Affectionately called “Vie’s” it 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; as well as a meeting place for visiting entertainers and celebrities that included Louis Armstrong, Count Bassie, Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Jimi Hendrix, whose mother was a cook there.
Viva (Vie) is a descendant of the families that settled on Salt Spring Island, her husband Bob Moore was from Alabama. Vie died in 1975; her daughter, Adelene Ellen Alexander Clark took over until the restaurant closed in 1979.
Image: Notice posted in the Vancouver Sun about the closure of Vie’s Chicken and Steakhouse at 209 Union Street
