Today’s visit to the freshly opened Tractor at 1903 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano provided a much needed break from the meat-centric day I had yesterday at Brewery and the Beast, a massive beer and meatfest.  Not that Tractor doesn’t serve meat, as in fact it does have  both a wicked beef stew and beef short rib sandwich, but along with these offerings, and what is the real star of this show is, is their vast array of fresh salads all laid out before your eyes ready to be scooped up and served within an instant.  The premise of Tractor is fresh, healthy food served fast.  The difference here is that production is small batch and food doesn’t sit around ensuring fresh crisp veggies as opposed to soggy wet ones.

The room has a clean cafe appearance with a hip feel, not to be confused with a hipster feel, as the crowd is mainly local meaning a variety of fashion sensibilities and styles and people in search of awesomely fresh food with no irony attached.  The deal is you pick a salad or two or three, perhaps add a protein such as chicken breast, prawns or tuna, or opt for a sandwich or stew if the mood strikes.

Salad options include a kale, granny smith apple and julienne radicchio, or the red and yellow gem tomato with boccocini, or perhaps a red quinoa with arugula, apricots and citrus vinaigrette and another half a dozen so or more choices.

Stews currently include Moroccan chicken and a beef short rib that will most certainly have you asking for more bread to soak up the succulent juices.  Sandwiches include chicken, veggie and beef and there are sides of steamed rice, Yukon potatoes with kale or baked taro chips and double chocolate gluten-free cookies are available for those craving sweets.  On the drink side there is a very small selection of beer and wine and some smashingly good housemade ice tea and lemonade.  Fairly simple concept; uber fresh food appropriately dressed up served up with a smile.

The restaurant owners of Tractor are Stephen and Meghan Clarke and the chef is the talented Ryan Mah who’s cooked at Goldfish and Joe Fortes.  The food is well priced and a light lunch could happen for less than $10 and the dinner and lunch menu is exactly the same.  At dinner you’ll likely have time to lounge and perhaps sip some wine adding to your bill, but not too steeply.  They’ll soon be a patio to add to the 35 seats inside, increasing seating by another 18, which is needed as this place is fully hopping even in it’s early stages with a ton of repeat business.  Look for an online ordering app and I’m going to guess, a few more locations.