For many people, this time of year is about connecting with family.
Households fill with the familiar voices of holidays past, an extended network of kin and in-laws brought together to break bread, ruffle the hair of frenetic children and experience the belly-warming tingle of proper eggnog.
My wife and I have a family of our own now, with two young children and a third on the way in the new year, and we have initiated a number of our own traditions, seasonal rituals that we look forward to as the final days of December approach.
But not that long ago, we felt like orphans here on the West Coast, with several thousand miles between us and our families. Prior to the arrival of our first born, the holidays felt melancholy and we sometimes struggled to find ways to infuse the season with meaning all on our own.
And then, one year, a good friend and colleague invited us over to his family's celebration on Christmas Eve. It was a magnanimous gesture, to allow us into his own tradition and host us for an evening alongside the people closest to him.
A fantastic and elaborate spread of traditional dishes populated the dinner table that night and included ice cold shots of potent, caraway-heavy aquavit, dark rye breads with cured meats, smoked salmon and herring. Lots and lots of herring. Pickled, curried, creamed; herring was everywhere. And in that warm context, it was fantastic.
I was reminded of this happy event on my recent visit to Sailor Hagar's Brew Pub, a venue I had not visited since my earliest days here on the North Shore. I was floored by how this pub had transformed its menu since my last experience there. Thoughtful nightly specials
like coq au vin, suckling pig and baron of beef with Yorkshire pudding keep the menu fresh, while permanent dishes, such as Guinness braised shortribs with kale, mac and cheese with Stilton, and a blue cheese burger with grilled fennel, solidify the pub's clear commitment to interesting, non-traditional fare.
You can get wings here, to be sure (they're from free run chickens) and there are still requisite pub dishes like nachos and deep fried calamari, but Sailor Hagar's seems to have fully embraced the idea that a pub label needn't inhibit culinary creativity. Perhaps this perspective goes hand-in-hand with Hagar's efforts to produce interesting craft beer, a product that increasingly demands suitable food accompaniments. Indeed, the pint of house Grizzly Nut Brown Ale that I ordered as an aperitif, pulled from a hand-pumped tap and served just below room temperature, demanded a quality meal.
This gastropub experience sounds all well and good, you might think, but how did it possibly remind me of the Nordic Christmas Eve I spent with my friend? Great question. Here's what happened:
I ventured into the pub on my own, grateful for a reprieve from the interminable rain outside. I fully intended to kick off my meal with a light appetizer and then sink my teeth into the rib-sticking goodness of house-made coq au vin with mashed potatoes, the evening's special.
After reviewing the menu, I opted for the Scandinavian Platter to start. It is listed as an appetizer and I assumed its $15 price tag was a factor of its premium contents (smoked salmon, prawns, olives, grilled flat bread and pickled herring) rather than a foreshadowing of its size. I was wrong. The contents were indeed of good quality, but the platter was enormous. I cannot fathom how this dish is priced at only $15.
It contained a teetering mountain of sweet and peppery candied salmon (not listed on the menu), eight large, chilled prawns, easily 3½ ounces of tender and moist, thinly sliced, cold-smoked salmon, five hearty mounds of pickled herring wrapped around crunchy pickles, a dozen olives of different varieties, a separate platter of grilled flat bread and a huge wedge of dill cream cheese. I ordered a pint of seasonal wheat beer to accompany the feast and then tucked in. The cold fish, especially the herring, immediately transported me back to that Christmas Eve some years ago, unexpectedly giving rise to my first feeling of the holiday spirit this year. The pace of life had been so frantic that I had not yet taken pause to enjoy the season.
I watched several orders of the coq au vin emerge from the kitchen and they looked rustic and hearty, surely worth a try on another occasion. But I cancelled my main course order, ultimately, and took my time with the nicely assembled, generous Scandinavian platter, feeling thoroughly sated by the end of the meal and grateful for the experiences that have permitted me to be here now, relaying this story.
Happy holidays everyone. Skol! Sailor Hagar's is located at 86 Semisch Ave., North Vancouver. sailorhagarspub.com
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].
