A shift is underway in Vancouver dining, one that has been developing for years.
Those who were watching the scene closely in 2013 might have noticed that in the midst of this shift, the North Shore emerged as an instructive microcosm, shedding light on what is happening at ground level to affect the change.
You see, the type of experience that Vancouverites seek from a restaurant is changing.
To gourmands, Vancouver may intuitively seem like the ideal city for fine dining. It is spectacularly nestled between ocean and mountains, providing prized locations for restaurateurs. Its raw goods, from some of the best seafood on the planet to glorious seasonal produce, are a chef’s dream. To boot, it has a thriving wine industry with new, award-winning labels emerging yearly.
And yet, despite this enviable mix, the list of fine dining restaurant closures in our city over the last several years is a hefty tome that includes the efforts of many highly accomplished players in the culinary world. With a few notable exceptions, fine dining establishments in Vancouver have found the market exceedingly tough.
Some attribute the shift away from fine dining to the economy. Indeed, in a challenging financial climate it is hard to support a $150 per head dining proposition. However, the economy (and attendant factors like disposable consumer income) ebbs and flows, while the retreat from fine dining has remained steady.
I believe that other factors are at work here, non-monetary influences that account for our changing behaviours. Among these factors are the phenomena of savvy diners and hyper-specialization. The North Shore is a thriving haven for both of these trends and is, in my opinion, reflective of the culture of dining in our city today.
Take Olives on Tap, for instance, the olive oil specialist on West 16th Street that I have come to frequent since my first visit back in July. Owner Andrew Cameron provides consumers and chefs with exceptional quality oils that can be traced back to within four hours of their crush, a remarkable feat in a marketplace rife with fraudulent products. The Olives on Tap tasting room is groundbreaking in its capacity to supply both a unique consumer sampling experience as well as an educational overview of how best to use olive oil in culinary applications. I’ll often start a meal plan following a visit there.
With Cameron’s elixirs in hand, I might next pick up a case of organic, dry-aged meats from Two Rivers Specialty Meats, now offering limited, direct-to-consumer sales. Two Rivers is a North Shore butcher and distributor of 100-per-cent ethically raised, limited production meats from B.C. farms that has earned a loyal following among chefs for the flavour of its products and the sustainable practices of its partner farms.
With my shopping list nearing completion, I might consider a beverage to accompany my meal. I’d likely head to Old Dollarton Highway where I’d find two purveyors of small batch, seasonal craft beer: Bridge Brewing and Deep Cove Brewers. From the former I’d be inclined to pick up a bomber of North Shore Pale Ale, a hop-forward but nevertheless rich and toasty, food-friendly beer, while Deep Cove’s Quick Wit Wheat Ale, with its citrusy effervescence, is an ideal aperitif.
Where I once had to rely on a fine dining restaurant to provide me with the very best foodstuffs available in our market (at two to three times the cost of buying it directly) I can now find for myself the very same ingredients that are being used by Vancouver’s best chefs.
More than this, I am also able to learn how to use these ingredients just like my favourite chefs do. Chefs are heavily influenced by culinary traditions from all over the world. In Vancouver, it is not unusual to find Southeast Asian, Italian, Indian, or South American cooking techniques and ingredients co-existing on a single menu. And frankly, there is no better way to familiarize oneself with the influences that sway our favourite chefs than to sample key ingredients transformed at the hands of those who have mastered their particular culinary tradition.
With this in mind, a place like the small, family-owned Hanoi Bistro on East Second Street becomes a must-visit destination. With the use of simple herbs and spices, all widely available in local shops, co-owners and chefs Ken and Thuy Nguyen transform everyday ingredients into remarkably tasty, fragrant dishes in the Northern Vietnamese tradition. For me, each visit to Hanoi Bistro, and countless other specialty restaurants of the North Shore, yields new insights into the best uses of my favourite ingredients.
Like many other people, I am increasingly absorbing the rich culinary culture that is flourishing in our city by visiting hyper-specialized champions of select ingredients and traditions. A visit to a celebrated new high-end restaurant now mainly serves to inspire me to learn for myself about the influences and ingredients that inform its menu.
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. Contact: [email protected].
