"Chain stores did move in," Kasey said, "but it wasn't what people here wanted, so they were forced to shut down." Several prominent Canadian clothing companies cycled in and then out. Now shops like Global Atomic Designs, which sells hip fashions, and high-end home furnishing shops like Chintz & Co. dominate. The area's trademark is small, one-of-a-kind gems like La Bottega del Mediterraneo, stuffed with imported Italian dishes and home wares. An all-cookbook shop called Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks offers cooking classes several times a week with local and visiting chefs.

And there are all manner of galleries, including Coastal People, which specializes in Northwest Coast native art.

Even grocery stores in Yaletown are chic. At Urban Fare, a Zabar's-like food mart, every shopping cart has a coffee holder, and there is a cafe featuring live music on weekends. Among the 40 kinds of fresh bread on the shelves is a $100 loaf that is baked fresh in a Paris bakery every morning, then couriered to Vancouver.

Seafood, raw or cooked

You can't spend more than an hour with a food writer before it's time to eat. Kasey and I started our culinary explorations at the comfortable, Nantucket-y Rodney's Oyster House, where we were served chowder and oysters (at 11 a.m., our lunch appetizers) in an atmosphere of whitewashed brick and biceps by a handsome shucker named Ian. Rodney's has a dozen or more fresh oyster varieties daily and goes through 800 raw oysters on a typical Friday night.

For the main course, we moved on to Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca, informally called "Pino's" after chef Pino Posteraro, whose illustrious career has included cooking for Frank Sinatra. Cioppino's is considered one of Vancouver's best Italian restaurants, and just down the block on Hamilton Street is the Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar, one of the city's best for seafood.

The Blue Water has two exceptional chefs who literally face off against each other. Chef Max Katsuno presides over the raw bar at the southern end of the restaurant. His trademark is two- and three-tiered servings of sushi and sashimi. In the northwestern kitchen at the opposite side of the restaurant is chef James Walt, who produces such innovative gems as local line-caught halibut with oyster veloute, white asparagus and squid tempura. Its 600-bottle wine list has earned Blue Water Cafe the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

Working off all that eating is easy in Yaletown. There are yoga and Pilates studios. At the foot of Davie Street, alongside the sea wall that curves for eight miles around Stanley Park, the Reckless Bike Shop rents cycles and skates. Or catch one of the small electric Aquabus ferries that depart regularly for points around False Creek, including the Science Center and Granville Island Public Market, where you can rent kayaks. Or visit one of Yaletown's spas, as I did.

"I'll give you a couple of minutes to dress down to your comfort level," chimed lovely Trang Tran, the esthetician who administered my "Facialiscious" at the Skoah Spa.

"Does your face need a complete overhaul?" the spa menu asked. How many women could say no to that? "Facialiscious" turned out to be a decadent facial that included a foot and neck massage on a heated massage table. My facial was a procession of organic, largely fruit-based products from a Hungarian company called Eminence. By the time Trang had finished massaging, masquing, toning and polishing my face with delicious potions of apricot, peach and honeydew, I'll be darned if I wasn't hungry again.

So I was glad that after my spa session I had arranged to meet Kasey at Brix, a popular tapas restaurant on Homer Street. We sat in its very European open courtyard, which at the turn of the 20th century was used by trucks delivering cattle to the building, then a slaughterhouse. Chatting with owner Patrick Mercer, we nibbled on black tea-smoked chicken flat bread and apricot and avocado salad.

As I sipped a Blue Mountain Pinot Noir and marveled at how much the British Columbia of my youth had changed to produce such first-class wines, Patrick echoed my thoughts.

"Who would have thought," he said, holding his arms out wide as if to encompass all of Yaletown, "that a grubby little corner of Vancouver like this would one day become this charming little SoHo?"

A Yaletown walkabout

GETTING THERE:

From LAX: United, Alaska and Air Canada have nonstop service to Vancouver. America West has connecting service (with a change of plane). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $187.05.

WHERE TO STAY:

Opus Hotel, 322 Davie St.; (866) 642-6787, (604) 642-6787, fax (604) 694-2116, www.opushotel.com. This 97-room contemporary boutique hotel is the only lodging in Yaletown. Doubles from $131.

WHERE TO EAT:

Blue Water Cafe, 1095 Hamilton St.; (604) 688-8078, www.bluewatercafe.net. Entrees $16-$25. Reservations recommended.

Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar, 1138 Homer St.; (604) 915-9463, www.brixvancouver.com. Tapas are a specialty, $6-$9; entrees $12-$16.

Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca, 1129 Hamilton St.; (604) 685-8462, www.cioppinosyaletown.com. Entrees $15-$22.

Rodney's Oyster House, 1228 Hamilton St.; (604) 609-0080. Seafood entrees $8-$12.50.

WHERE TO RELAX:

Skoah Spa + Store, 1011 Hamilton St.; (604) 642-0200, www.skoah.com. Their trademark Facialiscious, a 75-minute treatment, is $56.55. Open daily.

FOR INFORMATION:

The Greater Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau, 200 Burrard St., Suite 210, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6C 3L6; (604) 682-2222, fax (604) 682-1717, www.tourismvancouver.com.

Canadian Tourism Commission, 550 S. Hope St., 9th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071; (213) 346-2700, fax (213) 620-8827, www.travelcanada.ca.

* Margo Pfeiff, a freelance writer based in Montreal, visits Vancouver, her childhood home, frequently.

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