Editor’s note, November 5, 2026. When we published this story in March 2020, John Bishop planned to retire that August. Bishop’s served its final dinner on December 31, 2021, after 36 years on West 4th Avenue. Bishop later told Global News that a rent increase made it impossible to stay.
John Bishop’s scholarships and community work
In 2015, a year after Les Dames d’Escoffier BC honoured Bishop at its Vancouver gala, he donated $5,000 to the chapter’s scholarship program. The first recipient, Anna Romeyn, received $2,000 in 2016 toward her master’s in tourism management at Royal Roads University, where she was studying culinary tourism. Today, Capilano Golf and Country Club lists her as Anna Collard, its food and beverage director.
In September 2024, Bishop went to Pemberton to present the inaugural Cooks Camp awards bearing his name. The judges had budgeted for four places at Cooks Camp. After reading the applications, they decided to send all 11 applicants. Among the first recipients were an apprentice cook from Victoria’s Village Butcher and a field lead at The Sharing Farm in Richmond.
In October 2026, the John Bishop Scholarship Fund helped support Chefs for Farmers at Poplar Grove Winery in Penticton. The fundraiser was for the families behind LocalMotive and What the Fungus, two Okanagan farms hit by the Bald Range wildfire.
Bishop will join the Chefs’ Table Society of BC and Restaurants Canada in choosing up to six people for Cooks Camp in 2027. Cooks, front-of-house staff and food producers can apply for the John Bishop Scholarship by May 31, 2027.
To hear John tell the story himself, listen to his March 2025 conversation with chef Robert Belcham on Mise en Place. He recalls planning the restaurant’s menus around what Natty and Gary King could harvest at Hazelmere Organic Farm.
John Bishop’s original retirement announcement, March 2020
Bishop’s, one of Vancouver’s best-loved restaurants, is closing its doors August 1st, as proprietor John Bishop retires to write and spend more time with his family. Opened in 1985, a year before Expo 86, Bishop’s is synonymous with farm-to-table ingredients, west coast hospitality, and great food.
“It has been a terrific run,” said Bishop. “After 35 years, our customers have become good friends, but now I want to spend more time with my own family and get to work on another book. I also want to use these next few months to say thank you to my customers and our entire team, the people who made all of this possible. My name may be on the door, but Bishop’s is all about a team effort, and that includes the dozens of local farms and suppliers who provide us with the incredible seasonal ingredients we prepare for your plate.”
Bishop, 75, began his career at 15, filling creamer jugs and delivering breakfast trays at the Elephant & Castle Hotel near his home in Newtown, Wales. A year later, he was accepted into the Llandudno Hotel and Catering College. In 1973, Bishop left Britain for Canada, becoming a Canadian citizen in 2000.
“I fell in love with Vancouver immediately, and that’s never changed in 47 years,” added Bishop who has authored four cookbooks on everything from the importance of fresh, local ingredients, to favorite family recipes from his own home kitchen, but for his customers and staff, Bishop’s legendary hospitality is his hallmark.
“John Bishop treated his staff like family,” said Chris Stewart, who is the owner of Sorella, La Buca and the Sardine Can, and a Bishop’s alumnus. “If you needed something to do your job better, it was there the next day.”
Iron Chef Rob Feenie, who did a short stint at Bishop’s in 1988, added that John Bishop remains “the best host in town.”
John Bishop, January 2011. Photo by J. Sancho.
Vikram Vij, who opened the original Vij’s Restaurant on Broadway after four years at Bishop’s, said Bishop “has a subtle way of making every customer feel like they’re the most important person in the room.” James Barber, Canadian cookbook author and celebrated TV host wrote, “Bishop’s defines what a small restaurant ought to be.”
Recognized with a lifetime achievement award in 1997 by Vancouver Magazine, and again in 2016, Bishop is characterized by food critic and restaurant awards judge, Lee Man, as a pioneer who transformed Vancouver’s restaurants. “He helped us understand that our food ingredients have worth and value, and that they are just as good as anything else around the world,” explained Man in a Vancouver Magazine feature about Bishop.
Bishop said he will be organizing some special nights before he turns off the lights for the last time.
“I want to find some special ways to celebrate and thank our customers,” adds Bishop. “I might even try and get some of our alumni chefs back together for one incredibly memorable meal that hits all the high notes of the past 35 years.”
About Bishop’s Restaurant
John Bishop opened Bishop’s in 1985 at 2183 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. The menu changed with the seasons and featured ingredients from local farms.
1 Comment
Thank you John and staff for an amazing run! 35 years is a huge milestone in this industry. All the best in your next chapter of your life