Article & photos by Lenora A. Hayman.
The 11th year of the 2013 Dine Out Vancouver expanded to 241 events, including the $18, $28 & $38 three course meals with suggested BC VQA wine pairings for an extra cost, and extending to the Speaker Series including a food and cocktail tour, the Street Food City with 14 food carts in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and communal dinners.
During Dine Out the tea salon at The Urban Tea Merchant, the exclusive Canadian distributer of TWG tea, the Wellness Group, at 1070 W. Georgia St. introduced their tea-flight service for $38. There was a choice of 6 tea-flights consisting of 3 different teas under the categories of black, green, white and oolong teas and the Pu Erh flight of teas from Yunan, China which was my choice. Pu Erh teas undergo some oxidation during sun drying and then are fermented with microbes without the presence of oxygen. Regular black tea, as we know it, is only oxidized and doesn’t involve microbial activity. Pu Erh tea, like wine is classified by the vintage year, various processing methods, whether it’s wild or cultivated, the grade, the season and where it’s picked.
Reza Nasoot, the tea sommelier, said that Pu Erh and black tea require 95ºC (203ºF) hot water with 4-5 mins. steeping time, whereas white tea requires 85ºC (185º F) and 5mins steeping. For optimum flavours, the tea leaves are only used once and not re-infused with hot water a 2nd time. The 3 pots of tea were brought to the table simultaneously and each was drunk from separate cups to not confuse the flavours.
I started with the lighter flavoured Pu Erh 2000. The small, twisted leaves have strong, floral overtones that lingered on the palate.
The Pu Erh 1998 was darker in colour with a mushroom and earthy aroma.
Pu Erh 1993, the darkest in colour was sweet and flowery on the palate.
A selection of tea-infused open-faced crackers, cakes, sweets and fruits paired nicely. Chef Michael Batoux, who had worked on the Seabourne Luxury Cruise Line filled a wee, waffle cone with “lapsang souchong” smoked, chicken salad. A “Weekend in Hong Kong” sesame tea cracker had slices of “lucky tea” braised tofu, garnished with threads of duxell black mushrooms. My TWG Grand Wedding tea macaroon with passion fruit filling had been baked and flown from Singapore and the chocolate imported from France was infused with Sakura tea.
Large photos of India’s Taj Mahal, a Chinese bridge and a Japanese tea ceremony gazed down on other patrons, enjoying a peaceful time, during their 3-tier signature tea service, and pouring tea from a design teapot covered with an aluminium teapot”cosy”.
I also browsed through their retail boutique with its brightly covered boxes of haute couture teas, French Earl Grey tea jelly and tea truffles.
My friends Judy, Anne and I had experienced French bistros in France-those small restaurants with nice simple, uncomplicated menus. So we chose John Blakeley’s Le Parisien with the bright red awning at 751 Denman St. The red theme continued inside with the holding-bar stools, couches and table linens.
We accompanied our $28 menu with a bottle of the English Strongbow cider with its bold and fresh apple “zing”.
The aroma of the truffle oil, drizzled over Judy’s and my potato, leek and crispy bacon soup and the saffron aioli and oven dried tomatoes on Anne’s crispy calamari was a nice enhancement.
My Classic Bouillabaisse, the traditional French Marseille fish stew was filled with cod, prawns, mussels and clams and topped with a rouille spicy , garlic crouton.
Judy said her Grilled Steak Frites with the cognac peppercorn sauce and their famous pommes frites, the twice fried, narrow, French fries were “trés bien”.
Their Crêpe Normande filled with apple, caramel and vanilla sauce made a nice conclusion. One of these days I hope to go to Le Mont St. Michel in Normandy and taste the original crêpe!
Chef Chris Whittaker at the Forage Restaurant in the Listel Hotel at 1300 Robson St promotes locally grown, seasonal food. Lili and I both ordered the BC spot prawn and seafood chowder with soft poached egg, pork hock and smoked chicharron(the crunchy, sweet, fried pork skin) on top. It was delicious and well deserving of both Gold Medal Awards from the judges and people’s choice at the Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown. We too celebrated with a glass of the fresh, clean and bubbly Neck of the Woods Blanc de Noir Brut from Langley.
Gelderman Farms in the Fraser Valley, feed their pigs with a vegetable based diet with no animal meat by-products or hormones in the feed. My moist, main dish of a nice slab of Gelderman Farm’s pork belly enveloped in crackling with the turnip-rooted celery or celeriac, pomme purée, ambrosia apple and braised red cabbage was excellent. Lili’s Pacific Provider salmon with a red wine and balsam fir cure, sitting on kelp pasta and roasted squash purée, went well with the drier, fruity Okanagan 2011 Tinhorn Gewürztraminer.
My organic chocolate and raspberry cake with Agassiz hazelnut macaroon and raspberry caramel was not too sweet and Lili’s summer berry preserve frozen parfait with lattice of Meyer lemon gel had a delicate blending of flavours. A good $28 menu.
We cheered Dine Out with the apricot, quince and honey flavours in our Okanagan 2010 Arrowleaf Special Select Late Harvest Vidal wine
The Urban Tea Merchant: www.urbantea.com 1070 W.Georgia 604-692-0071
Forage Restaurant: www.foragevancouver.com 1300 Robson St. 604-661-1400
Le Parisien: www.leparisien.ca 751 Denman St. 604-687-1418
All 4 photos by Lenora Hayman.