If you live in or around Vancouver, British Columbia, you should definitely go to Tapastree Restaurant. If you don't live nearby, get on a plane and go to Vancouver!
Tapastree is in Vancouver's West End, just off Denman on Robson. It describes itself as tapas style cuisine with an international and West Coast influence at an affordable price. To that I would add warm, elegant and welcoming.
Pat and I recently went to Tapastree, along with my brother and his wife. On the advice of our waitress, Alejandra, we ordered two dishes each, and then couldn't resist adding one more item. We couldn't resist finding out how scalloped potatoes were made at a tapas bar. Turns out we we right to add them to our meal. In all we had:
- Roasted Beet Salad with Chevre, orange and hazelnuts
- Tomato, Bocconcini and Avocado salad with fresh basil
- Beef Carpaccio
- Sautéed Wild Mushrooms on toast with goat cheese
- Seared Ahi Tuna with Ponzu and Hot Mustard (you can find the recipe on their website here)
- Seared Scallops with caponata sauce
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken with spicy aioli
- Flat Iron Steak with peppercorn sauce, and
- Scalloped Potatoes
The food were presented beautifully on white china, one or two dishes at a time. Each was a taste adventure, although sometimes our preconception of the food differed from what was actually served. For example, Pat's expectation for the Beet Salad was with sharper, more distinct flavors. I found the subtlety of the ingredients combined to make a wonderful dish.
The Beef Carpaccio was a thrill. In these days of ultra-concern over serving raw meats, carpaccio and tartar have both suffered, either being cooked medium rare, as was the case with the carpaccio I had at a restaurant in Regina some time ago, or prepared like ceviche, like the steak tartar on board the Emerald Princess. If the meat is properly handled, there is little concern over serving it raw. At Tapastree it appeared to be beef tenderloin, quickly seared to kill any surface bacteria, sliced thinly and then pounded tissue thin. That is the way to make carpaccio, with fresh ingredients and careful handling. Near perfection!
Dish after dish, the food was excellent. And, as Pat noted, the atmosphere was alive with tables of two, three or four diners enjoying their evening. Maybe it is something about sharing dishes tapas style that encourages people to talk about the experience. Whatever, the place was buzzing with people having a great time.
Tapastree is a must on my list for anyone traveling to Vancouver.
Oh, and the Scalloped Potatoes? Not your usually tapas fare, but rich, cheesy and delicious. If I can figure out how to duplicate them, they may become a new comfort food.
1829 Robson St., Vancouver, B.C.
(604) 606-4680
http://tapastree.ca/
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward
for the Holidays this year?
Angst, Anger and Food
If you are like me, you probably enjoyed the recent Food TV program Top Chef. In the final episode of Season 1, Lorraine Bracco of The Sopranos fame and owner of Bracco Wines, said that she didn't care about the drama behind the scenes, and that the back story really doesn't mean anything, that it is what she was served that counts. OK, if what she was served was flawless in every way, I couldn't disagree.
My experience, however, in cooking and in dining out is quite the contrary.
I recall one memorable meal at a restaurant in Regina, Saskatchewan, where chef and waitress were, as they say, having at it tooth and nail, yelling at each other. First, in terms of atmosphere, as a customer I was unsettled by the tension in the air. The waitress was far too stressed to be the least bit nice at the tableside.
The food was equally unsettled. Little attention had been paid to plating. Instead the food was lumped onto the plate. Flavors weren't balanced. The food was over-cooked. To me, it seemed that the chef was too distracted by what was happening outside of cooking to pay attention to the immediate task. The mood of the restaurant had invaded the food of the restaurant. The two were unavoidably bound together by the staff.
If matters get too out of hand in a restaurant, staff will start to sabotage each other, in subtle or direct ways, completely undermining the quality of the food and the restaurant itself.
When cooking, I find that if I am rushed, or upset, or fail to leave the office at the office, then the food I prepare suffers. Without thinking, I throw in a little too much of one herb and it overpowers the dish; my timing is off and one dish burns while I am working on another; I'm not focused and knock over the oil, making a mess of the kitchen.
Preparing good food requires in-the-moment attention to details, with complete focus, without outside distractions and without having to worry about figurative or literal knives that may be aimed your way.
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward
Posted by Dave on Dec 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)