Mia Stainsby
Sun
Rare
1355 Hornby St., 604-669-1256
With moves as fine as a Swiss watch, Rare wins out over other smooth movers like Gastropod and Sanafir and over the downright lusty La Regalade Cote Mer. In the end, Rare’s technically challenging dishes, flair and extensive food offerings and wines got my vote for best new restaurant of 2006.
And Rare does indeed serve up some rarities, like frog legs sauteed with parsley and pine nuts and thyme beignet and sorrel puree. To cap it off, their house bread is leavened with a starter made with Seymour Mountain wild yeast. I recall unusual palate refreshers between courses — a blood-orange seltzer one evening and a carrot seltzer on another occasion.
I had a halibut so fresh and cleanly cooked, I could pluck the fillet like white rose petals. An Okanagan quail, stuffed with sweetbread and sweetened with honey and served with a boar bacon ratatouille, was a beautiful balance of deep flavours.
A french rack of suckling pig was juicy and tender, served with apple and wilted romaine. Beef cheek with marrow and smoked lentil ragout shows Rare isn’t all about silky smooth; it knows lusty, too.
I haven’t returned since my early visits, but one weak area back then was the desserts. Chef Brian Fowke worked in Toronto before moving back to Vancouver and was thrilled to find himself in a horn of plenty — he works closely with fishers and farmers and other suppliers to keep the menu lively. Game meat has become a big seller and when available, he buys Nicola Valley deer, wild Arctic caribou as well as fishing bycatch, such as octopus and skate, from fishers.
THE REST
Gastropod
1938 West Fourth, 604-730-5579
Just watch. Angus An will be kicking serious butt. He’s got the chef’s equivalent of a lethal karate kick. At 27, he opened his first restaurant and nailed it with two moves — great food, great value. His exceptional three-course meals are $42.50, or if you prefer, you can order a la carte. Gastropod earned more buzz than Rare, thanks to great value and high visibility location. Dishes to try? Oysters with Horseradish Snow, Shallot Reduction and Sweet Sauterne Jelly. Tuna Mille Feuille, which transforms flabby tuna into a thing of beauty. Cheesecake that will restore your faith in that tired old dessert.
La Regalade Cote Mer
5775 Marine Dr., West Vancouver
604-921-9701
For the very same reason the first La Regalade in Ambleside is such a hit, the Reye family’s second take on rustic French bistro food (emphasis on seafood this time) is worth an excursion to the ‘other’ side, almost to Horseshoe Bay, in this case. It’s not perfectly groomed or refined food. It’s honest and straightforward and asserts itself deliciously: beef cheeks in red wine with potato gnocchi (light as a sigh); grilled whole snapper; deepfried white baitfish; scallop carpaccio and onion tart — all mouth-wateringly good. Desserts are always a pleasure here and the ile flottante is sheer bliss.
FigMint
500 West 12th Ave., 604-875-3312
The kitchen and bar are doing a wonderful job here. To wit, a buttery lamb with pomme fondant, fennel confit, tomato jam and thyme jus; gruyere souffle with roasted pears, arugula and walnut emulsion; chilled avocado panna cotta with grilled tiger prawns, smoked steelhead roe, celery leaf salad and gazpacho dressing. The bar sends out cocktails with side nibbles, some of which are for mixing into the drink. Even the water comes with a tray of condiments. When I’ve visited it seriously lacked buzz, though. The Cambie Street construction hell doesn’t help and neither does the high price point for that neighbourhood.
Salt
45 Blood Alley, 604-633-1912
It’s not as if Salt has an amazing chef pulling rabbits out of a hat. The magic is in the concept and how its played out. One giant chalkboard menu. A list of cured meats. Another of cheeses. And another of condiments. For $15 you order three items from each column. If you order a flight of taster wines, you get a cheat sheet, telling you what’s what. Now it might sound like a ploughman’s lunch to you, but to me, it’s the convergence of a holy trinity. Salt gives charcuterie a glam name. Salt is located in un-glam Blood Alley.
Ocean Club
100 Park Royal, South Mall
West Vancouver, 604-926-2326
With Frank Lloyd Wright architectural bones, Ocean Club simulates Yaletown cool in sleepy West Van. Off a mall, no less. Supposedly, it’s for the northerners who loathe crossing bridges for a downtown feel. I don’t know if the location quite captures Yaletown, but inside, Ocean Club looks gorgeous and the food is very good. The menu, featuring sophisticated comfort foods includes a honey-I-shrunk-the-food take on steak and eggs with steak, quail’s egg, a column of tuna tartare and neatly stacked fries. I loved the mac and cheese with braised beef short ribs. Makes you smack your lips.
Kingyo
871 Denman St., 604-608-1677
Noise and hustle bustle in a restaurant either gives it a good buzz or drives me crazy. Here, it works — the jazz, dishes clacking, diners yakking, cheerful servers, chefs straining vocal chords with “Irashai” as customers pour in. And to shore it all up, interesting izakaya style food and cool surroundings with hits of old Japan. All-important seafood is picked with tender care and I liked some of the whimsies like the “stone unagi bowl.” The server fills a dangerously hot stone bowl with rice, mixes in raw egg and cooked eel. The hot stone cooks the eggs and crisps the rice. Delish! The kitchen sources quality ingredients like specialty salts, Kobe beef and high-quality rices.
Crave
3941 Main St., 604-872-3663
The “best” can be hot without being haute. The menu doesn’t dazzle with knock-out looks or a particularly creative menu. What owner/chef Wayne Martin brings to Main Street are his considerable culinary skills — he used to be the exec chef at Four Season Vancouver before downsizing from a staff of 32 to a kitchen where he does breakfast, lunch and dinner service and scrubs the grill before he leaves. He’s hooked on great ingredients and treating them with utmost respect. A Texas flank steak (marinated in beer, lime juice and barbecue sauce) was delicious and the crabcakes, which stand tall and proud, are the same as he served at the Four Seasons, he says.
Sanafir
1026 Granville St., 604-678-1049
The hippest place to open this year, Sanafir sports a loungey bed upstairs and the food comes in triplets of flavour — Indian, Asian, Mediterranean — a flight of three dishes arranged on a wooden tray. At about $14 per trio, you’re getting a lot in labour and food. Sometimes, though, too many elements wrestle for attention on a plate. The room, slick and modern, makes you look good even at your worst. Sanafir is run by Glowbal Restaurant Group, already noted for Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar, Coast Restaurant and Afterglow Lounge.
Beyond
Century Plaza Hotel
1015 Burrard St., 604-684-3474
Like Figmint, this one’s a result of hotel surgery and the operation was successful. The old Roy’s Steak and Seafood house shed its tired old-world garb and became thoroughly modern with clean, sparse lines. They hired the Four Seasons Vancouver sous chef who created a sophisticated menu meant to please hotel guests and hip urbanites alike. While most dishes are quite enjoyable and the kitchen uses fresh, quality ingredients, there is some room for improvement, considering the high price point.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
