Big-name chefs are eyeing the Vancouver scene, but they will have a tough time outdoing Warren Geraghty
Mia Stainsby
Sun
West chef Warren Geraghty with Tiam of Cous-Cous and Dungeness Crab, Smoked Tomato Gazpacho. Photograph by : Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun
It’s getting to be an embarrassment of riches, isn’t it? In recent weeks, NYC restaurateur Daniel Boulud staked a claim on a piece of Vancouver; Jean-Georges Vongerichten is negotiating with the Shangri-La luxury hotel to do the same; and word is Gordon Ramsay’s interested in opening a restaurant, either in Toronto or Vancouver, and Jamie Oliver has shown an interest. Who next? Thomas Keller? Why not?
But the superstar chefs aren’t here yet; they’ve yet to prove themselves in this city and truth be told, we’re not an easy read for outsiders.
In our typical “nice Canadian” way, we might feel a strong sense of loyalty to local chefs who built up this attractive food city. Who knows?
What I can say is another pedigreed chef has been quietly making his mark here. That would be Warren Geraghty, hired as exec chef at West restaurant in February. We have plenty of chefs who have toiled in Michelin-starred restaurants but he’s the first that was executive chef in one of those vaunted kitchens. (He worked at bullyboy Marco Pierre White’s L’Escargot in London.)
Now that West’s menu is completely Geraghty’s, I went for a nibble or two or three. First of all, the front of the house is the same old, same old — that is, it just doesn’t get much better. There’s professionalism but it’s not a refrigerated, stiff formalism; it takes me to a happy place.
On a second visit, our return was duly noted and our server remembered the forgettable contents of our small talk. Both visits were mid-week and the room was pretty much full. When I got up to go the the washroom, someone was there to show the way, not like the infuriating experience I had in Paris last summer at one of the city’s top restaurants (Joel Robuchon’s) where I wandered back and forth, past service staff and past the maitre d’ who looked too important to care.
A transcendant food experience comes down to something really simple and quick for me. When the elements come together, my being goes “Wow!”
There definitely were a lot of Wow! moments. and some “best yets,” such as the Vancouver Island octopus salad with beetroot, potato and cucumber. It was steeply priced at $19, but I’ve never tasted better octopus in a restaurant.
We normally don’t order rabbit, not because of the bunny factor, but because we’re so often disappointed. Here — it’s another “best yet.” (It’s done three ways: a roast loin with sage, a braised leg and a ravioli of shoulder confit, married with a green olive tapenade. Tartare of Japanese tai with pear and ginger purée and roasted spot prawns was gorgeous; a dish of Queen Charlotte halibut with spinach sauce, clams and mussels let the pristine ingredients do the talking.
Not all the dishes were joyous. Delicious, yes, but not enough to send me into rapture. The organic duck breast, while beautifully tender, had me wondering if some of my taste buds had knocked off early — I loved the pickled vegetables on the side but maybe a little would have gone a long way. I learned, however, that the “gesier” on the plate was a delicious bit of duck gizzard, a neck muscle.
Dungeness crab tortellini with marinated cauliflower florets and a light crab bisque, while very good, got carried away with that damnable foam. The bowl was covered in a cloud of foam so one had to go fishing for the lovely tortellini hiding below.
West also offers tasting menus: a seasonal one with seven courses (an amuse bouche and two desserts) for $98, a vegetarian menu for $89 and the West tasting menu for $129. And if your budget’s tight, there’s a $49 three-course tasting menu available between 5:30 and 6 p.m. My partner oohed and ahhed through the seasonal tasting menu. Risotto with nettles, sautéed morels and Reggiano Parmesan was exquisite; locally-raised quail with jasmine poached raisins and toasted walnuts sang; and who knew ling cod could be so good (especially with the peas that tasted just-picked)?
Normally, we’d share one dessert but at a restaurant like West, I’ll take the inch on my waist, no problem. (And neither was it a problem for a colleague, who’d visited the restaurant recently. She and her friend ordered four desserts, trumping me.) If I were to tell you what to do, I’d say go for the chocolate tasting with three different takes on the noble ingredient.
As for the wine list, it’s a dream that Wine Spectator has, for the past five years, given a nod with a Best of Award of Excellence .
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WEST RESTAURANT
Overall: 4 1/2
Food: 4 1/2
Ambience: 5
Service: 5
Price: $$$
2881 Granville St., 604-738-8938. www.westrestaurant.com. Open for dinner daily, 5:30 to 11. Open for lunch Monday to Friday to May 23 only.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
