Tips and etiquette for the Dine Out Vancouver experience

Article content

January has always been a slow time in the restaurant business, and after seeing the success of NYC Restaurant Week in Manhattan some 20 years ago, Laura Serena and I pitched the idea of Dine Out Vancouver to her boss, President and CEO Rick Antonson of Tourism Vancouver (now Destination Vancouver).

Article content

Adventure and the discovery of gold may have once lured the masses west, but today, it is Vancouver’s food scene that has sparked the new gold rush. Besides our home-grown talent and the city’s best culinary establishments, innovative dining trends, wine bars, food blogs, an Iron Chef and immeasurable attention to ambience, visitors and locals anticipate and explore new taste sensations and a fresh scene. International chefs were seduced by the city and also by Okanagan Valley wines poured by nose-y sommeliers and they staked their claim.

Article content

For the Dine Out Vancouver experience, here are some tips and etiquette. The festival now runs from now until Feb. 5. This year, restaurant prices for three-course dinners range from $20 to $34, $35 to $50 and $51 to $64. It’s been expanded over the years to include neighbourhood eateries, international chef exchanges, cooking classes and offers at the city’s top hotels. (You can receive a $75 gift card per night when you book one or two nights at a participating hotel.)

Article content

For the Best Dine-Out experience, here are some tips and etiquette:

• Make a reservation.

• The Dine Out prix-fixe doesn’t include beverages, tip or tax. If you are budget conscious, instead or ordering bottles of water, live dangerously and ask for tap water.

• Dress for success.

• Be open-minded.

• If you’re a very picky eater, be aware restaurants tend to offer three choices for each course.

• Last-minute cancellations happen. Check on availability during the day.

• Manage your expectations.

Restaurants frequently squeeze in a few more tables to make up the difference in the lower per-head cost, so seating can be more cozy than usual. Tip your server on what the actual price would be.

Here are some favourite romantic “kiss and tell” restaurants participating in Dine Out:

Article content

The Bacchus Restaurant and Lounge (845 Hornby St.) $65

The elegant Bacchus Restaurant in the Wedgewood Hotel is consistently rated “most romantic restaurant in Vancouver” in local polls. Dark cherry-wood paneling and deep burgundy velvet couches create private niches, accented by extravagant bouquets of flowers. A pianist taps out everything from soft rock to lounge standards. Their menu highlights include a choice of local steelhead, Cache Creek bavette (flank steak) or a wild mushroom risotto. An added bonus is having Chef Rob Feenie cooking your dinner.

H2 Kitchen + Bar, The Westin Bayshore (1601 Bayshore Drive) $35

Gaze at views of the North Shore mountains from the open-concept dining room while noshing on a feast of down-home Southern-inspired comfort, which includes: chicken corn chowder or harvest salad; a choice of Texas Smoked Beef Brisket served with sides like waffle fries and coleslaw, honey-glazed rotisserie chicken with red-skinned mashed potato, market vegetables and chicken gravy, or a vegan offering of smoked oyster mushrooms with soft polenta, caramelized onion, fire-roasted gem tomato and charred kale. To finish, indulge in a sweet finale with their banana pudding.

Article content

Vij’s (3016 Cambie St.) $50

Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala’s imaginative, home-cooked Indian Fare is a sensual delight that’s as far from run-of-the-mill curries as Vancouver is from Vij’s native Mumbai. Courtesy and simplicity rule as their exceptional team of kitchen staff and bartenders ensure diners receive the best dining experience from the moment they walk in the door. It’s a tough decision to choose between lamb in garam masala curry, chicken in a creamy Bengali-style curry or his vegetarian option of kale, jackfruit and cauliflower in a Bengali-style curry with mogo fries.

Chambar (562 Beatty St.) $49

Karri and chef Nico Scheurmans opened this gorgeous room in 2005 and almost overnight, became one of the most popular restaurants in the city. The success has continued, primarily because it offers stylish cuisine alongside impeccable service. The big attraction here are the Moules Congolaise which I’ve never tasted better anywhere.

Article content

This is one of my favourite recipes from Chambar:

Moules Congolaise

Chipotle purée is made by processing canned chipotles in adobo. You can also use smoked Spanish paprika.

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

1/4 cup (60 mL) thinly sliced red onion

2 tsp (10 mL) ground fennel seed

2 tsp (10 mL) ground coriander

2 tsp (10 mL) cumin seeds

1 tsp (5 mL) coarse black pepper

1/2 tbsp (7.5 mL) minced garlic

1 1/2 lbs (580 g) mussels, cleaned

2 cups (500 mL) coconut milk

1 cup (250 mL) fresh chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp (15 mL) chipotle purée

1/4 cup (60 mL) lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup (250 mL) fresh cilantro leaves

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add red onions and sauté for 2 minutes or until softened. Add fennel seed, coriander, cumin seeds and black pepper, and stir to release flavour of spices. Add garlic and mussels and stir.

Add coconut milk, tomatoes, chipotle purée and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil. Cook mussels until they have opened, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve immediately, discarding any unopened mussels.

Serves 2.