Vancouver Good

Happy 2010 everyone!

I celebrated the New Year with good company and food at the Pear Tree Restaurant in Burnaby. Why all the way in Burnaby? Chef Scott Jaeger is a past Vancouver Magazine chef of the year and represented Canada at the Bocuse d’Or competition in 2007. Really the question is – what took me so long?

The restaurant itself is beautiful – small, intimate, “like a jewel box,” my friend aptly described.

We arrived for the late seating on New Years Eve, a 7 course set menu for $125/person. Some at our table added a wine pairing with each course for an extra $50, poured personally with witty descriptions by Stephanie Jaeger.

Now, the food! Our menu:

Pheasant Consomme with confit ravioli and vegetable brunoise

Rainbow trout fillet crusted in candied trout and braised fennel served with a potato and leek press

Roasted quail wrapped in smoked ham with chanterelle mushrooms and brussels sprouts

Beef tenderloin over braised short rib and hon shimigi stew with a celeriac tart
OR
Butter poached spot prawns with potato gnocchi, braised artichoke, and spot prawn foam

Cheese plate to share: saint morgan, tete de moine, and roche baron with candied walnuts and pear

Chocolate ganache with salted caramel sauce and orange chocolate sorbet

Petit fours: Chocolate filled with caramel and topped with fleur de sel, pear jellies, hazelnut chocolate

Impressions & highlights:

• Overall the entire menu was excellent – great flavours and beautiful presentation. The weakest of the evening was the pheasant consomme, which was delicate but a tad under-seasoned for us.
• Best dish of the night: a toss-up. Some of us loved the rainbow trout, which was SO good with the sweet candied trout and I loved the leek and potato press. The spot prawns were plump and covered with a luscious and rich spot prawn foam. The quail was a perfectly cooked breast and a confit leg. Beef tenderloin with the hon shimigi mushrooms had incredible flavour and the celeriac tart was smooth with a crispy crust.
• Dessert requires a special mention because it was incredible. A rich, not too sweet chocolate ganache atop a hazelnut crisp with a drizzle of salted caramel. The blood orange chocolate sorbet was strong, tangy, sweet, amazing. An impressive and beautiful dessert.
• Service was excellent and personal. The chef came by at the end of the evening to wish us a happy new year and talked San Francisco Bay area restaurants with my visiting friends.

We left at 1:30am happy and content. Lucky Burnaby for having the Pear Tree Restaurant.

The Pear Tree Restaurant
4120 East Hastings Street, Burnaby
604.299.2772