the dining diva

grilled venison with brussels sprouts

I haven’t felt much like the dining diva these days. I’ve felt like the go-to-parties diva, or the lie-on-my-couch diva – but certainly not the dining diva.

So despite the chaos of the holidays and my strained budget, I was excited when Melanie announced that she had made reservations at Cibo for her birthday. I had been dying to try Cibo for a while and was even more intrigued when En Route magazine named it 2009’s best new restaurant.

Cibo is located in the Moda Vancouver Hotel – a boutique hotel just off Seymour and Smithe. I had been in the liquor store – the Viti Wine and Lager Store – several times and was always impressed with the selection and service. And I had also been a few times to Uva, the wine bar located next door. So it seemed fitting that I try the restaurant as well.

Cibo’s concept is simple: Italian cuisine made with fresh and local ingredients. Seemed like a good match to me. I checked out their menu online ahead of time, and although small but impressive, I waited until that evening to make my decisions.

The interior is beautiful and in some ways is a bit of a contradiction to the menu. Dark, modern and sleek, the walls are adorned with giant pop art canvases. It doesn’t hint of the food that’s to come (which isn’t a bad thing).

Melanie had a great turn out – about 10 or so of her best work and personal friends. So I was interested to see how the restaurant managed such a large crowd.

Melanie, another friend and I spilt a bottle of the cantina santa maria la palma le bombarde cannonau (which I noticed they had jacked up $10 since publishing the menu online). It was a good choice and considering the imposing list, I was happy we were able to find something under $70 (since the majority of the bottles are well over this price). It was light with a subtle berry flavour and a hint of spice.

local mussels

I’m sometimes leery of Italian restaurants who divide their menu by appetizer, pasta (first course), and mains (second course). In Italy, it’s expected that you order one of each, and therefore each of the courses are fairly small. But here in North America, we have different expectations, so it’s always important to clarify with the server the portion sizes. This was the case with Cibo, so Melanie and I split the mussels as our appetizer and then I ordered the grilled venison with horseradish sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts as my main.

While waiting for the appetizers or pasta courses, our table was given a selection of breads. I held off and waited for the mussels, as I know the broth always begs to be soaked up by bread.

The mussels arrive and sure enough, accompanying them are two pieces of crostini. But instead of leaving them naked, they’ve slathered the bread with some sort of aioli. But what about the broth? I try dipping the toasts in the broth and it’s okay, but half the aioli melts under the heat and slides into the bowl.

The mussels themselves were pretty good and the chilis added a nice kick to the usual white wine sauce. But at least four of the mussels didn’t open. Seriously? I’m paying $14 for maybe 20 mussels and a bunch of them don’t open? I wonder how that would have gone over in Executive Chef Neil Taylor’s last restaurant – the famous River Café in London?

I decide to try a piece of the bread as the crostini just aren’t enough to mop up the broth. The bread is very light and is topped with either some caramelized onions or parmesan cheese. It’s good, but definitely not to die for (but maybe I’m already a bit jaded at this point).

The venison arrives and it’s a good thing I had the mussels to start, as it definitely wouldn’t have been big enough for my hungry belly (but I guess you’re expected to order a side).

At first glance, I’m leery. The Brussels sprouts have been oven roasted, which sounds like a delicious way to cook the mini cabbages. But as they were all different sizes, they obviously needed different cooking times. So the little ones were over done and the bigger ones were either just right or slightly under done.

The venison did look like it was cooked as suggested – medium rare. But my first bite into the meat told me how well Cibo handled large parties – it was cold. If it wasn’t Melanie’s birthday, or if we weren’t part of such a large group, I might have sent it back (and probably should have). But instead I chose to suffer in silence.

On my second bite of the meat, I decided to try it with some of the horseradish sauce. Two seconds in, my nose began burning so much I really did think it was on fire. I thought that maybe I had taken too much, or it was a fluke bite, so I tried again. Nope – same inferno in the back of my nose.

cibo latte

Everyone was full from the meal, but we did all order the chocolate nemesis to share, which is also on the River Café’s menu. It was truly delicious. It was like a chocolate mousse cake, but slightly denser.

And we all decided to end the meal with a coffee drink, and I ordered a latte. They did a lovely job with the presentation – in the same style as Caffé Artigiano.

I really wanted to love Cibo. On one hand, the menu itself is simple yet creative in its execution. But on the other hand, they seemed to miss some basics:

• crostini doesn’t need anything on it when serving it with mussels
• different sized food needs different cooking times
• don’t serve mussels that aren’t open
• horseradish shouldn’t blow out the back of your nasal cavity
• …and the simple rule I learned while serving at the Olive Garden – hot food served hot!

I’m not so sure I’ll be back at Cibo any time soon – unless it’s for a piece of chocolate cake and a latte.

Cibo Trattoria
900 Seymour Street
Vancouver | BC
604.602.9570
cibotrattoria.com

grilled jerk chicken

Catching up with friends over dinner is probably my favourite thing to do. And luckily, I have friends who are not afraid to try new restaurants. So when Candace and I scheduled a catch-up over dinner, I immediately began scouring my mental list of places I wanted to try.

A few friends had been to Revel in Gastown, and aside from knowing they’re the place that serves hot-out-of-the-oven cookies at closing time, I hadn’t heard much about them. I quickly scanned their menu online and it seemed like a good locale for Candace and I.

Revel is located in the heart of Gastown, which seems to be the hottest spot to open a restaurant these days. They’ve been around for over a year now and seem to be a popular spot for a late-night bite, as their kitchen is open until 1:30 a.m. But seeing that Candace and I were meeting at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, we obviously didn’t get a chance to experience that scene.

The space is an eclectic mix of modern and retro – and the music reflects that. I think the music went from rock to electronic to indie all in the course of one night.

It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but I suppose that’s to be expected on a rainy Tuesday in November after work. We may have took a while to decide on a wine, but our server was not afraid to jump in every few minutes to see if we had made a decision. We finally decided on a bottle of wine, only to be told minutes later that they had run out. What is with my bad luck of ordering bottles of sold-out wine these days?

Our second choice, the Adobe Sauvignon Blanc, arrived without incident. It was probably a little too fruity for my taste, but maybe that was also because it was cold and dreary outside.

As we decided that we were both going to order mains, we chose the Spanish Merienda to start, which is marinated olives, cheese, spiced nuts, and sliced baguette.

During this time, we alternated between two servers who were either bored or not communicating to whom we belonged to. Each time one of them showed up at our table, they seemed confused that the other had already been there. Better than no service at all, I suppose.

spanish merienda

A merienda is a midday meal had in Spain to fill in the meal gap between lunch and dinner. I liked the concept. Besides, any time you can incorporate cheese, nuts and olives into your meal, it’s good to me.

The plate arrived with two small pieces of baguette, one small piece of cheese, six olives and a bunch of nuts – spicy almonds, roasted chickpeas and seasoned hazelnuts. The olives were delicious and cured in-house. But I only had three of them. The cheese was tasty, but that was also maybe two bites. So I filled up on the nuts.

The hazelnuts were basically tasteless, while the chickpeas burst when you bit them and had the consistency of sawdust. I only ate them because I was so hungry. The spicy almonds were good and definitely had a subtle kick to them.

We both decided that we needed something substantial for our main, and both ordered the grilled jerk chicken, which came with coconut rice and beans, coleslaw, and was topped with a mango puree.

The chicken was delicious. The spice wasn’t overpowering and the mango puree added a nice sweetness to the dish. The coconut rice and beans was also sweet, but packed with coconut flavour. The “coleslaw” was just shredded cabbage and onions. I only ate it because I was so hungry.

Was I impressed with the food at Revel? Not particularly. But would I go again for drinks or a late-night bite? Probably.

Revel has a casual feel to it that seems to be more appropriate for hanging out after the movies or getting together with a bunch of friends. But given the amazing selection of restaurants in Gastown, I’d choose to spend my money on dinner somewhere else. Somewhere where I didn’t have to eat something just because I was so hungry.

Revel
238 Abbott Street
Vancouver | BC
604.687.4088
revelroom.ca

the cure

Kate and I had just finished a workshop with renowned yogi, Chris Chavez, at Flow Yoga – where I had clearly been the crappiest student. I know that’s not very yoga of me – we’re supposed to be all on our own journey and there is no competition, etc., etc., — but it was true.

So I needed a good glass of wine and a scrumptious meal before the inevitable physical pain set in. And, to top it off, I had made the (insane) decision to start another 12-day cleanse the next day. Needless to say, there was a lot of pressure on this meal.

I thought that Pourhouse in Gastown would be a nice fit. It was close for Kate to hop on the SeaBus and being very new (they haven’t even had their official opening yet), it piqued my curiosity. I had been a semi-regular at the space’s last restaurant, Flux Bistro, so I was interested to see how it had been transformed.

Kate and I arrived just before nine and as the place was packed, we took a seat on one of the couches in the lounge area to wait for a table. The décor can be described as modern vintage. A gorgeous Douglas Fir bar curves towards the ceiling and frames the bartenders below. The couches and the armchairs in the lounge look like they belong in an antique store. But the dining area is lined by a glass and tile railing with radiators spaced in between.

We ordered a bottle of Viu Manent Carmenere Reserve and waited. And waited. And waited. And I know that we were probably a little more than impatient given our yoga-fueled hunger pains, but it was probably 10 minutes before our server came back… only to tell us they couldn’t find that bottle of wine. So we continued to wait.

After another 10 minutes, our server returned to tell us the reason they couldn’t find the wine – they were out. So we ordered the Galil Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. And just as our server arrived with that bottle and poured our first glasses, our table was ready.

It’s always a little awkward when a server doesn’t offer to carry your drink from the lounge to the dining area. But it’s made even more awkward when you have a giant yoga bag to also carry. And the tiny restaurant is packed.

But Kate, our wine, our bags and I made it in one piece to our table – a very cozy booth that could have easily fit four. We sunk into the seats and began to look at the menu.

beef shortribs

Pourhouse’s concept is modern comfort food. It seemed a little in opposition to the décor and ambiance of the restaurant – white tablecloths and comfort food just don’t seem to go together to me. But somehow, they pull it off.

As it was taking us a long time to decide on an entrée, Kate and I decided to start off with The Cure – a selection of cured meats with condiments. It came with gherkins, mustard and sweet onions, as well as a basket of different breads. The three meats were all made from pork and treated slightly differently. We had a hard time deciding which one was our favourite – each one was flavourful and could have easily stood on its own.

When our server came back (no hurrying to get our entrée orders in – which was a nice touch), we asked her which one was her favourite. She recommended the beef shortribs, which are braised in espresso and served with carrot puree and browned sweet potato.

We were sold.

The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and the espresso added a rich dimension to the sauce. We both were blown away by the carrot puree, which we were told, was just carrots and apple juice. While the sweet potatos, which were made to look like French fries, were tender and slightly crispy on the outside. Genius.

And our Galil Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon turned out to be an excellent pair with both our appetizer and main. It’s a medium-bodied wine, with notes of dark berries, cocoa and spices. And being from Israel, it’s kosher, which is a bonus (if that’s something you look for).

Our server was knowledgeable and it was obvious that she had tried most items on the menu. We were never rushed into making a decision, even though the place was still packed at 11 p.m. It was a nice contrast to the lackluster service we received when we were in the lounge area. I’ll chalk that up to pre-opening bumps.

warm chocolate cake

Kate and I couldn’t resist taking a look at the desert menu. Even though there’s just four items, I think there’s something for everyone. And for Kate and I, it was the warm chocolate cake. It takes a little extra time, as it’s made from scratch, but it’s worth that wait.

The cake was moist, rich and decadent. They paired it with a caramel ice cream, which could have also stood on its own. It was a lovely ending to a fabulous evening.

As Kate and I finished up our tea, we were pleasantly surprised by the bill – which came in at just $118. And even though it was well past midnight by the time we finished, the place was still packed. I felt lucky to have discovered this Gastown gem before its inevitable rise to Vancouver culinary stardom.

Pourhouse
162 Water Street
Vancouver | BC
604.568.7022
pourhousevancouver.com

district mussels

It seems that all I’m doing these days is attending farewell parties. But at least with my co-worker Kate’s farewell, I knew that I’d be able to see her almost any time I wanted (unlike Mr. Cambodia, Irwin).

Much to our chagrin, Kate took a new job with another company. After five years of being with us, it was time for her to spread her wings. So although I was sad that I wouldn’t have my friend to chat with every day, I was proud of her – and knew I’d be seeing her outside of work just as much, if not more.

As our department comes from almost all corners of the Lower Mainland, many of our get-togethers begin on the North Shore where our office is located. So for Kate’s farewell dinner, we decided on the district.

I had been there once before for wine and appies, and thought it was a needed edition to the Lower Lonsdale scene. Full of quirky and ethnic eateries, Lower Lonsdale isn’t exactly trendy. But maybe the district can change that?

It’s a small space, currently only holding about 25 or so people (although I think they have completed their expansion next door), so as we were a party of 10, we had to order in advance. My co-worker Adam, who is a bit of a district regular, raved about the 8 oz. tenderloin. And since I had been craving a good steak, I decided to try it.

The district’s menu is a combo of sharing plates and entrees. It’s pretty small, but for a space that size, I appreciate it. I get scared when I see a tiny restaurant with a large menu – how can they possibly master all those dishes?

the no. 13 burger

Their wine list is also small, but mighty. According to their drink menu, “the district social house only pours BC wines in a nod to supporting local growers and vintners. The majority of our boutique wines come from an area in the South Okanagan called the Naramata Bench just above Penticton on the eastern shores of Okanagan Lake.”

Now there’s something that appeals to my “eat and drink local” mentality.

Adam and I decided the Road 13 Red – Honest John’s would be a perfect compliment to our steaks. I took it pretty easy that night, but several of my co-worker’s tried the mojitos and caiprinhas (the official drink of Brazil – my latest vacation destination – only six more weeks!).

The current space is very intimate and perfect for a romantic evening – and thankfully the couple sitting next to our group had a good sense of humour and didn’t mind us intruding on their evening. The kitchen is wide open and watching the two chefs cook was like watching a well-choreographed dance.

As a woman, I also have to give them props for a lovely bathroom. They do also have a small patio, so hopefully with the expansion, that will expand as well. It did seem a bit of a shame to be cooped inside on such a gorgeous night, but we weren’t the only ones. The place was very quickly packed, and we arrived very early at 5:45 (they don’t take resos after six on the weekends).

After lingering over our wine (simple, clean, and fresh), our meals arrived. As it’s always hard for me to get a bite of everyone’s meal during a group dinner, I’ll just focus on my steak.

The steak was baseball cut, which I don’t think that I had ever had before. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it’s called baseball cut because of its rounded shape. The sirloin is one of the leanest cuts and is probably one of the most flavorful.

8 oz. tenderloin

The steak was carefully grilled to medium rare (my favourite) and was lightly seasoned with a blend of pepper and other spices. I don’t think that a good piece of meat needs too much seasoning and this steak definitely delivered – each bite was a flavour explosion. The meat was paired with frites (good, but nowhere as good as Bistrot Bistro), and something that looked like a cross between asparagus and broccoli.

After doing some googling, I discovered that I had been served broccolini – a cross between broccoli and kai-lan, Chinese broccoli, that does taste like both broccoli and asparagus. It was sweet, buttery and delicious. I actually invited more people to taste my broccolini than my steak.

I think our group was supposed to leave after two hours, but since there wasn’t a line at the door, they allowed us to stay as long as we wanted. And considering Lower Lonsdale also lacks in good places to drink, our restaurant table quickly turned to lounge after dinner.

The district’s blog describes their expansion as having “a lower ceiling, fireside lounge kind of a feel with touches of brick, hardwood and halogen.” Hmm… sounds good to me. I’m not so sure the district is the perfect place to spend a hot summer night, but for good food, service and wine, it’s the place to be in Lower Lonsdale. So hop on the SeaBus and try one of Lower Mainland’s soon-to-be newest hotspots.

the district
013 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver | BC
778.338.4938
thedistrictsocial.com