Hawksworth is a fresh addition to the Vancouver dining scene, featuring a gorgeous room, beautiful food, plus an even more stunning clientele. This is the restaurant where you put on that killer dress you’ve been saving up and work it.

First, the good:
- I love the room. It’s contemporary with a huge glam factor and overlooks the Vancouver Art Gallery, one of the city’s most beautiful buildings.
- The beautiful restaurant and bar are just asking for you to dress up. The people watching here is excellent.
- A great cocktail list – Plan for a before dinner drink at the bar and watch the bartenders craft some beautiful drinks. I am not drinking alcohol at the moment, and they had several “zero proof” cocktails for me too.
- Playful plates. For every dish we ordered, the plates came out colourful, composed, and playful. I truly enjoyed the plating for all dishes. You eat with your eyes first, after all.
- From the bar menu:  thick cut, triple fried  frites, soft and tender inside with a crispy exterior.
- The Foie Gras Parfait – a delicious, must-have appetizer. Great texture, flavour, and the best part – it comes with foie gras cotton candy!
- Yellowfin tuna carpaccio – fresh, generous slices of yellowfin with a perfectly balanced sauce and crispy puffed rice
-Seared scallops with a housemade xo sauce – perfectly cooked with sweet, salty, spicy flavours
- Tender, tender pork loin cooked sous vide with spatzle
- Flaky and moist olive oil poached salmon with mild Indian flavours and an eggplant caviar tinted black with squid ink
- And I didn’t order this, but I sure wish I did – a 22oz rib eye to share. Every order that came out of the kitchen looked so good and tender.
- The restaurant also offers a great bar menu and brunch/lunch menus, so there’s something for all occasions.

However.

My first Hawksworth experience was not perfect, so I need to detail my issues. But, I am giving them some benefit of the doubt as they are newly opened and I was there at 8pm on a Saturday night – the place was packed.

The drawbacks:
- I was really disappointed with the service. Our waiter was nice, but clearly too busy and there was no personalized service at all. For a restaurant of this caliber, that is unacceptable. It took 20 minutes for our drinks to be served after we were seated, and another 20 minutes before they returned to take our order. Coffees arrived after our desserts were served. A friend ordered a cocktail that she did not like and it sat at our table throughout the entire dinner, full. When the mains were cleared the waiter picked it up, asked if she was done with it and walked off. What?!! My friend said not to say anything, or I would have.

- Dessert was a miss. Most people at our table had the milk chocolate mousse with passion fruit. Sounds delicious, but the milk chocolate was way too subtle for the tart passion fruit, which overwhelmed it. Pretty plate, but unbalanced flavour. I’ll order a different dessert next time.

- And my nit-pick issue. There is carpet in the centre of the dining room, where we were seated. It’s a nice carpet, but there’s one problem. The chairs don’t slide gracefully on the carpet. Getting in/out of the chair turned into a slightly awkward occasion.

So, let’s return to the good as my overall experience at Hawksworth was wonderful. Great food, glam room, and fun people watching. I can’t think of another restaurant in Vancouver with a combination quite like this. Go, dress-up, and enjoy.

Hawksworth Restaurant
801 West Georgia Street inside the Rosewood Hotel Georgia (@ Howe)
604.673.7000

Blogger’s note: I title this blog “Vancouver Good” because I like to only write about the good things in Vancouver. Overall, I really liked Hawksworth and look forward to many future visits. I had to highlight some drawbacks this time or I would have felt uneasy making the recommendation when I did experience some negatives.

First, I love how the Loden Hotel renovated the restaurant formerly known as Voya into Tableau – an urban, French bistro feel, a la Balthazar in NYC. They’ve also added an outdoor patio for afternoon lunches and drinks.

I’ve only been for lunch, but the food was excellent. A nicely cooked halibut cobb salad with fresh greens and a mild blue cheese. Or the quintessential bistro dish, steak frites – sliced steak drizzled with a red wine sauce. You also get a lovely salad with the dish, which makes having steak and fries for lunch much healthier. Portions are a little small, but you don’t leave the restaurant hungry.

The website also says takeout is coming soon. This excites me – as a new mom, I am eating at home more so having access to quality takeout food will be a treat.

The restaurant was bustling at lunch with a diverse crowd, including lots of business meetings – this is a great expense account restaurant.

The restaurant scene in this part of downtown isn’t great, so it’s nice to see Tableau here. I hope it does well.

Tableau Bar & Bistro
1181 Melville Street (@Bute)
Vancouver
604-639-8692

I tend to go the more traditional route with their properly poached eggs, turkey sausage, toast, and homemade jam. Or, a yummy BLT with a generous serving of bacon on crispy ciabatta bread.

Seb’s provides good quality food & portions at a reasonable price. It is certainly one of the better brunch joints in Vancouver. As a popular neighborhood restaurant, expect to wait in line on the weekend during prime brunch hours. Go early or expect to grab a cup of coffee from the staff and peruse the kitchen gadgets for sale in the entry way while in line.

Seb’s Market Cafe
592 East Broadway( @Carolina)
Vancouver
(604) 298-4403

Can’t say I have ever been to a Franco-German restaurant before this one, but doesn’t the idea sound awesome? Take the best classic French bistro dishes combined with the best German food and you have a menu with steak tartare, mussels & fries, steak frites, homemade bratwurst and saurkraut, and schnitzel. Yum.

My first visit was a Sunday evening for a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken and frites for me, and the homemade bratwurst for the hubby. The chicken was huge – an entire half chicken on the bone, extremely moist and “chickeny.” The frites were super crispy and salty and lovely dunked into the housemade ketchup and mayo. The bratwurst came with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes – also delicious, but the flavours were a bit more muted than expected. When you think bratwurst and sauerkraut you think really punchy flavours, but it was much milder here. Perhaps to cater to the masses.

Overall, it was a great first visit and I’m looking forward to trying another dinner and the weekend brunch menu next time I want some gourmet comfort food.

La Brasserie
1091 Davie Street
604.568.6499
No reservations

Located in the former Tomato Cafe location, Stella’s looks nothing like its predecessor. It’s a sleek room with warm colours and soft lighting.  The menu is also different from the Commercial Drive location, featuring a few dishes local to the ‘hood plus a prix fixe dinner menu option.

But what you always do at Stella’s is order a beer. With an extensive Belgian beer list and lots on tap, there’s something for everyone. It was a smooth and sweet Leffe for myself tonight.

We opted to share a bunch of tapas, where I feel the kitchen is strongest:

• Cauliflower “popcorn” – mini florets roasted in butter and herbs, topped with cheese
• Tender chipotle lime dusted calamari
• Korean BBQ beef ribs with a pickled ginger and nori salad
• Belgian Poutine with a Blanche de Chambly & miso Gravy and topped with green onions – both ingredients give the poutine a nice zing
• Mussels – freshly steamed mussels with your choice of 8 flavorings. Make sure you order a side of bread too.

The tapas were tasty, fresh, and well executed. The food at the Cambie location is a little better than Commercial Drive, and a step above usual bar fare.

Cold beer, fresh mussels, frites, good prices…yeah, I’d go back.

Stella’s Tap and Tapas Bar on Cambie
3305 Cambie St (@ 17th Ave)
Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

The food here is awesome. Fresh, local, organic, and well executed. While all types come to Little Nest, it’s a restaurant/cafe designed for kids and families as well. Scrambled eggs and the muffins at Little Nest are a must. Expect lots of happy kids running about, toys scattered around, and a good buzz of conversations in the room.

My full review and food overview is on Granville Online magazine – HERE.

The Eight 1/2 differentiator: their mantra that everything should be “simple, fresh, local,” which for Eight 1/2 means  a kitchen with no deep fryer and microwave. What that translated to was some good, different menu options. The room is nice and cozy with soft lights and a modern feel. We arrived at 7pm on a Tuesday evening and the restaurant was full. After enjoying a drink at the bar, we moved over to a table once space opened up.

Here are my highs and lows for on Eight 1/2:

• The restaurant offers a seasonal fresh sheet in addition to the standard menu – we sampled some excellent mini perogies with a mild chipotle sauce.
• Cedar plank halibut with mango salsa and spinach risotto. This dish was fresh, but fell a little short. One dining companion felt the size of halibut filet was too small. I was fine with the size, but it was slightly over-cooked and the mango salsa didn’t have much flavour. The spinach risotto was okay, but came cold.
• Steak Sandwich – while the Globe & Mail review slagged this dish, I quite enjoyed it. The bun was a little doughy, but full of butter and garlic and the steak was so good – medium rare, tender, grass-fed steak. Mmmmm. On the side we opted for a bowl of french onion soup (also off the fresh sheet), which had a nice flavour, but was not extraordinary.
• Dessert – apple crumble pie with ice cream, warm and comforting
• Service was friendly but the kitchen was quite slow (we waited about 20 min for appetizers and over 30 min for mains). I’ll forgive them for the wait time since the restaurant was packed and I had two friends to gossip the night away with. That said, don’t go if you’re in a hurry.

Overall, Eight 1/2 is a nice neighbourhood joint and the staff really cares about offering good service and food. I’ll return to try more menu items, like the oven-baked wings, pizzas, and 4-cheese macaroni and cheese.

Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge
151 East 8th Ave.  (@ Main)
604-568-2703

I’ll be honest, neither of these places would be high on my list of places to recommend to a tourist (although Trafalgars would be higher on the list), but for a local they’re both great places to stop in for a non-pretentious meal and drink.  Here are some thoughts on the two bistros…

The Smoking Dog Bistro, 1889 W. 1st Ave (@ Cypress). Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch

• The two best things at the Dog – pommes frites and the bolognese, not necessarily together. The pommes frites are some of the best -  super crispy, salty, and addictive. And for a Mediteranean restaurant, the Dog does a great bolognese, it’s my husbands favourite. A hearty meat sauce tossed with angel hair pasta make a satisfying main. If you go late at night I swear the portions get bigger.
• Steak Frites for $19 is a reasonable deal in my book. I head to Dog often when I crave this dish
• A fabulous patio. Big, sunny, and with great people watching – this is definitely an underrated patio. It’s covered and heated in the winter, so it’s in use all year round
• Live jazz two nights a week make for some nice ambiance. They also have a tv playing hockey games, so something for everyone
• Downsides: I find the service a little spotty at times, I have been served some not so fresh salad here, and the tables are very close together in the restaurant.

Trafalgars Bistro, 2603 W. 16th Ave (@Trafalgar)

• I enjoy all the food here – there’s something very comforting about how the food is prepared and tastes. The menu changes, but a couple months ago they had this killer warm salad with vegetables, spinach, and feta – so good.
• The bistro fries on the evening menu are heaven. Huge serving, with truffle oil and cheese.
• Fantastic brunch menu. I love coming here for brunch. They usually  have a scrumptious crepe and french toast on special in addition to their daytime menu. The lamb burger is also a highlight.
• Downsides: The decor is a little dark, with the older wood style, but it’s an otherwise welcoming restaurant. I’m also not a huge fan of Sweet Obsessions next door (although I’m the only one as everyone else I know loves them), so I tend not to do dessert here often.

When I used to live downtown, the only restaurant stop worth going to on the “sketchy” part of Granville (the strip South of Nelson) was the  excellent Templeton Diner, which continues to churn out good quality food in an otherwise good food starved part of town.

A few more places have been opening over the past couple years and one of them is the Twisted Fork Bistro, located on Granville, between Davie and Helmcken.

This is a regular brunch haunt for a good friend, so the hubby and I met up with him on Labour Day for a bite. Highlights:

• Good coffee – bottomless french press coffee! Awesome.
• Good variety of brunch items, from Eggs Benny to Croque Monseiur to fruit salad with scones, jelly and yogurt
• Amazing house-made preserves. The restaurant’s back wall is flanked with pretty jars of jellies and preserved items.
• What we ate: Nicely cooked asparagus scrambled eggs, potato rosti, spinach, and sourdough bread with an excellent apple jam. Gruyere baked eggs with bacon and baked beans – smelled amazing, but the eggs were overcooked. Banana stuffed brioche french toast topped with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon icing sugar -a little dry and overcooked, but tasty.

Overall, the food was competent and flavours were good – not a to-die for meal, but a comfortable atmosphere with friendly staff. All brunch items are $10.

The restaurant is open for dinner and features different specials every weeknight. I plan to return next time I’m in the area.

Twisted Fork Bistro
1147 Granville Street
604-568-0749

I’ve written about DB Bistro Moderne before, but I feel the need to write more.

I have been to DB a few more times since my first blog write-up, and this restaurant is just excellent. Yet I was at the restaurant yesterday – a Saturday night – and the place was busy (2/3rds full), but not packed. Given the level of food and service, I was expecting more people!

But let’s talk about why you should go:

• I was at DB for brunch one day and crepes were the feature menu item. I ordered a spinach and mushroom crepe. What I received was the most incredible crepe in Vancouver. Light as a feather crepe, and the most flavour-packed spinach and mushroom filling you can imagine.
• The always excellent Moderne Burger sits a couple doors away from DB. I love Moderne burger, but for a couple dollars more, DB does a pretty good classic burger. Juicy burger, soft parmean bun, good fries. There is also the original DB burger which is totally over the top – sirloin filled with short ribs and truffle ($28). It’s huge!
• Dinner last night…several knockout dishes were served. To start…tarte flambee – thin, crispy flatbread with a lucious bacon and cream topping. Perfectly seasoned caesar salad. A simple yet amazing heriloom tomato salad with white balsamic and goat cheese. Mains…an awesome pheasant tortellini, slow baked halibut with fresh fava beans and a potent meyer lemon cream sauce, and the evening’s feature – pork done three ways (leg, rack, belly).
• Dessert last night…more knockouts. My husband was not sharing any of his black forest sundae. I expect many visits back to DB just to have an espresso and this sundae. My mini madelines were warm, soft, and soooo good. The cherry clafouti? Wow! Plump pitted cherries, tender custard, and drool worthy cherry pit ice cream.
• When I was at DB for dinner a couple weeks ago, I noticed they had some weekday dinner specials. Call the restaurant to enquire, but they seemed like good deals.

I know I’ll be back.

DB Bistro Moderne
2551 West Broadway (@ Larch)
604-739-7115