Enjoy classic cooking without the bells and whistles

Mark Laba
Province

With a toast to fine Indian food, diners prepare to sample two of the many dishes on offer at Handi Cuisine. Photograph by : Nick Procaylo, The Province

HANDI CUISINE OF INDIA

Where: 4432 Dunbar St., Vancouver

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-738-3186

Drinks: Fully licensed

Hours: Daily, 5 to 10 p.m.

Oddly enough, I find that sometimes two of the most disparate things have more in common than you think. Take Greek and Indian food for example. Essentially both have remained unchanged for thousands of years and to this day have remained somewhat fusion-free as opposed to other cuisines. Japanese, especially sushi, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, French — all have felt the deft mitts of the Pacific Northwest fusion chef attempting to experiment with their essential natures, to squeeze, knead or pummel new flavours out of them by rearranging and introducing a menagerie of ingredients and unique or sometimes downright wacky pairings. Even the time-tested tradition of schnitzel has undergone some strange transformations.

But in my books, Greek and Indian food — well there are no great surprises when you walk into one of these restaurants. Souvlaki, butter chicken, calamari, aloo gobi, each as steadfast in its way as a CEO of a major company taking the fifth amendment in front of a board of inquiry over insane leveraging and credit practices and robbing the public and investors of millions of dollars in the process. In other words, this food doesn’t give an inch when it comes to its original game plan.

So really, in the end, it’s all about the quality of the dishes rather than the innovativeness of their construction. And with everything I’d heard about Handi Cuisine of India, this establishment was top notch in the classic-cooking department. Maybe a little on the expensive side but I’m always willing to fork out a bit extra for handcrafted spicing in the sauces.

Peaches, Small Fry Eli and I ensconced ourselves in some sumptuous red velveteen banquette seating that had the faint echo of Parisian brothel about it. The long, narrow room is actually comfortably atmospheric with a smattering of small bits of artwork and mood-inducing music. Sunny golden walls offset the dark woods and earthy red tiling and some ornate wrought-iron railing work beefs up the bartending zone.

We started with an order of veggie samosas ($4) and aloo chat ($6.50), a spicy potato recipe very popular in street stalls across India and in this version the potatoes are turned into fried patties and topped with tamarind-mint yogurt, chickpeas and onions. Both very tasty, the samosas denser than most I’ve encountered and the crust perhaps not as flaky but, hey, it ain’t a bad way to start. On an odd note, as if to reinforce my Greek-Indian cuisine theory, there was a calamari appetizer but a recent run-in with tentacles has made me wary of cephalopods.

Next up: A bunch of old standbys that have bobbed about on the culinary waves for centuries, resisting the tides of change, but imminently satisfying. Butter chicken, aloo gobi (both $11.95), lamb vindaloo ($12.95) and a Goan prawn curry ($15.95). The vindaloo was especially savoury with a fiery finish that ignited my palate. Butter chicken was a favourite of Small Fry Eli due to a sweetness in the sauce that was a new experience for me. Not altogether unpleasant but kind of like having your cake and eating it with poultry. The Goan prawn shlimazel was tasty and the aloo gobi with its turmeric-tinged ‘taters and cauliflower was cooked to veggie perfection. And, if you’re crossing the Lions Gate, check out their original location at 1340 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, 604-925-5262.

This is classic Indian cooking without any bells or whistles because sometimes letting an old dog perform the tricks it knows best is far better than watching a new dog trip over itself trying to jump through flaming fusion hoops.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Steak that’s top notch and perfectly cooked to order

Mark Laba
Province

Stoked for steak? Try Pinky’s Steakhouse. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province

PINKY’S STEAKHOUSE

Where: 1873 West 4th Ave.

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-732-9545

Drinks: Fully licensed

Hours: 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Sun-Tues, 5 p.m.–midnight Wed.-Sat., lunch Fridays only from 11:30 a.m.

– – –

Marshall McLuhan said the medium is the message but I think it’s the steak. All forms of communication come down to our early days, sitting around the fire grilling mastodon and trading grunts. Primitive but that’s the way I see it, so for me, the steakhouse of today is the equivalent of the cave, firelight licking the walls with flare-ups of fat and grease, illuminating crude paintings of the last woolly mammoth hunt and the barbecue at Borok’s place.

So I was tickled pink to eat at a steakhouse called Pinky’s, which as steakhouse names go is the equivalent of putting a principal ballet dancer on the line with a bunch of NFL middle linebackers.

The steakhouse has long perpetuated the myth that it’s the male of the species that dominates the eating of red meat toward the achievement of a heart attack and many a meat-laden enclave has reflected this thought. In reality the joint claims it has taken the name inspiration from a Scottsdale, Ariz., well-aged steakhouse called The Pink Pony and their concept is to make the steakhouse friendly to gals and guys equally.

Called up Gregarious Greg for a little hunting and gathering in the wilds of Kitsilano at the newest Pinky’s to open since the launch of the Yaletown venue.

“I’m so stoked for steak,” he said on the drive there. “I was looking at a pack of Mr. Noodles before you called thinking, ‘Hell, I shoulda went to Costco because I could eat a whole skid of these things.'”

Walked into a room that echoed that cave-like quality of our early loincloth days but a little better decked out, both in human attire and furnishings. Actually the all-female serving staff was dressed in a kind of updated version of the loincloth, a bit more fabric but tightly wrapped, black and somewhat revealing. Dark woods and leathers and booth seating bespeak a classic steakhouse in every way but with modern tweaks like the shiny globe lights and exposed ductwork ceiling covered in spots intriguingly by Old Master-style paintings strapped to the rafters and looking down on the diners below. Maybe a way to say Pinky’s is turning the steakhouse concept on its head or on our heads or something to that effect with its aim to attract the hip mixed bag of young urbanites, a kind of Sex and the City for carnivores.

“I can’t believe they have a sushi appetizer on the menu. I mean a Dynamite Roll in a steakhouse. This we gotta try but after that I’m gonna need some bacon,” Gregarious Greg prompted.

So Dynamite Roll it was ($8) along with bacon-wrapped scallops ($11) for starters. The DR was disappointing. What was billed as a tempura shrimp shindig with spicy mayo turned out to be three-quarters rice and shrimp that gave new meaning to their name. You’d need a microscope to see these things and for the price this Dynamite Roll had little bang. Bacon-wrapped scallops fared much better although the scallops, too, seemed to be suffering from the shrimp factor.

We both opted for the 7-oz. seasoned sirloin ($23) and a pick from six different sides. The three onion rings balanced atop the steak was a nice touch. Steak was top-notch and perfectly cooked to our specifications. Pinky’s Plush Potato fabrication was a head-scratcher with its wonton-like wrapper but the jalapeño and cheddar mashed tater inside was delicious. And the homemade horseradish was excellent, running full gallop through the nasal passages and leaving them smouldering.

From a 12-oz. New York steak to a 22-oz. porterhouse the choice is yours and you can surf ‘n’ turf it with crab legs, lobster or prawns. Wines available in both 9- and 6-oz. glasses and the desserts are generous including a decent key lime pie. There’s an old saying, go big or go home. Well, we went home not sure if we went that big but our arteries felt better for it so maybe it’s about the survival of the species or given the meet market sensibility, really the origin of the species.

– – –

THE BOTTOM LINE: A swinging scene for meat-eating hipsters.

RATINGS: Food: B+; Service: B+; Atmosphere: A-

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Cocktail from the novel Casino Royale revived just in time for film

Sun

Chad Gaskell of NU has updated the Vesper, James Bond’s original cocktail from Casino Royale. Photograph by : Jenelle Schneider, Vancouver Sun

NU RESTAURANT + LOUNGE

Where: 1661 Granville St.

Phone: 604-646-4668

Website: www.whatisnu.com.

Please Note: Starting later this month, NU will be offering complimentary canapés between 3 and 6 p.m. weekdays.

– – –

We all know about James Bond and his penchant for ordering vodka martinis “shaken, not stirred.”

But before Agent 007 became synonymous with, frankly, one of the most boring cocktails in popular culture, he created one of great subtlety, sophistication and an appropriately lethal alcoholic kick.

Until recently, the Vesper had largely been lost to history, but with the resurgence of classic cocktails, it’s making a comeback — just in time for the midnight release of the latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. The Vesper was the creation of author Ian Fleming, who introduced it in his first James Bond novel, 1953’s Casino Royale, when the British spy orders a dry martini “in a deep champagne goblet.” He then instructs the casino barman how to make it: “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?”

Today, the original Vesper is impossible to recreate, in part because gin and vodka were much higher in alcohol content in 1953, but mostly because the aperitif Kina Lillet is no longer produced.

It can be replaced with Lillet Blanc, a French herbal aperitif similar to vermouth. It is not quite as bitter as the quinine-flavoured Kina Lillet, which is why some bartenders suggest adding bitters to recreate the Vesper’s original taste. But perhaps it’s best to let the Vesper evolve as any great drink does. That’s what Chad Garrett, restaurant manager at NU Restaurant + Lounge, has done with his tea-infused version.

“I’ve always really enjoyed classic cocktails,” he says. “And I’m a huge fan of Earl Grey, it’s my favourite tea.”

He’s also a huge fan of the new Bond, Daniel Craig — “He’s unequivocally the best Bond ever,” he says — and so the timing seemed right to update this classic cocktail.

“At NU, we’re all about taking classic food and putting a twist on it, so I thought, why not?”

As well as infusing the cocktail with tea, he has added just a tiny drizzle of cassis to brighten it up. And, just as you might suspect, while a martini should properly be stirred, the Vesper should be shaken vigorously.

“I am excited about the movie opening. I wish I wasn’t working, but I am,” he says. “I’m definitely going to see it, though. I might even have to smuggle a Vesper in with me.”

TASTY NU VESPER

3/4 oz. Hendrick’s Gin

3/4 oz. Earl Grey tea-infused Skyy Vodka (see note)

3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc

Place ingredients in a martini shaker and fill with large ice cubes. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a tiny drizzle of cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) and top with a few filaments of orange or lemon zest, preferably macerated beforehand in vodka and Grand Marnier.

Note: To infuse vodka with tea, place 1/2 cup loose tea leaves in a 750 mL (26 oz) bottle of vodka. Place in a cool, dark place and allow to rest for up to 24 hours, then strain. Do not leave the tea in the vodka any longer, or the tannins will make it taste even more bitter than Bond’s memories of Vesper Lynd herself.

Makes 1 serving.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Open-air eatery would be metres from residences

Marke Andrews
Sun

An artist’s concept of what an open- air bar and restaurant would look like on the rooftop of the Opus Hotel at 322 Davie St. in Yaletown.

Tempers may be short tonight at Vancouver city hall when a public hearing resumes over a Yaletown rezoning that would allow a proposed 250-seat open-air rooftop restaurant in the middle of residences.

Trilogy Yaletown Development Corp. wants to build the restaurant-bar atop the seven-storey Opus Hotel at 322 Davie St., in spite of opposition from residents concerned about noise, privacy, traffic and parking.

The public hearing began Tuesday, when 30 of a scheduled 140 speakers were heard. There will likely be a third meeting next week.

The public hearing follows meetings Trilogy Yaletown has held over the past six months with residents and strata councils from surrounding buildings.

One resident who lives directly next to the proposed restaurant dreads the possibility that as many as 250 people will be drinking mere metres from his apartment.

“The neighbourhood is already noisy,” said Dann Wilson, who lives at 212 Davie St. “From my home, I can hear people at the Cactus Club balcony, and that’s a block away on ground level. Every single day I hear people yelling and goofing around and partying, and they only get 50 or 60 people there.”

Michael McCoy, head of the strata council at nearby 283 Davie St., said the majority of the 300 residents at his building are against the rooftop bar and restaurant which, he believes, will cater to non-residents.

“Who is this being built for?” asked McCoy, noting that the Opus only has 94 guest rooms.

Both McCoy and 212 Davie resident and strata council member James MacKenzie agree with Wilson that noise from other patio dining areas is a problem.

“The outdoor patios do get raucous, and they only have 20 or 40 people,” said MacKenzie. “As it is, I can hear two people talking on their balconies across the way. To have 250 people talking is going to be a non-starter.”

Dino Celotti, project manager for Trilogy Properties, said that since the application was made, the Opus Hotel has proposed putting up a tent to cover the rooftop on the side of 212 Davie which “we believe would muffle the noise and direct it away from 212 Davie.”

It also proposes putting up a 1.8-to-three-metre high bamboo perimeter wall on the outside of the glass rail as a visual screen to ensure privacy of the residents at 212 Davie.

In a report, the Vancouver police department did not approve the application because of concerns about enforcing noise complaints.

McCoy thinks the city has to take a longer look at the issue before running it through prior to the civic election.

“City council must defer this application and must develop a set of policies and guidelines to allow for the use of rooftop dining,” said McCoy.

He emphasized that unlike his previous neighbourhood of Gastown, where he voiced concern over noise and was told the bars were there before he was, in Yaletown, the residents were there before the hotel.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Squid, other dishes satisfy sweet & spicy cravings

Mark Laba
Province

Chef Jamal Abu Bakar serves up a feast at his Malaysian eatery. Photograph by : Gerry Kahrmann, The Province

Seri Malaysia Restaurant

Where: 2327 E. Hastings St., Vancouver

Payment/reservations: Cash only, 604-677-7555

Drinks: Soft drinks

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner 5 p.m.-8 p.m., closed Monday

There are a couple of deal-breakers for me when I’m dining out. One is chicken veins. Can’t stand them, can’t abide them and, if a good thick one comes popping out of an entrée like a snapped elastic band, I’m done. Next is any artery or ventricle or similar muscular channel running through a piece of beef, its opening winking at me like the oozing eye of the devil himself. One of these shows its evil face and I’m back out on the street in seconds. Finally, squid tentacles with the suction cups flared, ready to get a death-grip on my tongue and tear the taste buds right off their papillae. I don’t mind squid rings — it’s their appendages that bother me. So it was just my luck to meet my nemesis at this restaurant.

Hole-in-the-wall doesn’t really describe this place. It’s more, as Peaches said, like the hole-in-the-hole that’s in the hole-in-the-wall even though that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe it’s the bump in the log in the hole at the bottom of the sea or maybe it’s . . . well, you catch my drift.

That pretty much sums up the interior. I mean the only decorative touches are essentially whatever clothing your fellow diners are wearing. The clear plastic covering the tabletops are a metaphor for the utilitarian nature of this venture and bespeak, as I’ve said before, the feeling that the dining adventure is about to get saucy and sloppy.

Peaches and I started off with a very nice and savoury chicken satay ($7.75) with one of the best peanut-sauce dippers I’ve come across. A deep brownish-red hue set the satay stage for an exquisite sweet and spicy concoction saturated with sub-equatorial spices that swept over the palate like a flash tropical storm.

We steadied ourselves in this barren landscape of an eatery for the three dishes that arrived next to make up our main meal. Lamb biryani ($10.50), beef rendang ($7.75) and mee goreng ($7.75), a fried noodle dish with a bewitching soy sheen in which I came face-to-face with the tentacles of doom.

Lamb biryani was tasty but the meat, in true street-hawker fashion, bounced between the bony, the fatty and the decent, but the saffron-scented rice was delicious.

Beef rendang has always been a personal favourite of mine, with its intricate mix of ingredients and balance of sweet, sour, spicy and salty flavours. In a good beef rendang there’s a clarity to the layers of tastes rather than a muddling of ingredients and this version had that sense but somehow missed some of the more pungent and spicier aspects. The beef could have been more tender and the sauce was too oily and not thick enough.

As for the mee goreng, what can I say? Tentacles beckoned to me like the sentries to Davy Jones’ Locker. But I bit the bullet, put my fears aside and found this noodle dish with chicken and shrimp along with the squid to be very satisfying. As long as I hid the tentacles under a napkin I was OK.

There are plenty of other dishes I’d still like to try, such as the roti canai, spicy garlic prawns, green beans in belecan, nasi lemak and char kway teow noodles, but I may do it as takeout and enjoy the food in the more upscale setting of, say, a bus-stop bench, bingo hall or waiting room at the dentist’s office.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Street-hawker stylings in a Spartan indoor setting.

RATINGS: Food: B- Service: B Atmosphere: C-

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Illuminate Ristorante chef and owner Roland Smith with the popular carpaccio featured on their menu and some of the wines in their cellar. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun

ILLUMINATE

Overall 4

Food 4

Ambience 4

Service 4

Price $$

1077 — 56th St., Tsawwassen. 604-943-5900.

Open for dinner, Tuesday to Sunday.

www.illuminaterestorante.com

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

– – –

I’ve always wondered why smart, well-heeled Tsawwassen is so thin on the ground with good restaurants.

I put the question to Roland Smith, chef/owner of one of the few on the town’s main street and in his opinion, Tsawwassen is a small community (population 20,000) and it’s also a family-oriented one.

Which is good for him. His restaurant, Illuminate (pronounced illum-ah-NAtay), does very well with the relative lack of competition and lots of repeat customers.

But if you don’t live nearby, Illuminate might be the place to have dinner before catching an evening ferry to Vancouver Island or one of the Gulf Islands. That’s what I did recently, avoiding an encounter with a B.C. Ferry burger.

Illuminate is an Italian restaurant and Smith worked under Pino Posterero, who’s known for his stellar food at Cioppino’s. That was when both worked at Il Giardino.

“I must say, it was a major inspiration for the way I cook now,” Smith says, meaning he learned to be less complicated on the plate, use more natural ingredients and simplify flavours.

The room took some cues from Il Giardino with the Tuscan-style tiles and warm colours but the design budget didn’t stretch too much beyond that. Painting over the sponge-painted walls, I think, would update the room. Smith scored a couple of veteran servers, one from Il Giardino and another from Le Crocodile and the professionalism was a refreshing change from eye candy servers.

We noticed the good value when appies arrived. My large bowl of Quadra island honey mussels ($15 and gorgeous) alone would have been an ample meal. They were large, buttery in texture and wonderfully fresh.

But I managed to finish my seafood agnolotti ($16) with lobster sauce and half of the dessert, a pumpkin mascarpone mousse as well. No ferry food was required for my journey.

I took bites of my husband’s grilled calamari (two large ones, smokey from the grill, $12); it came with a refreshing contrast of tomato, olive and caper salad. Marsala added depth to a braised Angus shortrib with herb risotto ($28); the risotto was a high-quality product and was cooked with a hint of rosemary.

One signature dish is the crab galette, which is to say, it’s not a puck-shaped crabcake; another is the baked bocconcini with prosciutto, tomato and basil.

“We try not to be a special occasion restaurant,” says Smith.

“We serve everything from lasagne to foie gras.”

The wine list features both old and new world wines; most are mid-range but there are some high-roller ones as well.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Michelle Hopkins
Sun

Ashley Brooks (left) and chef/owner John Kourtessis of Piatos Mediterranean Grill show off spicy sauted calamari, grilled salmon, rack of lamb and three-dip flatbread. Photograph by : Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

PIATOS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL

26A Fourth St., New Westminster

604-524-4883

– – –

Housed in one of the oldest heritage buildings in New Westminster is one of the city’s newest eateries.

Mediterranean cuisine, with all the fabulous flavours of France, Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco, is the specialty at Piatos Mediterranean Grill.

Opened just last August, it’s just below the popular comedy club, LaffLines and the moment we enter the restaurant, we are greeted with a smile by proprietor/executive chef John Kourtessis himself.

The space has been transformed into an urban-chic West Coast eatery. The modern décor — with wooden tables, brown velvet curtains and rich, dark-brown leather seating, Mediterranean background music and soft candle lighting in the evening — gives the restaurant a special flair that is starting to attract tourists, residents and business people alike.

Hot and cold mezza (small dishes, around $7.50) make up a whole page on the menu, including dips like hummus and roasted red pepper and feta, Greek salad, calamari skaras, mussel slippers, and firecracker prawns. It takes us a while to make our choices, but we finally decided to share crab cakes served with a tasty Sambuca mayonnaise and a tzatziki dip served with warm pita. The crab cakes were deliciously light and melted in my mouth.

For the main course, I opted for the Piatos Penne, a large serving of spinach, mushrooms (I opted to forgo the mushrooms) and chorizo sausage in a nicely seasoned tomato red wine sauce ($14.95). It tasted as good as it looked. My friend went for the Mediterranean Fettuccini — a medley of chicken, prawns and scallops served in a rich garlic white wine cream sauce ($15.95). Although she enjoyed her entrée, it was more than she could eat.

The menu includes lots of fish and chicken and six varieties of souvlaki dinners, as you would expect from a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant; however, it also offers AAA strip loin and top sirloin steaks for carnivores, as well as a pan-seared rack of lamb and grilled baby back ribs.

The twentysomething Kourtessis told me later that he spent four months refurbishing the restaurant. Those who hail from New Westminster might remember that for more than two decades it used to be Judy’s Restaurant.

Although business started slowly, Kourtessis has worked hard to provide an upscale dining experience at a not-so-upscale price. It’s working; the restaurant business is picking up as people are discovering the newest, hip dining experience in town.

Kourtessis was born into the restaurant business. His parents own Greek restaurants in the valley. As a youngster he would venture into the kitchen and watch the chefs cook. Many of them took him under their wing and taught him the art of good cooking.

He gets in early each day to prepare all the sauces, dips and marinades. Kourtessis shops locally as much as possible to offer his clientele the freshest ingredients.

Although the wine list was rather limited the night we went, he told me he has since added more, featuring some fine VQA wines and old and new world wines. There is a good selection of martinis and local and import beers.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Planned vodka bar aiming for a female-friendly’ atmosphere

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

Earls Yaletown staff are raring to go, from left are server Sylvia Maksymik, executive chef Martin Keyer, general manager Ryan Emmerson, and lounge leader Tatum Govender. Photograph by : Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

Earls Restaurants takes aim at a slightly more upscale market Wednesday when it opens its newest and biggest eatery in Yaletown.

The $6-million, 440-seat establishment at 1095 Mainland will be one of the city’s largest restaurants — featuring 245 indoor and patio seats on the main floor, available to the public this week, and a premium 195-seat vodka bar set to open upstairs in three months.

“We’re going to aggressively target new business that Earls hasn’t targeted before,” restaurant general manager Ryan Emmerson said in an interview.

“With 440 seats, we can do large corporate bookings and we’ll also look at wedding receptions and the catering business, where we can customize a menu for a particular event.”

He said the new vodka bar — V — will offer a selection of 15 different vodkas in a more “female-friendly” atmosphere with upholstered seating, jewelled lighting and wrought-iron latticework.

Emmerson feels the new restaurant will appeal to patrons who might have shied away from Earls in the past.

“With this premium second-floor (V) concept, we believe we can deliver our food on a fine-dining level,” he said. “We think our food will stand up to Blue Water Cafe or Goldfish (Pacific Kitchen) and allow us to compete for that business.”

Vancouver-based Earls, founded in 1982, has 54 locations throughout Canada, Washington state, Arizona and Colorado. Its Denver restaurant — with just under 400 seats — is currently the biggest in the Earls chain.

Emmerson said the Yaletown restaurant will employ 180 to 200 people when the vodka bar opens next year and he feels the slowing economy represents a challenge that can be overcome. He noted a new Cactus Club Cafe has attracted record business since opening this year in downtown Vancouver.

“There is still market share out there,” Emmerson said. “At this point, it’s all about execution and being better than ever before.”

He said company officials like the size of the new restaurant — 13,000 square feet on two levels — and its location in Yaletown, one of Canada‘s “culinary hot spots” right now.

Much of the restaurant’s design, featuring classic brick and beam construction, was inspired by a culinary tour of New York‘s meatpacking district.

Emmerson said the vodka bar is completed but it won’t open until he’s convinced it can be operated so customers will have a great experience.

“We want to make sure we get the execution right before we open,” he said. “We’re learning the finer points of serving in a restaurant like this and we have to be sure the bar and kitchen can handle the volume we will put at it.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Affordable luxury paired with great food and wine list

Mark Laba
Province

The chef shows off one of the fresh creations and excellent wine choices at Les Faux Bourgeois Bistro. Good choices are duck confit or chicken pot-au-feu. Photograph by : Les Bazso, The Province

LES FAUX BOURGEOIS

Where: 663 15th St. East, Vancouver

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-873-9733

Drinks: Fully licensed

Hours: Tues.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.–midnight, closed Sun. and Mon.

– – –

I’ve always aspired to living beyond my means, even if I have to fake it with ten-buck Rolexes and $20 Gucci loafer knock-offs. Really, you can fake most everything except maybe performing brain surgery.

In the current economic meltdown, it seems some folks have shared this same idea, although many bought the real thing and, of course, then had to have the house and car and polo pony to match the bling. Others are just innocent bystanders watching their savings vanish like the polar icecaps in an Al Gore documentary. But with the de-valued dollar, I’m figuring maybe that wad of Canadian Tire money I’ve been saving might finally be worth something. From faux-money to faux fur to faux-finishing, the faux middle class is taking a beating. Not since the French lugged out the guillotine during the Revolution have so many been in over their heads and lost it in the process.

So it was refreshing to see this new joint recently opened on the Eastside that proclaimed with no sense of shame that faux bourgeois was the new social class and rich folk be damned. Great French food at affordable prices, an excellent wine list that’s equally attainable, all in a setting that oozes French bistro with an eastside retro-appeal like my Pierre Cardin fitted shirts circa 1980.

Old gooseneck lamps run along the top of the wall, pointed upward for subdued spot lighting, recroom wood panelling takes on a Gallic sensibility, black and white tiled flooring and a long mirror over the banquette seating creates a Parisian doppleganger effect.

Most importantly, this joint is warm and welcoming. Our waiter had a thick French accent, so Peaches and I instantly made a pact not to try and pronounce anything from the menu.

Began with an amazing onion soup ($8) made with rich, meaty stock instead of the usual wimpy chicken or veggie broth I’ve encountered in other places. This turns the onion creation into a soup that’s hearty on the exterior but conceals layers of rich flavour beneath the sopping bread and stretchy Gruyere covering.

We stuck to an onion theme with the Tarte flambée Alsacienne ($12), a kind of French/Germanic version of pizza but with a very flaky pastry-like crust, topped with caramelized onion, a rug of crunchy belly-fat bacon and some creamy blobs of ricotta. A wonderful balance of the delicate and the lusty, kind of like France and Germany negotiating over their borders.

For mains, I had the truly inspiring lamb sirloin with caramelized cauliflower, green beans and blue cheese hidden between the slices of pinkish lamb fillets ($17), the whole shmeer wallowing in a jus that had the deep red colouring and bittersweet hint of cherry.

Peaches tried the grilled beef fillet ($19), the prime cut served with potatoes au gratin, some green beans and some beet-like species that was delicious. She wasn’t bowled over by the beef but wasn’t disappointed either. More tender was the direction she was leaning. Rave reviews for the ‘tater construction, though.

If you go, check the daily chalkboard specials for the Chef’s Selections but really you can’t go wrong with duck confit, ling cod in white wine or chicken pot-au-feu.

Classic bistro fare so tasty you’ll be faux-pawing your way through these pseudo-bourgeois offerings like an eastside Maurice Chevalier in a brand new Sally Ann suit.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Classic French fare to please even the snootiest closet bourgeoisie.

RATINGS: Food: A-; Service: A; Atmosphere: A

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Impressive addition to culinary cosmology

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Chris Dignan (right) along with bar manager Nicole Maxwell at Red2 on Granville Street. Photograph by : Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun

RED2 TAPAS LOUNGE

Overall ***1/2

Food ****

Ambience ***1/2

Service ***1/2

Price $$

1216 Granville St.,

604-408-6352. Open Monday to Saturday for dinner.

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

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The Doukhobors in the West Kootenays make the best borscht. It’s not traditional beet soup, rather, it’s thick with tomatoes and thin-sliced cabbage and dill and there’s absolutely no fear of high-fat cream; the borscht is thickened with mashed potatoes and everything’s sauteed in butter before being added in. One small beet is thrown in, mainly to add colour. A crusty home-baked Doukhobor bread is the perfect sponge for soaking up every last bit.

A less waist-destroying tweak on borscht can be found at Red2 Tapas Lounge. It’s made with golden beets and is blended into a velvety Gerber texture. A porcelain spoon sits next to the bowl with a dollop of sour cream, ready to take a dive into the bowl.

Red2, you see, is a modern Eastern European restaurant. Menu-wise, that translates to social sharing plates of pyrogies; sausages with grainy mustard with spaetzle and red cabbage; housemade sauerkraut; house-cured fish; kasha fries; an amazing 80-plus vodka list and vodka flights; and cocktails have decidedly catchy with names like Sputnik, KGB and Chernobyl Clean-up. Red2’s look is modern, the sound, loungey and the room, well, it’s long and narrow, like a bowling alley.

The difference between Red2 and the mom-and-pops of Eastern European restaurants can be found in the kitchen. Chef Chris Dignan was the chef at Victoria‘s Cafe Brio, one of my favourite restaurants in that city. His sous chef here was his sous at Cafe Brio. Together, they’re really adding to the city’s culinary cosmology.

Our pyrogies ($11.50) were filled with duck confit, onions and a tang of red cabbage sauerkraut. The golden beet borscht ($6.25) was tasty but like other dishes I tried, there’s a vinegary note. Is it to give all our taste buds a hit? I’m not sure I liked it in the soup.

The melt-in-mouth shortrib beef stroganoff ($15.75) was served with noodles so wide they could sub as lasagne noodles. (Again, a touch of acid in the sauce.) We had brake failure when we started into a bowl of kasha fries with a red pepper dip. It was nutty and nice and soon the bowl was empty.

On another visit, we tried the house pickles, not the best food to have with wine and not particularly special.

Potato and smoked salmon roe pyrogy, however, was delicious; mussels with tomato sofritto and smoked paprika were excellent and Thurlinger sausage with grain mustard spaetzle and red cabbage sauerkraut was a great comfort dish. And to finish, we shared ricotta fritters with pan-roasted pear and which was served with a deliciously flavoured creme fraiche.

The restaurant was originally called Red Square but when threatened with legal action by a bakery/deli of the same name, they averted battle and went with a change. Their sign and logo, however, reads Red X Red. The upshot is, it’s not a user-friendly name.

The restaurant is in the Granville Grand Hotel which was renovated three years ago and is a good-value European style hotel. The G Sports Bar and Grill across the lobby is part of the mix.

The staff are attentive and friendly and leave their attitude at home, although one of the servers seemed inexperienced.

We went early for dinner one day and there were several tables of senior diners, likely hotel guests. One couple was celebrating their 60th anniversary (not the typical Granville Mall scenesters) and were fussed over by the young serving staff. Now that’s what I call cool, I thought.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008