R.TL plans to keep changing its fare every three months
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Alain Canuel, general manager at Regional Tasting Lounge, sets paella cake in front of Christine Monk (left) and Mikki Litzenberger. Photograph by: Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
R.TL
Overall 3 ½
Food 3 ½
Ambience 3 ½
Service 3 1/2
1130 Mainland St.
604-638-1549
www.r.tl
Open for dinner daily
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
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It’s not a bad concept, especially in Yaletown, where diners form posses, moving from trend to trend. The menu at R.TL (awkward shorthand for Regional Tasting Lounge) highlights different world cuisines, changing them every three months but keeping B.C. food permanently in the mix.
It’s a risky move because the chef will be moving out of his comfort zone into areas that are not of his heart and soul. Right now the dining public, cowed by troubling times, is not particularly adventurous either, leaning toward comforting French bistro and Italian trattoria kind of food.
They soothe a jittery populace. (On cue, owners of the fine dining Parkside restaurant have just announced they will be changing its format and opening their second La Buca with its rustic Italian cuisine.)
But tapas like that at R.TL does have its place, especially in Yaletown, where dining out is recreation and entertainment.
Chef Erik Smith does some dishes very well, others need tweaks as simple as better seasoning or toning down acidity.
He starts on the right foot with good ingredients, including a number of products from Oyama Sausage. The price is right, too. Some of the dishes are quite generous and the average price is $12 or $13. Four to six dishes should feed two.
General manager Alain Canuel is polished and knows what he’s doing. He’s managed or done sommelier stints at Diva at The Met, Burrowing Owl in Oliver and Araxi in Whistler and he infuses the room with his passion for food and wine. There are 30 wines by the glass on offer thanks to the Enomatic wine preserving technology using a controlled environment and argon — a good thing for this style of eating.
Spain and the Middle East (as well as B.C.) were the featured cuisines when I visited. Chickpeas with Andalusian sausage was surprisingly yummy with currants and pine nuts. Sherry vinegar pulled the dish together. Paella cakes packed traditional paella into a puck shape with a crusty surface and a crisp wafer of Serrano ham inserted like a feather in a cap. Saffron aioli adds a soft layer of flavour. A half-dozen small lamb, pork and veal meatballs were satisfying, especially with the cinnamon-infused tomato sauce.
Malaspina mussels with Oyama chorizo in savoury saffron sabayon would have been delicious but the sabayon (made in an aerating whiz machine called Frix Air) was a touch too sweet.
Braised lamb cheeks rubbed with ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice-herb blend) were tender and tasty and served atop apricot and fig couscous and with caraway raita. Port-soaked figs on goat-cheese-slathered baguette sets you up for a nice hit of port but it didn’t deliver.
B.C. scallops are encrusted with chia seeds, which Smith says are loaded with Omega 3 oils.
They came with carrot puree, quince confit and pickled torpedo onions.
A very nice dish which would have been better with more seasoning on the scallops.
Fesenjun, usually an Iranian stew, is deconstructed into its parts — sliced organic chicken breast, toasted walnut puree, pomegranate syrup. While the chicken was very good, the pomegranate syrup tasted highly acidic and vinegary.
Desserts need editing.
Two-thirds of a chocolate trio were very good. The sticky toffee mousse with corn gelato (yummy!) and mint chocolate semi-freddo were delicious, but the truffle and chocolate malt was a surprise; it was a beverage with chocolate, malt flavour and the mushroom kind of truffle flavour.
It didn’t work.
And a lemon tart was exceptional only in that the crust was hard as concrete.
Still, if prices are kept in check, it’s a welcoming place to spend an evening and the menu is an adventure.
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