The last time Greer was in Vancouver - at least a couple of years ago, as we learned - she dined at C and ranked it as the best dining experience in her recent memory. She's since been quite keen to meet up with us in Vancouver so that we could all dine there together.If you ask Conrad what his best meal ever has been, he would have to tell you that Sooke Harbour House in 2003 is it. Honesty compels me to admit that he's right. But any reader of ths blog will know that neither he nor I shy away from giving another restaurant a crack at that title. We opentabled a Friday reservation at C, and met Greer and her friend Anya there at 6:45.
It's a handsome, modern room, though negotiating the stairs up and down on trips to the washroom given the wine pairings was slightly nervewracking. Ah well. We met the ladies at a table by the window - Greer and Anya had snared the seats facing False Creek while Conrad and I got to watch the room slowly fill (and empty some - we were there for 3 and a half hours) around us. Settled in, we commenced.
All of us opted for the 6 course tasting menu with wine pairings. There is a 10 course option, but we weren't quite THAT ambitious. One thing I greatly liked about the service was that the waiter happily worked with us to change the wine pairings so that all wines would be BC. It's a thing Conrad and I have when we're in BC - other than an occasional Mission Hill icewine, we can't get any of our back home favourites in Chicago. Anya and Greer agreed to go along with this, and I think we did quite well. As much as I can, I'll indicate the wine pairings since they weren't written out for us.
Up first: Kusshi Oyster, Granville Island sake marinade, watermelon radish. The pairing was the Sumac Ridge, Steller's Jay Brut
What was cool was that this was the first time Anya had ever had a raw oyster. I think she liked it, which is great. The wine was a fine pairing. The course was small, and thinking back, it was a clean, simple starter to what turned out to be a very smart and well-executed progression.Second course: Sablefish Escabeche, warm pickles, red pepper "whip". The pairing was the Joie Noble Blend, a wine that Greer and I almost worship.
The richness of the sablefish (black cod) was cut nicely by the acids in the dish. We weren't sure if the Joie paired especially well, but we love the wine, so it mattered less. Before this course came out, the waiter brought the wines and gave me, instead of the Joie, a pour of a Gehringer Brothers ice wine. I was having the foie gras instead of the lobster bisque, and the ice wine was the pairing in lieu of a Sauternes. Shortly before the sablefish arrived, he returned with a pour of the Joie for me, apologized for having skipped ahead a course, and told me that he would bring me a fresh pour of the ice wine with the foie gras. I was very very far from displeased!
Third course (for everyone but me): Lobster Bisque, candy smoked salmon, thyme froth. Photos before and after the bisque was poured in to the bowl at the table. The pairing was the Cedar Creek Estate Select Chardonnay.
My third course: Seared Foie Gras, keremeos quince, crispy bread pudding. Was the bread pudding done with or in brown butter? It had that wonderful nuttiness from brown butter, I swear. Or maybe I had had too much ice wine by then. Everyone tasted the foie gras, of course, and it was the second thing at dinner that Anya was trying for the first time ever.
The fourth course was the one we all loved most, and as we got looser, happier, sillier with the wines, it provided us with a running joke the rest of the night. So good, though, that there are two photographs. Bayne Sound Scallop, octopus bacon wrap, warm Summerland apple salad, black truffle gastrique.
Anya didn't realize that the bacon was made from octopus, and that launched us into running hilarity over wanting more bacon. In fact, we all did. Seriously. A bowl of more octopus would have been most welcome. This was an outstanding course, and I'm sorry I cannot recall what the wine pairing was save that I suspect it may have been the Cedar Creek Pinot Noir. Hmmm.Fifth course: Muscovy Duck Breast, crispy leg confit, glen valley butternut squash, sage jus. At first this seemed like a come down from the scallop, and maybe it was, but judged alone, it was greatly successful. The confit was dubbed a "duck tot" by the next morning. I think that the pairing was the Monster Vineyards Merlot. Or it may have been the aforementioned Cedar Creek. I know we had each, but the order escapes me.
We were happy, you can see!
The last course from the tasting menu: St. Dominique Chocolate Parfait, raspberry stuffed "beignet". That little streak? Vanilla bean-flecked honey. Irresistible - we dipped fingers in and licked. And then we remembered our table manners. It was paired with a Gehringer Brothers late harvest dessert wine.
So, six courses, and all were terrific. Such a good night. And not yet done. Did they have cheeses, we wondered? Oh yes. And so it was that a selection of four was presented:
White Grace, Moonstruck, Saltspring Island; Belle Anne, Hillary's, Vancouver Island; Blue, Poplar Grove, Naramata; Camembert, The Farmhouse, Agassiz.
All BC, so we each had another glass of wine (BC wine!) to go with it. Do not ask me to recall all of them. I can only tell you that I had the Joie Rosé.
Greer, if you read this, I have to apologize: the meal did not outdo Sooke Harbour House. But goodness, what an excellent evening. I think we all had an immensely good time, and perhaps we should all save our nickels and dimes for a return visit!
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