I love dinner events which involve wine, clearly given my Twitter. As well, D has been looking forward to trying DB Bistro ever since we heard that he was taking over for Rob Feenie. I mean really, it's a tad surprising and odd that a top chef like Daniel Boulud is in Vancouver in any form. I wonder though. One of the points that drove Feenie out was that the investors felt that he wasn't 'present' enough anymore. I guess he felt he'd out grown his small town britches and had resorted to simply consulting at the bistro which bore his name and the most expensive burger in Canada. Oh well. No love lost and he's landed on his feet with ...cough cough White Spot and Cactus Club (I believe)
Anyhoo, Monday nights at any restaurant is not a big night let alone in these economic times where a handful of very popular locales in Vancouver have already shut down. So DB Bistro has been hosting a Winemaker's Dinner Series on Monday nights. For 65$ plus 20% tip, already tacked on!! (boo), you have 4 courses of DB Bistro fayre paired with wine from a specific winery. We went on the night for the Rhone Valley winery Saint Cosme... though, oddly enough, only 2 of the wines were St. Cosme.
Booking was a bit of a chore and to be honest, I hadn't realised I had been booked until they called to confirm. How odd is that?? I exchanged a few phone calls and unanswered emails with a very unresponsive reservation staff because I wanted to be certain that my dietary limitations could be accomodated. So after I did not hear back, I assumed they could not. Then whilst attending a jazz concert, I got a call asking me to put my card down to confirm. Okay. Well, why not. We are also booked in a few weeks for a second with Myer's Family Winery from the Okanagan but I thought in case something came up, it would be okay to take this in case we had to later cancel the other. We will probably go because D knows the Myer Family folks.
The aperatif was a Paul Zinck bubbly, very subtle and delicate. From the Rhone region but not from St Cosme. http://bit.ly/PZinck
It was served with a Tarte Flambe...which I would more describe as a tartlette. The 'normal' one was ham and cheese but our table was non red meat so we were served a lovely mushroom one.
It was then followed by a white blend St Cosme, slightly floral nose, light, decent body, a little short on length. I preferred the red blend that followed.
It was served with a Gazpacho which was topped with avocado and a drizzle of oil. It was nice. I like my Gazpacho better :-D. It was a tad under seasoned. It was overall nice soup and I loved the avocado but really it was an odd addition to the overall menu. It is on the DB menu and so I assume that's why it was served but it was incongruent with the whole meal.
It was then followed by a red blend St Cosme Saint Joseph. It was very nice. Good body. Field berries. Yum. http://bit.ly/StJoCo
It was paired with Grilled Fraser Valley Pork Chop with potatoes, snap peas. D had that. I had the Baked Halibut with Asparagus, Fava Beans and what I think were small potato cakes.
We had a tart which really did not leave an impression with me at all. It was then finished with a lovely cheese course that was served with a Gehringer Brother Late Harvest Riesling. I loved this wine. Less sweet than an icewine, not syrupy at all. Full of orchard fruit. http://bit.ly/GhrL8
Overall, it was of decent value. The food was well presented and serving was well timed. Again think the Gazpacho was odd. I'm looking forward to the next one we're booked for but rather annoyed with the defacto 20% tip. I mean that's what D likes to tip anyway but when you're not given the option especially when you're seated with strangers, it doesn't seem right.
DB Bistro
2551 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC
One thing I will suggest now is that you should just book and then state your limitations after. The thing is that they will serve you whatever is on the DB Bistro menu anyway since the rest of the restaurant is still open. Another IMPORTANT suggest I would make is try to either specify that you would like to sit on your own or book with friends. We'll be going with another couple the next time. This night we were sat with newly transplanted Florida couple who were highly suspicious. Firstly, they were quite prententious which I just don't think is pleasant night out. I mean if that is not what you planned for. I felt like we were on a couples speed date. I don't think that having a 100$ dinner means that you should make small talk with a couple you would normally have nothing in common with. But as well, this couple Reagan and Dave from Florida managed to dodge virtually every question we posed them back on us. He works for Hot Head games and formerly Activision but didn't seem interested in talking about games even though I love to talk about games. Some how we kept being drawn to how we felt about Canada's position and our opinion on the Iraq and Afghan war? Hello??? Add to that he claimed to only be a developer but she was draped in diamonds and wearing a Hermes scarf and they eat only at Michelin star global restaurants. Come on! D thought they were on the witness protection program or spies. It's usually the other way around for such crazy assumptions but it was D which prompted the friends I told this story to actually pay attention :-P. They were both scraped the topping off the tart and left the crust and asked about the carbs in the main too. What do they think wine is? It's a big ol' glass of carb!!!! Man, if we hadn't found another couple to go with, I would have been tempted to cancel because I really didn't want to have to go through that again. I am generally compelled to be pleasant and she seemed friendly enough but he was altogether fishy and unpleasant. 'Yes, yes, but what does conservative in Canada really mean?' Hello? We just told you! Excuse me? Are you defending George Bush? Odd.
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