by Joe Mallozzi
Chow Restaurant
3121 Granville St. | 604-608-2469
Given my hectic schedule of late, my recent dinners have consisted of take-out, delivery, and the occasional home-cooked meal. Not that I’m complaining… Sometimes, baked chicken wings and double quarter pounders with cheese are a welcome change of pace. But until the day my wife starts making Toulouse sausage-stuffed game hen on a regular basis, or McDonald starts serving up McFoieGras, I’m afraid my heart will always belong to Vancouver’s dynamic restaurant scene. So when my buddy Martin suggested we check out Chow on Granville, I jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house, check out one of the area’s most talked-about newcomers, and hopefully get around to writing a review.
We arrived at a little after 6:00 p.m. to a half-filled room. As we perused the menu - divvied into Fish & Shellfish, Market Vegetables, and Meat & Poultry rather than the traditional Appetizer and Entrée sections - we checked out the décor: Dark brown and white, very clean, one might even argue a little austere, with a slick, separate bar area and atypical basement kitchen. We were informed that the restaurant was still in the process of selecting artwork for the place, something that would go a long way toward helping the establishment’s cavern-like acoustics.
Our waiter, Claude, kicked things off by explaining how the chef’s cooking philosophy was reflected in the ever-changing menu - his use of fresh, local ingredients shaping the evening’s selections. For instance, tonight, the Sloping Hills Farm organic pork dish would feature loin rather than the usual belly. I wondered if that was actually a good thing but, on Claude’s recommendation, ordered the pork nevertheless - along with some eight other plates. We were three after all.
My wife started with an asparagus soup that, like the surrounding décor, proved straightforward and clean if not altogether exciting. The beef carpaccio, served with baby arugula, horseradish salsa verde, grana padano cheese and a quail egg was very good - the inclusion of cipollini onion rings was a nice touch. The house-made country style terrine was excellent, coarse and hearty, accompanied by pistachio and sourdough baguette and a complimentary pear moutarde. The “Creamy Carnoli” risotto was another winner - fresh herbs, sautéed wild mushrooms, parmesan, a caramelized onion froth and, oh yes, the addition of the optional pulled pork making it a truly unique dish.
Following a brief interlude, we were served the second half of our meal. The home-made ricotta ravioli with roasted trumpet royal mushrooms served in fava bean and madras curry froth picked up where the risotto left off - even winning over the ricotta-loathing Martin. As I feared, the organic pork dish was a bit of a letdown, the loin a little too lean and lacking in flavor despite some terrific accompanying sweet onion puree, shimeji mushrooms, and deliciously inventive nutmeg gnocchi. I can only imagine how good the originally conceived pork belly version must be. We also enjoyed a generous piece of foie gras, pan-fried and served with a rhubarb compote, and fine ahi tuna dish. Sides included addictive sweet and spicy almonds, and what I referred to as Jenga Fries - thick, bronzed slices of meaty potato assembled to form a standing structure.
For dessert, we opted to go with four choices. The chocolate bread pudding with banana cooked in dark rum and chocolate ice cream came deconstructed, which made for a beautiful presentation but a relatively awkward assembly for anyone looking to enjoy a combination of all three flavors. In the end, the lay-out actually did a disservice to the chocolate bread pudding portion of the dish which, left to its own devices, proved rather plain and fairly devoid of chocolate. The accompanying banana was very good; the chocolate ice cream wonderfully rich. A pistachio frozen nougat “sandwich” with caramelized bosc pear and cinnamon syrup came highly recommended, and didn’t disappoint. The affogato, warm espresso over vanilla ice cream, offered up a nice bitter-sweet contrast in flavors.
Great food, excellent service and, from what I hear, the bathrooms are pretty impressive as well.
It’s nice to get out every once in a while.
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