| Landmark eatery under wraps after health violations
Vancouver's venerable skid-row restaurant, The Only Seafood, is now a culinary crime scene after a raid by drug cops and health officials.
A police source says the restaurant was allegedly being used by Downtown Eastside drug traffickers. The source said a quantity of money and drugs were taken in the raid Wednesday.
The restaurant's decades-old neon sign was still lit yesterday, but a Vancouver Coastal Health notice was taped to the door at 20 East Hastings, outlining numerous health-code violations that forced authorities to shut the 40-seat Only.
Vancouver Coastal Health's Nick Losito said inspectors closed the landmark when it was determined food inside might be tainted.
"We had concerns about the food and raw products [vegetables, meat and seafood] being left on counters," he said.
It is unclear what will happen to the restaurant.
"Typically, a closure can be for a day or two or it can be permanent," Losito said.
Besides the contamination of unrefrigerated food, health authorities also cited cleanliness issues and a problem with rodents.
"Rat and mouse droppings were noted in back shelving and up front," the closure order notes.
"Professional pest control required . . . Food needs to be stored in pest-proof containers with tight-fitting lids."
The Only -- which has been a fixture in the now-crime-and-drug-plagued, gritty section of East Hastings since 1924 -- at one time was so well known even the New York Times reviewed it.
Along with area residents, it was frequented by police, judges and celebrities.
Losito confirmed Vancouver police were involved in the closure.
"I've always known it as a bit of a mainstay, a place people go for seafood and, if they're in the drug business, it is news to me," he said.
Health officials visited The Only three times in January for rodent problems, Losito confirmed.
For some residents of the Downtown Eastside, the restaurant's decline is a sad testament to the area.
"It's good food there," said Dave Brydich, 59, who lives next door in subsidized housing.
Brydich recalled when people used to line up to get into the restaurant.
"They used to have huge lineups," he said.
"This is a sign of what's happening to everything around here. I don't know how it ever got this bad."
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