“We’re just pretending,” says Louisa Cohen with a mischievous smile. “We’re just here being a little silly.”

She’s talking about Pretend Wine Bar: the new natural wine pop-up she runs out of The Permanent heritage event space at the edge of Gastown. Step through The Permanent’s giant old doors and into a gorgeous, high-ceilinged room with epic stained glass features and a bank vault that’s been turned into a bar. There, you’ll grab a table and be ushered through a curated, experimental selection of natural wines from around the world. Think: everything from Australian wines with Mexican influences to Greek wines that will take you right back to Santorini. 

Run by Cohen and fellow natty wine enthusiast Drew MacDonald, Pretend Wine Bar takes the pretension out of vino. It doesn’t matter what the wine’s tasting notes are (though they’ll tell you if you’re interested)—it only matters if you like it.

There’s a small menu of snacks created by a Vancouver pizza prince, including za’atar bar mix, truly fabulous focaccia, and black sesame salad with bitter lettuces from Crescent Island arms. There’s also an onsite bottle shop, in case you fall in love with anything you drink and want to take it home (which, let’s be honest, you will).

Pretend Wine Bar actually began during the pandemic as a pop-up concept called Get Happy. Also run by Cohen and MacDonald, it was a chance for the two of them to learn about wine, and hang out with people in a large space where it was easy to socially distance. As we’ve collectively moved on from the trauma of that time, though, it became clear to the duo that it was time for a refresh.

Sitting in a wine bar in San Francisco a few months ago, Cohen offhandedly mentioned to her tablemates that she wanted to get back to basics. “I wish we could just open a pretend wine bar,” she said. The others looked at her: why the heck couldn’t they?

Walk-ins are welcome, but online bookings can be made in advance as well. It’s all in the name of fun, of doing something different in a city that can feel stale, of keeping it light and chill and dare we say even affordable. Time to play pretend.

Pretend Wine Bar

Where: 330 West Pender St.

Instagram: @pretendwinebar