L’Abattoir

Wendy had heard good things about L’Abattoir, a French/West Coast restaurant so we trekked to Gastown to try it out. It was amazing!

I had planned to take a shot of the signage when we left but forgot so this one’s stolen from the restaurant’s website.

Once inside our jackets were hung and we were led upstairs to a table with a good view of the action at the well-stocked bar.  The menus reflected this as the drink menu was lengthy and varied while the food menu was just a single page.

The complimentary bread included a buttery bacon brioche, some twisted parmesan bread with a barely detectable hint of anchovy, and a thin crispy flatbread sprinkled with sesame and cumin seeds.  All were interesting and enjoyable.

Bocuse d’Or Test Kitchen Tasting with Chef Alex Chen

Wendy was extremely excited to receive an invitation for us to attend an exclusive tasting event for Canada’s entry into the Bocuse d’Or.  For those who haven’t heard of it this biannual competition is an international event held in Lyons, France and will take place on January 29th and 30th this year.  It’s one of the most prestigious awards to win for a chef and the competition has produced insane extravagances such as Spain’s 2005 1 million Euro entry inspired by Salvador Dali; they brought out their fish course in a one meter high crystal egg!  This year Chef Alex Chen of Vancouver earned entry into the competition.  This is no easy feat, since of the 56 countries entering only the top 24 are chosen, and from there the competition is whittled down to just one representative per country, along with their Commis and Coach, to compete in the final event. Chen has previously held posts such as the Four Seasons in Toronto and Chicago and his most recent position as Executive Chef at the Beverly Hills Hotel, which he resigned in order to train for the Bocuse d’Or.

Anniversary…Secrets…Chambar…Hole digging…..

Yep.  Hitman’s really done it this time.  He’s dug himself into a massive hole and frankly, I don’t think he’s gonna be able to get out of it.

How could you be so careless???  Did you think of the consequences???  Apparently not!

Vancouver Olympics 2010 Eats Around Town 2

I didn’t end up posting the next day after all…but here’s the rest of it.

The next day I visited Granville Island with Pretty Sis.  She wanted to visit The House of Switzerland (not really a house, just Bridges Restaurant offering a few Swiss menu choices), I wanted to visit Atlantic Canada House.

First up House of Switzerland.  They had the bistro option or the restaurant option.  However you needed to make reservations in advance for the restaurant option, and the lineup for the bistro was around 45min-1 hour.  We ended up not doing that.

Instead, we lined up at the front where they had a tasting of Raclette Cheese on bread for $8.  Now $8 is a lot but we actually didn’t feel too badly about it because the way it was prepared, we didn’t think we would see or be able to experience it again here in Vancouver.

What they do is, the heat up half a wheel of the Raclette cheese under an interesting burner.  Once the cheese is melted, they slide the cheese out and spread it onto slices of bread.  It is served with pickled small pearl onions and mini pickles.  See the video below!