Ethnic Eats » French

Around Vancouver in 52 Restaurants

degan — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:52:37 +0000

So I’ve dedicded to start a new project for dining in 2010. The tagline of this site is “Sampling the World’s Cuisine Without Leaving Vancouver” and so instead of of traipsing around Vancouver’s culinary delights in the random way I have been for the last (almost) 2 years, I am going to present my finds country by country.

I still have a bit of a backlog of reviews, so I may post those interspersed with the project and if I feel really keen, I may even post some recipes.

First stop on the grand tour: North America. Got any favorites you’d like to recommend?

La Brasserie

degan — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:32:45 +0000

The last time I had dinner with my grandmother, we ended up at Denny’s on Davie, and I choked down whatever I ordered while staring longingly across the street at La Brasserie and imagining the beautiful bistro food being prepared. Surely someone was tucking into the simple elegance of steak frites, or nibbling delicately at a nicoise salad while I was not even entirely sure I was eating food.

I started with a Lillet, an aperitif like delicate liquid marmelade, while my friend ordered a Lillet d’ete. This is Lillet blanc mixed with homemade lemonade and thyme. True to its name, it tastes like sunshine and grass; summer in a glass.

We were unanimous in our decision to share the duck confit to start and fell upon it hungrily, the textures and tastes of the tangy frissee and succulent, soft duck.

Then our paths diverted a bit. La Brasserie is not a French bistro but a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Alsace. So there is also suckling pig with schopfnudel on the menu, and other German delicacies. I stayed on the French side of the border with the 7 oz steak onglet and frites while my dining companion switched sides with an order of bratwurst. Simple food done well is both comforting and special and this was both. Swirling burgundy in my glass and looking out onto the street (in the vastly preferable direction) I had no complaints. You have to squint hard to pretend you’re not in Vancouver but the food is authentic and sometimes that’s enough to transport.

On Sunday, October 4 from 5 pm – 7 pm, La Brasserieis is having a 1-year anniversary party and Oktoberfest bash. They’ll have complimentary German beer and wine, as well as traditional Oktoberfest fare, including bratwurst and suckling pig sandwiches.

______________________________________________

La Brasserie
1091 Davie Street, Vancouver

Casual Elegance at Jules Bistro

degan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:21:49 +0000

Last week my sister and I had a lovely lunch at Jules in Gastown. Here is a photograph of their gorgeous chandelier because my camera was behaving more badly than normal and my photos of the food were too blurry to be useful. Perhaps there is something useful in posting a photo of the decor, however. Our lunch – I had the Duck Confit with Puy Lentil Salad ($19) accompanied by an impeccably made kir and Ally had the Nicoise salad ($10) – was delectable and perfectly pleasing, but there was equal satisfaction to be had in ducking into an exquisite French room in the middle of the day.

The people at Jules describe it as “a casual French bistro” and that’s a good way of describing the simple brick walls and tile floors. There’s no pretension here, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not also dripping with elegance. There are the chandeliers, for instance, and the wait staff who greet you in French.

I was here quite a while ago for dessert and cheese and port and it was such an exquisite-yet-simple treat that I’ve been meaning to return ever since, and I am still not able to leave off my intentions to return because there are many more things on the menu I want to try. The cassoulet, for instance, which is not available at lunch.

Here’s a shot of my lovely dining companion, Allyson, and a bit of her Nicoise salad.

_________________________________________________

Jules
216 Abbott Street, Vancouver