Affectionately called “Vie’s” the restaurant was an iconic part of the black community in Hogan’s Alley, and THE favorite place to be served great food for many people working night shifts. It was a meeting place for visiting entertainers and celebrities including Louis Armstrong, Count Bassie, Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Jimi Hendrix (whose grandmother was a cook at Vie’s)
Viva (Vie) was a descendant of the pioneer Alexander family that settled on Salt Spring Island. Her husband, Bob Moore, was from Alabama. Viva died in 1975. Her daughter, Adelene Ellen Alexander Clark, took over Vie’s until it closed in 1979.
Image: Notice posted in the Vancouver Sun about the closure of Vie’s Chicken and Steakhouse at 209 Union Street
