About

Our Story

Located at the corner of Railway and Dunlevy in the historic Railtown District of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Railtown Cafe has been serving healthy and delicious food since the summer of 2012. Launched by Vancouver chefs Dan Olson and Tyler Day — who own and operate the award-winning Railtown Catering out of the same facility — we foster a fun and friendly environment with a true sense of community for staff and customers alike.

Fresh is what we do best, offering heaping portions of healthy comfort food prepared from scratch daily by our talented team of classically trained chefs. Made using only the best local and organic ingredients, we offer artisan bread loaves, soups, pastries, made-to-order gourmet sandwiches and a build-your-own salad bar unlike anywhere else in the city, along with house-made ice cream available by the jar and cone, locally roasted coffee, cold-pressed juices and a range of local craft beer, wine and spirits.

The Team

Dan Olson

Executive Chef/Partner

Born and raised in Vancouver, Chef Dan Olson sparked an abiding passion for food and wine during stints at the Century Grill Restaurant and Bacchus Restaurant at The Wedgewood Hotel, where he earned the coveted role of Apprentice under Chef Robert Sulatycky for the Bocuse d’Or, helping Canada record a best-ever fourth-place finish at the prestigious world chef championship in 1999 before embarking on an extensive culinary walkabout and honing his craft in top-tier kitchens throughout the world.

Dan comes by his classical French techniques honestly, having worked under Chef Guy Lassausaie at his eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in Lyon and Chef Yannick Alleno at the Michelin-starred restaurant Les Muses at the Hotel Scribe in Paris. Olson returned from his overseas sojourn in 2002 and cheffed for Four Seasons Resorts and Hotels in Chicago, Whistler, Dallas, Cairo, Bahamas, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Jackson Hole before settling in California in 2006, where he worked as Senior Sous Chef and Executive Sous Chef at the Mobil Five-Star- and AAA Five-Diamond-award winning Beverly Hills Hotel before taking on the role of Executive Chef at the iconic Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles in 2009.

Dan returned to both his Vancouver and Bocuse d’Or roots in 2012, founding Railtown Catering and Cafe with Chef Tyler Day and using the Downtown Eastside facility as a test kitchen to help coach the Canadian team to a top-ten finish among a field of 24 countries at the 2013 edition of the Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, France.

Tyler Day

Chef/Partner

Tyler Day’s interest in the culinary world was cultivated at an early age. From time spent picking wild blackberries to make pie with his grandmother, foraging for mushrooms or embarking on weekend fishing trips with his dad, Day quickly learned to appreciate fine food in all its freshest forms.

After graduating from the prestigious Dubrulle Culinary Arts School in Vancouver, Tyler travelled to Oxfordshire, England, where he studied under renowned Chef Raymond Blanc at the Michelin star hotel-restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. Tyler then ventured to the Big Apple, working at Michelin star seafood restaurant Oceana in Manhattan before returning to Vancouver and serving as sous chef in such acclaimed, award-winning kitchens as Bistro Pastis, Diva at the Met and CinCin Ristorante + Bar as well as Restaurant Chef at Pearl Bistro & Oyster Bar in White Rock.

In 2012, with 15 years of experience in the kitchen already under his belt, Tyler embarked on a new challenge by partnering with Chef Dan Olson in Railtown Catering and Cafe and has since focused his career on the company’s continued success.

“I’ve dedicated my life to working and playing in the kitchen,” says Tyler. “It’s a window into ancient traditions, modern culture and a perfect way to spend time with family and friends. It’s always been my dream to start a business that offers food that is both healthy and delectable with an environmentally conscious approach, and at Railtown that dream has taken shape.”