Thierry, Vancouver

Thierry (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Website: www.thierrychocolates.com
Last Visited: June 2012

Thierry Busset gained the culinary world's attention as pastry chef at London's Le Gavroche and Marco Pierre White, both of which have been lauded with three Michelin stars.  After overseeing pastry at a couple top Vancouver restaurants (CinCin and West), Thierry started his own kitchen.  The sweets at this brilliant chocolaterie and patisserie will evoke Paris with your first bite.

Thierry's Opera

My boyfriend and I stopped at Thierry for an afternoon treat after a day of sightseeing in Vancouver.  In the mood for a hit of chocolate, I decided on the Opera.  The classic version of this pastry consists of layers of dark chocolate, coffee cream, coffee-soaked almond sponge, and chocolate ganache.  Thierry's version uses a hazelnut sponge which pairs nicely with the chocolate.  I lifted up my plate to check out the cross-section and was impressed with the precise even layers.  A couple of people at other tables gave me strange looks as I did this.  Maybe they were secretly wishing they had appreciated Chef Thierry's craftmanship before they cleaned their plates.  The Opera's top chocolate layer is a thick glaze in keeping with tradition.  Happily the glaze offered a slight crack as my fork sliced through it, lending some textural contrast to the pastry.  The cutting of the pastry could have used a bit more attention. 

Thierry's take on liquid chocolate

My boyfriend and I shared Thierry's liquid chocolate with Basque chili.  The mild heat of the chili helped to cut the rich sweetness of the chocolate.  A light foam on top gave a welcome variation in texture. The exact blend is a house secret but based on the colour and density I suspect that the liquid chocolate was cut with cream and also aerated.  The full glass was surprisingly light for its volume.  I could have done without the aeration--I expected the drink to be a bit thicker.  But in terms of flavour, this luxurious liquid chocolate would satisfy any chocoholic. 

Lemon, coffee and pink praline macarons at Thierry

 What patisserie would be complete without macarons?  A macaron is an almond meal and meringue-based pastry filled with ganache.  I often call them Parisian macarons to distinguish them from coconut macaroons.  The perfect macaron has a delicate crust, a soft chewy inside and a creamy flavour-packed filling.  To me the most beautiful part of a macaron is the foot,  the ruffled layer above and below the filling.  When the ganache has been piped carefully and there is an even airy foot on either side, the macaron is a visually stunning pastry.  Thierry prepares a selection of flavours daily, using seasonally-appropriate ingredients. 

Thierry's interior is warm, bright and modern.  Expect to spend a few minutes at the long glass display counters making your selections.  Don't expect to find a seat inside, especially on a rainy Vancouver day!  Fortunately the covered outdoor patio is spacious and outfitted with heat lamps.  Located downtown on Alberni Street, Thierry's patio is prime people-watching real estate.

Twisted Fork Bistro, Vancouver

Twisted Fork Bistro (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Website: www.twistedforkbistro.ca
Last Visited: June 2012

Based on its menu offerings, Twisted Fork might be described as a French bistro.  But amid a bistro's typically modest setting and simple dishes you don't usually find generous servings and homestyle plating.  Twisted Fork's fare is truly French comfort food.  Sourdough rolls are baked fresh daily just before dinner service.  Plates are finished with more rich sauce than can possibly be consumed, even with mounds of pommes purees and ratatouille to soak it up.  If you visit, make sure that you save room for dessert because Chef Corey Sullivan is a pastry chef by training. 

Here were my selections:
Scallops and Bacon
Cured BC Duck Breast
Chocolate Terrine
Caramel Napoleon

Scallops and Bacon

The phrase "scallops and bacon" conjured images of bacon-wrapped seafood.  Happily, this appetizer was a fresh-tasting, deconstructed version.  Seared scallops were topped with caramelized onions and a house-made corn relish, all served on a bed of pureed potatoes.   The plate was dressed with bits of Vancouver Island double-smoked bacon.   Salty, crunchy bacon pieces were a perfect foil for tender scallops.  The slightly acidic and textural corn relish gave the dish a clean finish.  I could have done with fewer dollops of potatoes, perhaps a bit more neatly plated, but then it wouldn't really be comfort food would it?

Duck Breast

The duck was served with pureed potatoes, heirloom yellow carrots, crisp green beans, ratatouille and was finished with copious amounts of duck jus.  Best of all, a house-made cherry chutney cut through the richness of the duck.  The duck skin could have been a bit more crispy and the fat slightly more rendered.  But the meat was so juicy that I decided I could forgive a bit of fat around the edges.  That is the beauty of comfort food: love and generosity on the plate translate to love and generosity in the heart.

Twisted Fork's colourful interior

Twisted Fork does not take reservations because they have only 30 seats.  The restaurant is one long room with the grill area open along one side, exhibition-style.  Dessert preparation happens in the back kitchen, away from the heat.   The rear of the restaurant features Corey Sullivan's  epic floor-to-ceiling wall of canned jams, relishes and preserved fruit which are pulled off the shelf and spooned onto dishes.  During my meal I watched two chefs working together to run the grill, manage the sauces and get the food plated.  They were quietly chatting away as they brought each table's food up together.  I was impressed with the calm vibe emanating from the kitchen.  It was pretty hot in the booth right across from the grill, but that's the price you pay for a bit of entertainment.

Dessert plating was done with significantly more care and attention to detail than in previous courses.  Normally I would have negotiated a shared dessert with my dining companion.  But because this was an early birthday celebration, and because Corey Sullivan's desserts are famous, we decided to order two desserts to share.  That was definitely the best decision of the evening.

Chocolate Terrine

 
Terrine: a classic technique in French cuisine.  It usually involves several layers being packed tightly into a loaf pan, wrapped in plastic, compressed with a weight and chilled for hours or overnight.  The chocolate terrine was a true terrine (not a metaphor as I half-suspected) consisting of a layer of raspberry sorbet sandwiched between two layers of dark chocolate mousse.  After setting, the terrine was brought back up to room temperature resulting in a rich, dense slice of chocolatey raspberry flavour in every bite.  The plate was garnished with a stunning quenelle of raspberry sorbet, a chocolate disk and fresh mint.  I loved the artful circles of raspberry coulis on the plate.  Wedges of half the size would have equally satisfied my chocolate cravings.

Caramel Napoleon

I hope Twisted Fork doesn't change a thing about the Caramel Napoleon, ever.  Two layers of thick caramel mousse were sandwiched between three salty crunchy almond tuiles.  The dish was garnished with a large quenelle of house-made maple ice cream, fresh raspberries, raspberry coulis and fresh mint.  Sweet, acid, salt, crunch in every bite, not to mention TLC infused into every component make for a dish not to be passed up.  I loved the twisted fork imprinted in icing sugar on the plate.  After a few bites my plate was an elegantly messy, textural dream.

Sea House Restaurant, Maui

Sea House Restaurant (Napili Bay, HI, USA)
Website: seahousemaui.com
Last Visited: March 2012

Kai could be one of the first Hawaiian words you learn on a visit to Maui.  Ocean.  Locals giving you directions might say makai (towards the sea) or mauka (inland).  On a menu, kai means fresh catch.  When you're eating at a West Maui restaurant, the fish on your plate was probably unloaded mere hours ago at the Lahaina wharf.  If you're really lucky, that restaurant is Sea House Restaurant at the Napili Kai Beach Resort.

My dishes of choice:
Kai Trio of scallops, shrimp and mahimahi
Mango Berry Cobbler

Sea House's Kai Trio (photo taken mid-course)

Seared sea scallops, sugarcane-skewered shrimp and fire-grilled mahimahi were the centerpieces of the Kai Trio.  The sugarcane was a thoughtful local touch--its sweetness permeated the grilled shrimp.  The mild, meaty mahimahi picked up the smokiness of the grill.   The scallops were beautifully caramelized and tender.  But the big surprise was the purple sweet potato ravioli on the side.  The deep colour of Hawaiian sweet potatoes is deliciously exotic to me: sweet potatoes are orange where I come from.  Picture a delicately thin pasta surrounding a plump sweet filling topped with a smooth lemon cream.  I bet you're not thinking about fish anymore!   A bed of lightly-wilted spinach gave a freshness and acidity to this generous plate of seafood.

Kai was the theme of my dinner at Sea House.  I dined on seafood, seated outside on a small patio overlooking Napili Bay.   Many diners opted to eat inside because the evening was a bit damp and breezy.  Happily, my boyfriend and I ended up sharing the patio with just two other tables of guests.  The expanse of golden sand and aquamarine water at sunset was well worth the jacket I had to wear to ward off the chill.  Despite the inclement weather our servers came out frequently to check on us and to chat between courses.  This was a testament not only to the quality of service at Sea House, but also to the spirit of Aloha we encountered all over Maui. 

Mango Berry Cobbler

 For dessert I chose a cobbler that highlighted local produce.   The mangoes, strawberries and raspberries were all grown on Maui.  We had driven around the farms of Kula a couple of days before, and Sea House deftly delivered those farms back to us on a spoon.  Topped with a lightly-spiced crumbly crust, served with ice cream and two kinds of coulis, this cobbler was built for two.  The Tahitian vanilla ice cream was intended to be an exotic touch, I guess.  But I would have loved to see a macadamia nut ice cream, which is so plentiful all over Maui, to pack more local flavours into the dish.

If you're like me you might have some reservations about resort restaurants.  They sometimes bring to mind an aura of convenience and clubbiness that does not appeal to me.  During our stay in Maui we visited another resort restaurant in the Lahaina area which failed to live up to its reputation.  (Since my goal is to promote great food and great chefs, that restaurant won't be named here.)  Sea House Restaurant put all those reservations right out of my mind.  Partly, it is the fact that the restaurant is set apart from the main resort so that a stroll through the grounds is not required to access it.  Partly, we were lucky to have a secluded table away from the loud chatter inside the restaurant.
  
A TASTE OF HAWAII AT HOME: In the days following this dinner purple sweet potatoes became part of our repertoire in our Maui condo.  We oven-baked them topped with butter and brown sugar, with some fresh green onions thrown in just before serving.  For a Canadian twist, you can use orange sweet potatoes with maple syrup instead of brown sugar. Another staple Hawaiian food we adopted was poke (pronounced po-kay): a simple mix of fresh Ahi tuna, oyster sauce, soy sauce, wasabi, sweet and green onions.  The mix can be eaten raw after marinating for a few minutes or quickly pan-seared.  Isn't it great how the green onions tie the two dishes together?  If you can't find fresh Ahi, you can replace it with steak and still experience poke.  Just don't tell your Hawaiian friends.

Public Restaurant, New York City

Public (New York City, NY, USA)
Website: public-nyc.com
Last Visited: August 2006

I fell in love with food in New York City.  It was late summer 2006 and a friend in Manhattan was showing me around the town.  I spent a long weekend seeing the sights by day and exploring the culinary scene by night.  The cocktails.  The world-renowned wine cellar at
Veritas (www.veritas-nyc.com).  The street food.  The pizza.  And my all-time favourite, Public.

Public's kangaroo

Here's what I devoured:
Grilled kangaroo on a coriander falafel with lemon tahini sauce and green pepper relish
Pan-seared Tasmanian sea trout with carrot-cardamom puree and braised fennel

My inner monologue during the first course went pretty much something like this: I'm eating a kangaroo.  That's pretty cruel because kangaroos adorable.  This is delicious.  The meat is so tender that it's melting on my tongue.  Green pepper relish, that's different.  The relish is really clean after the gamey meat.  The three textures work well together: chewy falafel, tender rare kangaroo, delicately chopped relish.  I'm eating kangaroo!

I have loved cooking since I was allowed to touch the stove.  I have loved eating since I tasted my first strawberry pie at the tender age of one year old.  But my blossoming love for food is about so much more than cooking and eating: it's about knowing ingredients (for example, what pairs well with kangaroo), learning and appreciating technique, watching trends in cooking and plating, and following the larger-than-life personalities of the world's best chefs.

I was expecting big things from the sea trout because I know a little something about fish.  Living on the West Coast of Canada I have access to some very fresh seafood.  Before the dish came to the table I had some pressure points in mind: The skin should be crispy. The fish should flake perfectly with a fork.  I like trout served rare (or at most medium rare) with a nice bold pink colour inside, but the fish should not be at all gelatinous.  Here are the two best things about Public's sea trout: the skin was beautifully crispy (can you say butter?) while the carrot-cardamon puree and braised fennel both added an exotic sweetness.  A tartar sauce over the top of the trout fulfilled the third part of the culinary quartet: sweet, salt, acid, crunch.  Executive Chef Brad Farmerie is a master at sourcing fresh ingredients, with a particular emphasis on Australia and New Zealand produce.

Public Restaurant

Library lovers will enjoy the old card catalogue drawers that decorate some of Public's more intimate nooks.  The restaurant accentuates its academic theme by presenting its menus in typewriter font on clipboards.  There is also a 20-seat wine bar, the Monday Room, within the restaurant where dishes are paired with wine selections.

Public was awarded a Michelin star for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.  With that honour comes a big drawback: everyone in Manhattan wants to eat there.  The tables are so close together that you're basically going to learn all the deepest secrets of the diners next to you.  Also, if you are a normal-sized person (as opposed to a supermodel) there's no way you're squeezing through the six inches of clearance between your table and the next one.  Anyone wanting to sit with their back to the wall should be prepared for the hostess to drag the table out before they can be seated.