the dining diva

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

dips and dates

When someone who loves food heads out for a vacation (admittedly a mini one, but a vacation nonetheless!), restaurants are as important, if not more important, than the tourist attractions.

So when Pat and I decided to head down to Seattle for two days and a night, I put the call out for restaurant recommendations. Turns out my friends have plenty of suggestions for great places to eat in downtown Seattle, but one in particular caught my eye – the Purple Café and Wine Bar.

The food looked great, but what pulled me in were their flights of wine. I think this trend is just starting to pick up in Vancouver, so I was intrigued by the idea of a food and wine tasting as dinner.

I tried to make resos several days before, but they were booked solid. But they said the lounge also served food, so we thought we’d give that a shot.

The first thing I noticed as I walked towards Purple Café was the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The second was the massive wine tower in the centre of the restaurant with the spiral staircase that wrapped around it. The whole place was back lit by flickering candles, making it look a bit like a cathedral at night.

It seemed we were out of luck. There still weren’t any openings in the restaurant and all the seats in the lounge were taken. But we decided to take our chances and wait in the lounge. Two minutes later a spot at the bar opened up and we began to peruse the massive menu.

If I have any complaints about Purple Café, it would be that the menu is too big. It spanned small plates to cheese, starters to salads, sandwiches to pizza, pastas to entrees to sides… oh yeah, and desert, too!

We decided to choose our food and then decide on a flight of wine. We were going to start with the artichoke parmesan spread; white bean, roasted garlic and rosemary spread; and gorgonzola stuffed dates, pine nuts and saba. Pat had the goat cheese and roasted pepper salad with chicken for her main, while I had the papardelle with roasted squash and mushrooms.

Once our server/bartender helped us navigate the menu, he helped us pick our wine flights. And we needed all the help we could get. Let me just start by saying that the wine book (that’s right – I did say book!) was 82 pages long and included a table of contents and glossary.

At least Pat and I narrowed it down to a flight of white wine and thankfully there was only one page for each red and white. Pat went with rhône-style, while I chose the local whites:

wine flight

rhône-style
cave de tain marsanne . vin de pays des collines rhodaniennes, france . 07
caves des papes ‘heritages’ . côtes du rhône, france . 06
château la baronne . vin de pays de hauterive, france . 06
mccrea ‘ciel du cheval vineyard’ viognier . red mountain, washington . 07

local whites
efeste sauvignon blanc . columbia valley, washington . 07
milbrandt vineyards ‘sundance’ chardonnay . washington . 06
winter’s hill vineyard pinot gris . dundee hills, oregon . 06
ross andrew winery ‘meadow’ . oregon . 07

And low and behold, just as we gave our server our order, a table freed up in the dining room. Although the bar was roomy enough for us to eat at, we decided a window table would be nicer.

Our new server, David, was just as knowledgeable and knew when to interrupt and when to leave us alone. And let’s be honest – he was pretty easy on the eyes, too!

He brought our appetizers, the dips and the dates, along with some artisan bread. The artichoke and parmesan dip needed to impress me. I’ve had my share of artichoke and fill-in-the-blank dip at every chain restaurant possible, so I was reluctant, at best.

goat cheese and roasted pepper salad with chicken

But impress it did. The dip was creamy, but still fresh and screamed of artichoke flavour – something those chain restaurant versions tend to lack. The parm brought just the right amount of saltiness and you could taste both components easily without one overpowering the other.

The white bean, roasted garlic and rosemary spread had a woodsy flavour to it (figures – rosemary does it every time). This was a nice twist on a hummus, but didn’t have the overwhelming garlic flavour that typically accompanies hummus.

And then finally, it was on to the gorgonzola stuffed dates, pine nuts and saba. Now if I told you these were about the closest thing to heaven I’ve ever come across in an appetizer, would you believe me? Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little – but not much.

The dates were sweet and the nuttiness of the pine nuts popped in my mouth. And then the rich, creamy gorgonzola mixed with the saba (cooked grape juice made from Trebbiano grapes – the same ones they use to make balsamic vinegar) to provide a long, smooth finish that lingered on my tongue.

Hold on. I might need a minute.

Our wines were also great – although the ross andrew winery ‘meadow,’ had a bit of a sour after-taste. They came in a little trolley and had a card with it, so you knew what you were drinking. The idea was definitely fun, and we certainly weren’t the only group of women in the place laughing over flights of wine.

But the clientele, in general, was pretty eclectic. Lots of groups of friends lingering over a meal, some saddled up to the bar for some wine and cheese, a few romantic dates, and definitely some tables who were there for a celebration.

Our mains came not long after we finished the appies. Pat’s salad looked great, although I wouldn’t say that it was a show-stopper. But I truly loved my pasta. It was a perfect compliment to my wine – simple in design, but still complex in flavours.

papardelle with roasted squash and mushrooms

The pasta was tender and tossed in basically butter and herbs. The mushrooms and squash were cut to the same size and were topped with thick slices of parmesan. The dish felt like something that you would have after a day of foraging wild mushrooms in the woods.

While we waited for our deserts, we noticed the design coordination of the entire restaurant. The chairs at the tables, napkin rings, bread plate and even the roof all had the same lattice iron pattern. No detail was missed in this place.

Even though we were stuffed, we just couldn’t resist desert. What I appreciated was the tapas-style deserts they offered. I think they were supposed to be ordered as a flight, but they were just the right size for a small, sweet bite at the end of the meal.

Pat tried the syrah brownie (along with a glass of syrah, of course), while I tried the pear and chestnut honey crisp. The brownie was rich, chocolaty goodness, while my crisp was tart, not too sweet and a perfect compliment to my last glass of fruity white wine.

The place was still hopping as we finished off just past 10, and our server was kind of to suggest two lounges to hit up after dinner. In retrospect, we should have just moved over to the lounge for a few more glasses (or flights) of wine. But I’m not too concerned. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back the next time I’m in Seattle. After all – I have another 81 pages of the wine book to get through.

Purple Café and Wine Bar
1225 4th Avenue
Seattle | WA
206.829.2280
thepurplecafe.com