs, like vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free. Plus, with the menu's range, repeat customers can try different items and avoid flavour monotony.
"We've crafted the menu so it addresses the changing eating habits of Canadians and Vancouverites in particular," notes Flynn.
With the newest location so close to the hospital and medical offices, Flynn is hoping people who work, live, or find themselves in the area can take advantage of the health-minded offerings his restaurant features. As a terrific incentive, a discount for Bamboo World Kitchen is already available as "work perk" for Vancouver Coastal Health employees.
In addition to salads, bowls, and wraps, Bamboo World Kitchen has some all-day dishes like breakfast items, available with tofu or scrambled eggs, and dim sum, the latter of which really puts the steam-cooking aspect to work. Flynn says the dumplings - a plant-based gyoza and a prawn dumpling - are a way to provide a "culinary enhancement" to a standard lunch, replacing the expected "bag of chips" and "adding to the enjoyment" of picking up a casual meal.
One other "enhancement" on offer is smoothies, which come in three straightforward flavours (peanut butter and banana, blueberry maple, or raspberry) sweetened with dates and/or maple syrup and made with plant-based milk (soy or almond). No ice cubes get tossed in the blender (the fruit is frozen from fresh) so there's no dilution, "just fresh and natural stuff," describes Flynn.
While you will find proteins like tofu, Ocean Wise-certified fish or shrimp, or organic Rossdown Farms chicken available, you won't find any red meat, as in beef or pork. Flynn himself doesn't eat those meats, and he's confident the Bamboo World Kitchen menu is bright and flavour-driven enough so that those options won't be missed.
Beyond the menu: Restaurant's focus on harmony
Along those lines, Flynn says the restaurants also have a secondary purpose that may not be what brings people in but compels them to return, which is Bamboo World Kitchen's focus on sustainability. Flynn sought out cups made of sugarcane, bamboo straws, plant-based take-out packaging, and tables made of recycled chopsticks for the restaurants.
Overall, Flynn explains, the restaurant is aiming to create several intersecting harmonies; on one level there's the planet, on another it's the nutrition and physical good feeling of eating fresh foods, and, lastly, it's a place created with community and shared spaces in mind. Those shared spaces could be the earth (and how we use it), the neighbourhood, or the restaurant itself - a bright, cheery place.
"When you feel good about things it reinforces positively the decision to come in," says Flynn of what he hopes customers will experience.
So does the franchise veteran have plans to scale up with Bamboo World Kitchen? "I'm old enough to know you take it one step at a time," jokes Flynn. "It is our intention to have a few more corporate stores in Vancouver," he continues, noting that the focus right now is to establish the brand and ensure they're getting everything right before making another move.
"It's a concept close to my heart," he adds.
Bamboo World Kitchen is located at 2690 Granville St and 794 W Broadway in Vancouver. Follow @bambooworldkitchen on Instagram.
