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THE DISH: Renovations at Cafe Ca Va include addition of renowned chef

I liked the old Café Ça Va. I found its ambience appealing, a sophisticated but comfortable mix of traditional brasserie and contemporary urban esthetics.

I liked the old Café Ça Va.

I found its ambience appealing, a sophisticated but comfortable mix of traditional brasserie and contemporary urban esthetics.

They served some of the best mussels around and their staff was always pleasant, efficient and knowledgeable. When I read this past summer that they were closing for extensive renovations, I was surprised.

The room hardly needed a facelift, I thought, and it seemed to me that traffic there was steady and sure. Then I read that alongside the renovation, the café was going to inherit a new chef, someone who had helped to redefine the West Vancouver culinary landscape, someone who had accumulated more awards and accolades for his restaurant than anyone else on the North Shore. Café Ça Va was to welcome Alain Rayé of La Regalade fame. And then it all made sense.

It’s a fascinating development and, based on my recent meal at the revamped restaurant, one that promises to once again add some gravitas to local dining.

The restaurant design isn’t radically different. The high-top tables have been removed and there seems to be more overall seating, but the lovely lighting and eye-catching digital artwork are still in tact. The kitchen seems to be the most dramatically overhauled part of the restaurant but somehow the place feels a bit more elegant than it was before, and maybe a touch more mature.

I decided to dine alone, as I did when I first tried Café Ca Va, then brand new, a couple of years ago.

I was served throughout my meal by Brigitte Rayé, chef Alain’s ex-wife and current business partner. Brigitte is, without a doubt, one of the most consummate professionals I have had the pleasure of encountering in my years of dining in this town. She has the sort of natural, easygoing charm that is at once polished, but decidedly human and down to earth.

Despite serving as the front of house manager, hostess, and, periodically, the bartender and food runner, Brigitte supplied warm, attentive hospitality from the moment I sat down at the bar, where I was flanked by a couple of other lone diners in a room otherwise filled to capacity. I was wanting for nothing throughout my meal and was engaged in friendly, humorous banter about wine, life in restaurants and the quirks of the kitchen. It made for a great evening.

My experience began with an aperitif of pastis, the potent anise-based distillate that turns cloudy with a bit of ice and water; it’s a fine drink to get the palate stimulated. While I sipped the pastis, an amuse-bouche of Moules a l’Escabeche arrived, five toothsome mussels (plucked from their shells) in a tangy, garlicky, herbaceous marinade.

For my first official course (of five!) I chose the Foie Gras Terrine, a ridiculously luxurious and smooth medallion of rich duck liver, served here with corn bread (a nod to the diet upon which the ducks are fed) and little translucent dollops of lemon gelee. The foie itself was coated in a thin ribbon of rendered fat, which is fairly common for this dish, but chef Rayé added a novel twist by infusing the fat with lemon, which was bracingly tart and provided an intense contrast to the absurdly rich liver. A pour of 2012 Chateau d’Armajan des Ormes (not on the list) Sauternes was, as expected, the perfect wine pairing.

Next up was an appetizer of Albacore Tuna Tartare. The dish was a beautiful piece of art, the precisely cut little cubes of tuna interspersed with capers, shallots, hard-boiled quail’s egg, and slivers of pickled carrot, beet and asparagus. Each of these constituent elements was a carefully prepared treasure in its own right; the labour involved here is intense. The dish was masterful and paired well with a glass of Le Vieux Pin Petit Blanc, a crisp and lean white blend of sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, viognier and muscat.

I persevered with a main course, a true delight featuring pork prepared four ways: braised cheek (the undisputed champion of the lot, fall-apart tender and topped with a bit of shaved black truffle), house-made sausage (pungent and intense with lovely spices), belly (two meaty, succulent, fat-capped squares) and loin (beautifully roasted and served with creamy, buttery grainy mustard mashed potatoes). This was an all-star of an entrée and should be eaten by all who enter this place. I paired this course with a glass of fruit-forward but complex pinot noir from Marlborough, New Zealand.

As a final course, I requested a wedge of blue cheese (not on the menu) and was provided with a sizeable piece of creamy, salty and opulent St-Agur with a host of delectable accoutrement, including a basket of bread and crackers, preserves and pickles. On Brigitte Rayé’s suggestion, I paired an ounce of Poire William with the cheese, the fiery, bone-dry, pear-scented eau de vie providing a good structural counterpart to the soft and round blue.

Sitting back to let the decadent meal settle and watch the action of the still bustling restaurant unfold (I was in my second hour at this point), chef Rayé emerged from the kitchen bearing a plate that he sat down before me. He said I really ought to try the chocolate tart. He was right. With the consistency of softened butter and the flavour of a thousand chocolate angels fluttering their wings across my taste buds, the tart was a dessert worth every single calorie it contained.

If La Regalade was hearty and rustic, Café Ca Va is contemporary and sophisticated, but still bears the unmistakably deft hand of the Michelin-starred chef behind both enterprises.

This was not an everyday meal, to be sure, but one that prompts me to say: welcome back, Monsieur.

Café Ça Va is at 1860 Marine Dr., West Vancouver. cafecava.com 604-925-2503

Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. He can be reached via email at hungryontheshore@gmail.com. North Shore News dining reviews are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.