THE FRESH SHEET: Food & Drink Happenings (April 1)

Gastown restaurateur Mark Brand (Boneta, the Diamond) has picked up the lease on a space at 55 Powell Street along with Alex Usow, his partner in the retail clothing store Sharks + Hammers. The pair are currently gutting the space to open a 30-seat sushi restaurant called Sea Monstr (no “e,” for some reason) by the end of summer. Keep up to date on their progress at SeaMonstrSushi.com.

Vij’s will be moving to a new location, at 3128 Cambie, in roughly a year. The Indian restaurant, named one of the best in the world by the New York Times, is as famous for its outstanding food as for its no-reservations policy, which means the 20 additional seats at the new location should go over very well. The current location, at 1480 West 11th (604-736-6664, Vijs.ca), will see a brand new concept from owner Vikram Vij, but he’s being tight-lipped about it for now.

Space Lounge, the weirdly space-themed restaurant and bar that quietly opened at 1149 Granville in 2008, has crashed and burned before seeing its second birthday. It was seized by bailiffs after failing to pay over $80,000 in overdue rent.

Talented former Lumière sous chef Nathan Guggenheimer has been promoted to the chef de cuisine position at DB Bistro Moderne (2551 W. Broadway, 604-739-7115, DBBistro.ca) following the departure of chef Stephane Istel late last week.