The Hired Belly has long known that restaurants can be a catalyst for social change--the bellweathers of a neighbourhood in flux. Nothing could be more true of Bao Bei (163 Keefer St., 604-688-0876), the comfortably funky, flavour-driven brasserie opened by former Chambar bartender Tannis Ling on Chinatown's eastern edge.

Chinatown has been teetering on unsteady legs these last few years, its once unique shopping eclipsed by Richmond's glitzy malls, while long established grocers and fishmongers struggle to compete with neighbouring food giant T&T. Not to mention the ongoing Downtown Eastside challenges. Recently (with the exception of cavernous Floata) there hasn't been a restaurant worth making the trek for--until now.

Walk into Bao Bei and you could swear it's been there for years. There's nothing remotely "faux" about this long narrow room that wears its bric a brac like a comfy old sweater. The plank board siding, high ceiling and oversized windows of the foyer, with its overstuffed armchairs and wall of tarnished silver plate trays, preserve the heritage setting. And behind the welcoming bar, climbing shelves of bottles testify to the fact that this is serious cocktail territory.

On the menu, Bao Bei sports the flexibility of small plates now so popular, but Ling's thorough pre-launch plan took her to Taipei and Saigon to polish hand-me-down family recipes and check out authentic Chinese street food.

Ling calls the core of the list "petits plats Chinois," which is an apt description since these really are Chinese small plates--from slow braised pork belly to a classic Shao Bing variation with pork butt, sesame flatbread and mustard greens--as opposed to trendily tweaked Asian West Coast fare.

Potsticker and dumplings ("Petits Cadeaux") are here, too, as are de riguer beef, pork and fish noodle soups and an array of creative bar "schnacks"--perfect for enjoying with a honey and plum rye whisky sour.

Pork is a mainstay, and for good reason. We're still salivating over the impossibly tender stir-fried squid and pork belly combination--the textures of the squid beside fatty and flavourful pork belly cubes, cut by the gentle heat of chillies; and the artfully conceived Pemberton beef tenderloin tartar anointed with a quails egg, served with lotus root chips and a heady burnt scallion oil. The chips are frustratingly fragile as dipping devices, but never mind, we happily used our fingers--although a jar of chopsticks is also handy.

Our stop at the bar was a good start. But we'll be back to taste more of Ling's modern take on traditional plates at this self-styled "Brasserie Chinoise" (and to neighbouring Keefer Bar) on a street that only months ago was deserted at night.

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From the "Where are they now?' department. Thierry Damilano--owner of Chez Thierry turned intrepid filmmaker--is back in town to screen his latest work. Maghalaya documents Damilano's travels on his Enfield motorcycle to meet with the Garos tribe in the Meghalaya mountains, north of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Damilano's adventures include eating and cooking black pig cooked over a wood fire with red chili and ginger and how to make (and drink) rice beer called Bachi. The film screens April 16, 7:30 p.m. at Auditorium École Secondaire Jules-Verne, Cambie at 37th Avenue. Admission is free. For more info, email t.damilano@mac.com.

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