Random Dining Adventures

Clockwise from left: Chef Dino Renaerts with his crispy skin coho salmon, Chef Tojo’s sushi trio, Chambar pastry chef Eleanor Chow’s pear praline tartelette. All photos by Anya Levykh

It’s been an interesting week. This past Sunday saw the 7th annual Passions event take place at—and in support of—the Dr. Peter Centre. Twenty of the city’s top chefs girded their creative loins to come up with some smackin’ food. One of my favourites included Oru chef David Wong’s tender slice of squab over shiso peach and sudacchi hollandaise, sided with a deep-fried tempura quail’s egg. The salty crunch of the tempura was perfectly balanced by the warm, runny cream interior. Another winner was Crave owner/chef Wayne Martin’s barbecued bison flat iron steak with chanterelle and corn ragout, over sweet onion puree. Chanterelles were fairly popular, showing up in a few chefs’ arsenal, including Fraîche owner Dino Renaerts’ coho salmon with bacon and chanterelle relish. It was a great night and I can’t wait until next year.

A few days earlier, I found myself in the little Bermuda triangle that is the intersection of Fraser Street, Kingsway and East 15th Avenue. Les Faux Bourgeois calls this area home, and is a great place for unpretentious French food. Just a few doors away, however, is a lesser known establishment, called the Lion’s Den, which has been open for well over a decade and is the only restaurant in Vancouver that serves up a fusion of Caribbean-Japanese cuisine. The fusion reflects the disparate backgrounds of the couple who own it, and the food is an interesting mix of the two cultures. Jerk chicken, Caribbean roti, sushi and all-day breakfast are the highlights. This is not a place that thrives on presentation. The prices and the food are extremely casual, but the portions are very serious. I made the mistake of ordering the okonomiyaki as a light snack. This Japanese-style pizza—with optional jerk chicken or prawns—is $10 for the veggie version and is large enough to feed a family of five comfortably—maybe more.

And coming up, Diva at the Met will be featuring apples throughout October and November, in several interesting dishes like apple cider-braised pork cheeks with caramel poached crab apples; maple glazed scallops with thyme-roasted apple and celeriac puree; and an apple and pecan brioche bread pudding. See restaurant website for full details.