Cook It: Innovative
Strikingly adventurous dinners, Vancouver style
Last week I wrote about the kind of culinary fare that I had expected to find in Vancouver, fresh fish and Asian delights. There were many and I could have happily dined on sushi the whole time I was there.
But the culinary scene there is far wider than that and I was lucky enough to be guided around the city by my friend Ms B, a fellow foodie writer and ex Brightonian. In Vancouver she is well known and respected so as we hopped from restaurant to restaurant and bar to bar we were greeted by much cheek kissing and love.
Having met her at Joe Forte’s and devoured a mountain of oysters, she took me off to Hawksworth where chef David Hawksworth gave me a guided tour of his kitchens and restaurant, all very impressive and certainly very fine. Sadly we did not have a booking for dinner, nor the appetite for his delicious dishes after the oyster binge. But I did have a stunning cocktail at the bar, a Rolls Royce prepared by barman Cooper. It was better than good.
From there we went on to Yew at The Four Seasons, where the spot prawns left us speechless with delight and the cocktails equally so. Then to Wildebeest where a plate of veal tongue hit the right spot for me and a superb horse tartare was equally impressive. The tea based frozen cocktails were pretty good too, but there was little time to ponder before Ms B dragged me away to Gastown.
Gastown is Vancouver’s trendy quarter, with streets lines with smart fashionable shops and eateries of all kinds. I had already been given a heads up about L’Abattoire by a kind barman on Granville Island and Ms B confirmed that this was certainly the place to be.
We arrived pretty late but the place was indeed the place to be, and we struggled to find a space to sit. Eventually though the staff found us stools and a high table to perch at and we were able to order.
I love octopus so that was a no brainer, and we had a second tartare that was as equally impressive as the first. But it was my cocktail that filled me with delight, and I have to admit that I only ordered it because it sounded odd – no, it sounded weird.
Who would have thought that an avocado gimlet would either look or taste as good as this – but it did! It was a delightfully coloured and creamily textured joy and had I not already had a few drinks I could have easily had a second, if not a third. Perhaps good that I refrained though, as avocado is such a calorific ingredient.
At this point I was ready for sleep and a yomp back across the city to my hotel and comfy bed. Ms B however was having none of this and I was forced, out of politeness you understand, to accompany her to yet another bar.
This time it was Diamond and the handsome bartender, they eschew the term ‘mixologist’ it seems, made me another fine drink. Cocktails are big in Vancouver right now and we spent quite a lot of time making an in depth study of the art.
Finally we hit one last bar, yes, I know I should have quit whilst I was ahead but that damned Ms B is a mightily persuasive force. This time to a bar that I will not name as the bartender – and owner – was one of those guys who thinks that it is funny to be rude. Well, Mr Fawlty he was not. I had a small beer and left.
The next morning more than made up for that as we visited Medina, right now the city’s hottest brunch joint. Here I feasted on a wonderful minced lamb and eggs on a truly delicious flatbread. The whole was vibrant with the flavour of coriander seed, my favourite spice, and I washed the lot down with a weirdly amazing buttermilk soda. I know that sounds vile and once again I chose it out of sheer devilment, but it was delicious, really surprisingly good and a flavour that I find hard to describe.
Vancouver was amazing from start to finish, The Parker is an exceptional vegetarian restaurant, the sushi scene is stunning, the cocktails are amazingly good and even their street foods are to be reckoned with – adventurous, tasty and very affordable right now.
Andrew Kay
Follow me: @latestandrew
