La Brasserie

Last week, during our day of gastronomy, “Godfather” and I decided to have dinner at La Brasserie. [1091 Davie Street, Vancouver, (604) 568-6499] “Boomer” and “Fat Joel” had been raving about this place for the past few months, so I definitely wanted to check it out. “Monk” and I, up until last year, lived 5 minutes from the restaurant and though I passed by quite frequently, I never pulled the trigger and dined there.

On this particular night, we were already quite satiated after our day of dining. After all that Parmigiano-Reggiano at Italy House, we went on a leisurely stroll up Davie Street to build up an appetite. We took our time and finally committed to having dinner. When we walked in, every table except one was occupied and they were resetting our table upon our arrival. I recognized an acquaintance at the bar, a server from my Wedgewood days and chatted with him for a few minutes. He informed me that the guys in the kitchen were also ex-Wedgewood guys, though they were after my time and I didn’t know them. We took our seats and were quickly offered drinks as we perused the menu. The menu is small, but very much in the German/French brasserie style. The decor of the restaurant is charming, with a bright open kitchen highlighting the room. The restaurant appears well-kept, though I must have been a little pooped by this point, because I was not really being as observant as usual.

Steak Tartare

My glass of Bordeaux and “Godfather’s” Konig Ludwig arrived momentarily and we decided to share a steak tartare, (very unusual for us to share an appetizer) followed by the lamb cheeks for me and roasted suckling pig for “Godfather.” After taking our order, they brought two types of bread along with butter and a pork and chicken rillette. There are very few foods that I dislike (dill, black licorice candy, overly spicy things, natto, durian) and caraway seeds are one of them. I don’t know if I was traumatized by the rye bread with caraway seeds, I used to eat as a child, but I probably haven’t eaten a caraway seed in 10 years. Surprisingly, I ate the caraway seed bread, did not mind it and look forward to trying caraway seeds in the near future. The rillette was alright, though I thought it was pedestrian in every way. The texture was mealy, it was under-seasoned and lacked the fatty unctousness that rillette usually showcases. Within a few minutes, the tartare arrived and we immediately tucked in. I know ‘Godfather” must have been full, because his gluttonous spirit was nowhere to be found. The tartare was very simple, tasty and well executed. I thought that it was a touch on the bland side and could benefit from a lift of acid or dijon mustard or spice. The beef itself lacked flavor and the dish was a little under-seasoned, but overall was very good. The crostini that were served with it were perfectly seasoned and crisp and was an excellent

Lamb cheeks

counterpoint to the texture of the steak tartare. After finishing our appy, the mains arrived in about 15 minutes. The aroma of the lamb cheeks was very inviting and the plate of food was again very simple and true to its brasserie roots. The lamb cheek dish was fantastic. The cheeks were cooked very nicely, perfectly tender, yet holding it’s shape and the accompanying vegetables were also very nice. The celeriac puree was very smooth and tasty and the root vegetables were all cooked nicely. The crispy chips were a nice garnish and apart from the spelling mistake(a pet peeve of mine) on the menu, I thought the dish was excellent. In fact, I ordered in some pork cheeks and lamb cheeks this week to play with because I was inspired by this dish. The suckling pig dish not as successful, though still very tasty in my opinion. The skin on the pig was not as crisp as I

Suckling Pig

would have liked and for me that is the biggest part of a well done suckling pig. Also, “Godfather” found the meat to be rather chewy. Suckling pig and chewy are two words that should never be used in the same sentence, but that was in fact the case. I didn’t mind so much, because I enjoy the chew of meat, if there is good flavor, but though this might sound funny, the suckling pig lacked a bright pork flavor. There was a stuffing in the pig as well, but I didn’t taste too much of it. I thought the accompanying saurkraut was too acidic and of a single note. “Fat Joel” made a batch of saurkraut in the fall, which we lovingly fermented and took care of for the past 4 months. Maybe I’m spoiled, but I know good saurkraut/choucroute and the depth and layers of flavor in La Brasserie’s was lacking. I’m not sure if they made there own, but it was definitely not exciting. The suckling pig was also served with some German dumplings called schupfnudel and I thought they were rather lack lustre. Not crispy, a little gummy, a little tepid, a little underseasoned and not really up my alley. I love spaetzle and I love gnocchi and these dumpling were sort of a so-so hybrid of the two. Overall, I thought the suckling pig dish had great potential, but unfortunately did not deliver. After we were cleared, we were too full to have dessert, so we finished our drinks, thanked them for a lovely evening and got on our merry way.

Issues and concerns; I think that La Brasserie is a very good restaurant and a great addition to the Davie Street neighborhood. Overall, I think the food is very good and the guys seem to have a very clear vision of what they are trying to accomplish. Apart from the slight lack of polish in regards to the food, I have little to complain about. The service was extremely friendly, I liked the buzz of the room, I think the food is a good value, I wish them the best of luck and look forward to my next visit. I don’t think I’ll go out of my way and drive into the city for dinner at La Brasserie, but if I’m in the neighborhood and want a well-cooked meal, with decent ingredients, for a fair price, I know where to go.

On my chef’s night out scale, La Brasserie receives 3/5 SOB (slices of bacon).

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Last week, I was invited to a private event at Italy House sponsored and hosted by Giuseppe Alai, President of the Parmigiano-Regigiano Consortium. Though I am very fortunate to get invited to these kind of things, I rarely get the chance to attend due to my hectic work schedule. Since it was the Olympics and I really wanted to experience some of it, I built some time into my schedule and “Godfather” was my willing wingman for the day.

A lot of people have been asking me who “Godfather” is and why I don’t use anybody’s real names in the blog. Well, “Godfather” is not my godfather, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he’s never even watched the Godfather trilogy and I mock him for it often. He’s a business consultant by day and part-time cook at Tapenade Bistro. He loves to cook, loves to eat and is a cook stuck in a banker’s body. He often accompanies me to cooking competitions, cooking demonstrations, off-site caterings and different events throughout the year. He usually works on Sundays with me at the restaurant and is always willing and on call for those big nights. Yes, he’s a very good cook, he’s been by my side for many years and I trust him implicitly. Though his service and procedures can be occasionally “exotic” (eggs pop into mind), I only need to look at him a certain way and he’ll know what I need and when I need it. He’s been through many “battles” with me (Canada Day 2007 pops into mind) and I love him like a brother, but the truth is, I take him along to all these events because the heart and soul of the team is back at the restaurant holding down the fort. I wish I could take “Fat Joel”, “Great Wall” or “Boomer” with me to some of these deals, but they are too often, needed back at the shop; running the busy service and serving high quality food, in my absence. All joking aside, I owe all of my boys in the kitchen a big thank you, for all of their hard work and commitment. To answer the second question of why I don’t use people’s real names, I’m really not sure. Maybe it’s so I can make fun of people without actually using their real names; therefore making it somewhat acceptable. I guess I still have the grade school mentality in me and can’t help but enjoy, “taking the piss out of people.”

OK, back to Parmigiano-Reggiano or as Mario Batali like to call it, “The Undisputed King of Cheese”. I love Parmigiano-Reggiano and will never use any sort of parmesan knock off. OK, never is a long time, I’ll use Grana Padano for certain applications, maybe some Kraft parmesan in the green shaker at home (haha), but when I want parm, I only use the real deal. There is only one Parmigiano-Reggiano, nothing compares and parmesan cheese as most people know it, has very little to do with the real deal. It was a fun event and it was really cool to hear President Alai describe Parmigiano-Reggiano. I have a real thing for people who are overly passionate about things and it is very clear that Giuseppe Alai is one of those people. You could see it in his eyes, as he described the process of making the cheese, opening a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano Stravecchio and eventually smelling and tasting the cheese. You could tell how proud he was of their product and how proud he was to show it off to the world. I can really appreciate that and witnessing people stand behind their product and hearing them “wax poetically” about their passion, inspires me to do the same. The event was great; it was nice to bump into some industry friends, it was great learning about Parmigiano-Reggiano, the Tuscan wine and Proseco were nice, but the star was obviously tasting the freshly opened Parmigiano-Reggiano Stravecchio, in all it’s simplistic glory. Two words. Outstanding.

La Baguette et l’Echalote

The other day as “Monk,”  “Jazzy” and I were eating our way through sunny and Olympic Vancouver, we decided to hop on the Aquabus and head over to Granville Island.  I’ve always loved the Granville Island Public Market and frequently find myself shopping for special gourmet ingredients there.   As we were checking out some Olympic pavilions and street performers, we came across La Baguette et l’Echalote. [1680 Johnston St, Vancouver, (604) 684-1351]

We had just finished snacking on some street food from the hawker stands by the Edgewater Casino, (tasty takoyaki and hurricane fries) but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to snack on a freshly baked chocolate croissant.  “Monk” loves them and we have a special relationship with croissant au chocolat.  It must be my impending middle-agedness, because I can’t remember what exactly is the funny story I’m trying to recount.  I don’t remember where we were, maybe on a cruise or on vacation somewhere, but I knew how much she liked pain au chocolat and for some reason, I ate all of hers and didn’t even save her a bite.  Real romantic and  interesting story right?  Somehow, I’ve lost the punchline over time and I’ll have to ask her about it, “get to the bottom of it” and let her ridicule me endlessly about my early onset of Alzheimer’s and my poor story telling ability.

“Godfather” reminded me how good these croissant au chocolat were, earlier in the week, so as I played with “Jazzy,” “Monk” picked one up to go.  Let me tell you, it was fantastic.  The croissant obviously was very fresh, (no more than an hour out of the oven) was super flaky, exceptionally buttery and the exterior was  golden and crisp.  The chocolate inside was still relatively soft and not hardened like a “more mature” croissant.   I have to say, there are too many bad croissants out there and I feel that I am a pretty good judge, since I personally used to make croissants from scratch, back in the day.  On this particular day, I was really blown away by this croissant au chocolate and will have this taste memory in my head for a while.  In the past, I’ve purchased different baguette, assorted bread and pastry from La Baguette et l’Echalote and have had varying experiences with the different products.  I will definitely check them out again, next time I’m at the Granville Island Public Market.

Issues and concerns; if I recall correctly, I’ve had the croissant au chocolate before and it was not memorable.  I also remember some rather suspect service.  Maybe, there is some inconsistency in their products and service, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and revisit the shop to continue my research.  I like the feel of this local French bakery and that croissant was one of the tastiest things I’ve eaten this year.

On my chef’s night out scale, La Baguette et l’Echalote receives 3/5 SOB (slices of bacon).

Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine

After a big day of eating, “Godfather” thought we needed a little snack to end a fantastic night.  Even though we had a very tasty and significant dinner a few hours earlier, he suggested we swing by Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine [542 Robson Street, Vancouver, (604) 569-3340] for a couple of late night sammies. “Monk”, “Jazzy”, “Godfather”, “The Girl” and I had just finished watching the Olympic fireworks/laser/pyro show at Robson Square, my buzz was slowly wearing off and the desire to snack was ever-growing.  We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to watch the show from the panoramic view of the roof bar of Hotel Vancouver.  It was such a great perspective of the city and the Vegas-esque show and I was so glad to not have to fight the crowds.   It’s such a shame that the roof bar is not a functioning lounge anymore, because the view and the feel of the space is spectacular.   

Tasty Bahn Mi @ Viet Sub

 

I’d been to Viet Sub a few times in the past and first heard of it a couple months back when an ex-Fillipino/Scottish server told me about it.  I’ve loved banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) for a long time and have tried just about every shop in town.  “Monk” is the true banh mi aficionado and we once went on a Vietnamese sandwich tour of the lower mainland.   I believe we sampled close to a dozen different sandwiches in a span of a just a few hours, all in the name of science.  She was conducting some research and was considering opening her own  modern, yet traditional, Vietnamese sandwich shop.  We tend to sample these sandwiches everywhere we visit and we definitely ate our fair share on our epic trip to Vietnam in 2007.  

On this particular night, “Godfather” ordered 2 special subs (B5).  ”Monk” was giving him the “ole’ pink stink eye” because he was encouraging me to eat late at night, but I was really kinda excited for a tasty treat.  A few minutes later, “Godfather” handed me a sandwich, I took my first bite and I was not disappointed.  The perfect bread with the tasty fillings  was very enjoyable on this particular night.  I don’t know if it was the beer and cocktails talking, but I thought it was really tasty.  The bread was exceptional and the freshness of the sandwich was ideal.  In the past, “Monk” has grabbed a few sandwiches to go and I never thought too much about them.  I thought they were alright, but because I never ate them right away, there was not too much wow factor.  This time around, I was really blown away and was so glad we stopped. 

Issue and concerns;  I have my own Vietnamese restaurant prejudices, but heck, I’ve eaten so much street food in Vietnam, nothing should bother me.  I’ve never been inside the restaurant and have always let “Monk” or “Godfather” take care of the ordering.  Through the front window, I thought the restaurant looked a little hodge podge, but it is, what it is.  “Godfather” felt the pickled daikon and carrot could use more pickling, but I was ok with it.  I would have liked a little more meat on my sandwich, but overall it was pretty darn tasty and for $3.75, not much can beat it.  I look forward to trying some of the other sandwiches in the very near future and will try to offer an alcohol free opinion. 

On my chef’s night out scale, Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine receives 3/5 SOB (slices of bacon). 

Ganache Patisserie

A few days ago, after an enjoyable lunch on False Creek, “Godfather” and I were cruising around downtown, checking out Olympic stuff and looking for tasty things to eat.  At one point, we ended up in Yaletown and were drawn to Ganache Patisserie. [1262 Homer Street, Vancouver, (604) 899-1098]  Ganache is one of my favorite pastry shops in Vancouver and will always have a special place in my heart. 

On this particular day, we went by the shop, checked out some of their new cakes, picked up a pair of desserts to go and chatted with owner/pastry chef Peter Fong for a while.  I’ve known Peter for a couple of years now and take the opportunity to visit whenever I’m in Yaletown and craving cake.   I first met Peter a few years back, when he crafted individual wedding cakes for each of our wedding guests and supplied tasty dessert treats for our midnight wedding buffet.  I think he’s a really talented guy, he’s got a real passion for dessert, I’m glad his business is doing well and wish him all the best for the future. 

“Godfather” and “The Girl”  only discovered Ganache this past year, so because of “Godfather’s” cake addiction and compulsive behaviour, they’ve been sampling all of Ganache’s offerings over the past short while.  Since I tend to celebrate with them on frequent occasion, I’m lucky enough to indulge in tasty cake alongside those two. 

Two of Ganache Patisserie's finest offerings

 

That day, we picked up a  slice of Chocolat-Banane (dark chocolate mousse, caramelized bananas, praline crunch, hazelnut dacquoise) and a piece of Cassis Chocolat (dark chocolate mousse, cassis mousse, Grand Marnier raspberries, chocolate sablé) for a little afternoon snack.  They were both delicious and a decadent treat after miles of walking.  The Chocolat-Banane is a great combination of flavors with the caramelized banana shining brightly through. I’ve been on a bit of a cassis kick recently and have been contemplating using  it as a flavoring for the dessert course in an upcoming wine dinner with Road 13 Vineyards.  “Godfather” suggested we taste Ganache’s cassis offering for inspiration, so how could I say no.  What can I say, it was amazing and left me craving more.  That’s always the sign of an ideal portion size and a successful dish, when you finish the last bite and you’re still craving one more taste.  I personally am very much in awe of talented pastry chefs.  I’ve got a very humble pastry background; at Tapenade, we make all of our desserts in-house, but there’s a huge difference between the desserts I make and the highly skilled and technically proficient creations a trained pastry chef creates.  Because I lack experience, technique and overall pastry knowledge, my desserts are much simpler though very flavor/texture driven.  I tend to really enjoy savory components in my desserts and use a lot of herbs, salt, cheese and spices to achieve the flavor profile I am seeking.  One day, I am going to dedicate more of my time to the pastry arts and really learn how to make desserts I love to eat. 

Issues and concerns; I don’t really have any.  I think the pastry selection at Ganache Patisserie is  first class and would recommend it to everyone.  Ganache Patisserie would feel at home in Manhattan, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco or any food-centric city.  My only comment would be that I love textural contrasts and would enjoy a more crispy component in some of Peter’s desserts and I would also like to see more savory components as well.  This is purely a matter of personal taste and would never offer my constructive criticism to Peter.  Wait a second, I just blogged about it, does that mean I just did? 

On my chef’s night out scale, Ganache Patisserie receives 4.5/5 SOB (slices of bacon).