Botanist Restaurant at Fairmont Pacific Rim / October 15, 2017 by Jenn Chan

My experience at Botantist started right at the hostess stand, when she greeted me with a big smile and helped put away my raincoat, she even helped hold my DSLR while I struggled with my jacket! I took a quick look around the room, it was absolutely stunning. They have paid incredible detail to every little thing, from the plants, to the lighting, to little decor on the bar tops. The room buzzed with conference go-ers at the Champagne Lounge to my left, and business people at the bar to my right. There's even a VIP room you can book for a special occasion! I was then whisked away towards my table, and along the way, I caught myself "WOW-ing" a few times just looking at the abundant indoor plants surrounding the dining room!

All the names of the cocktails are super fun, like "Can't Beat a Root", "Yes Whey", and "What the Flower" were some of my favourites. Our night started with trying 3 different cocktails: Poetry in Motion, Apple Seed Lane, and the Lillemonade (THIS is a fun one to say). All 3 cocktails were delicious and we gulped them down quickly! Along with our cocktails, our server also brought out their special seeded bread. If you know me, you know I'm not typically a bread person, but this was amazing! Together with the whipped butter, each bite was a little taste of heaven. Bread with seeds have no calories right?

Cocktails: Poetry in Motion, Apple Seed Lane, Lillemonade

Our server then surprised us with a little amuse bouche - the White Gazpacho (which is on their menu). The White Gazpacho was very refreshing with side stripe shrimp, cucumber and little delightful balls of grapes! I can see myself ordering this a lot in the summer!

Next up is our appetizers to share. We order 3 of the top recommended appies, the Heirloom Tomato Salad, Hand-Cut Tagliatelle, and Nova Scotia Lobster Tail. The tomatoes of the Heirloom Tomato Salad is grown hydroponically, which means they're grown without soil using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent, how cool is that? This dish tasted so fresh, and the flavours combined so well together with the burrata & hibiscus vinaigrette.

Have you ever had Lobster Tail as an appetizer? Me neither. But there's always a first right? When I saw this on the menu, I couldn't pass it up, and it did not disappoint. The flavours blended together masterfully. The light fluffy lobster foam pair beautifully with the rich flavour of the lobster tail. The lobster foam reminded me of a lobster bisque. To even out the flavours, they've added chopped up bits of fennel to give the dish more texture - Such a balanced dish!

I tried the Hand-cut Tagliatelle next, and WOW was it exquisite. The hand-cut tagliatelle is so fresh, and I love seeing the not so perfectly cut pasta. I'm also a huge fan of foraged mushrooms,, it went so well in this dish with the creamy and rich sauce. This came in the perfect portion, not leaving you weighed down and too full for the main course.

Appetizers: Heirloom Tomato Salad, Hand-Cut Tagliatelle, Nova Scotia Lobster Tail

Our main courses are here, and I am so glad I was hungry enough to have room to savour my entree. I ordered the Lamb Saddle in Medium Rare. The flavours blended really well together. I loved the perfectly made Lamb, I've had plenty of lamb in my lifetime, and this one was soooo flavourful and juicy, I wanted more of it! The mushrooms, broccoli and baby carrots along with the au jus were absolutely perfect!

I didn't get to try the Sablefish or the Halibut but was told they were amazingly delicious as well. I mean, just look at how the Halibut came! The squid ink on top of the Halibut was pure art! Botanist has made my job as a photographer easy, every plate came out looking perfect and like a piece of art. It would be a challenge to take a bad photo of it! And we all know, we eat with our eyes first! Wait... I did get to try one of the skin-off cherry tomatoes, and I have to say, it's one of the best tomatoes I've ever had! Because the skin of the tomato has been taken off, the meat had the chance to soak up all the flavours, and when you pop one of those cherry tomatoes, you got a mouthful of rich & well rounded flavour. Yes, I am just talking about a little cherry tomato here!

Main Course: garlic panisse, broccoli, shallots, natural jus, HERB-CRUSTED LAMB SADDLE

Main Course: onion nage, fermented vegetables, puffed tapioca, SEARED SABLEFISH

Main Course: tomato, squid ink, local greens, OLIVE OIL POACHED HALIBUT

When dessert came around, I was ready to explode, so I passed on them, but my friends decided to order the Strawberries with Chocolate & Almost Cream, as well as the Beetroot Cake with Hazelnut and Gewürztraminer Gel. I opted for a delicious ice wine that Jill had recommended to me, it had a fruit forward taste of apricot, and full bodied. It was the perfect night cap for me. When their desserts did come though, I couldn't help myself and had a sample of each. Of course, I had to try the Gewürztraminer gel, I've never heard of such a thing, let along try it! It tasted like jello to me. The beetroot cake didn't taste like what I had anticipated, I had imagined it to taste like Beets but it tasted more like a delightful fluffy cake!

DESSERT: hazelnut, vanilla, gewürztraminer gel, elderflower frozen foam, BEETROOT CAKE

DESSERT: almond cream, chocolate cremeux, peppercorn lace, mint ice cream, white balsamic, STRAWBERRY

I had an absolutely great night at Botanist, from the atmosphere, to the service, to the aesthetically beautiful and delicious food, everything was a 10/10 to me. It's completely unlike any restaurants you're used to at a hotel, this is an experience all on its own, and should almost be considered as a stand-alone restaurant you would go for a birthday celebration, date night, or just a regular Thursday night out!

I'll definitely be back, and I'll see you there!

Words & Photos: Jenn Chan

NEW RESTAURANT 2017 | Kokomo / September 2, 2017 by Jenn Chan

"Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take ya. Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama. Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go? Jamaica, off the Florida Keys, there's a place called Kokomo. That's where you want to go to get away from it all."

If you're in North America's second largest Chinatown, located, proudly, in Vancouver, Kokomo is still a pretty delightful escape. The vegan, gluten-free mecca, "plant-focused cafe", Kokomo can be seen routinely sporting a line around the block. People clammer to dive into a heaping bowl of acai, granola and berries, a Hemp Caesar salad or a Coastal Macro bowl, their best seller, and wash it down with one their oh so healthy smoothies. Jenn indulged in the Coastal Macro bowl, which she devoured greedily, and I nibbled on the Hemp Caesar and washed it down with the Orange Dream smoothie which is simply to die for! Jenn himmed and hawed between the charcoal lemonade and the Lush Greens smoothie, but ultimately opted to see how charcoal's flavours marry lemonade's. She loved it, but we'll both be back for a nice healthy lunch before too long. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Lunch Spread: Hemp Caesar, Coastal Macro Bowl, Acai Bowl, Orange Dream Smoothie, Charcoal Lemonade

Words: Scott Allan
Photos: Jenn Chan

New Restaurants in Vancouver: Heritage Asian Eatery / February 6, 2017 by Jenn Chan

Heritage Eatery is nestled amongst the skyscrapers of the financial district in Coal Harbour. It's a lovely space and was very busy when we visited. Ladies and gentlemen in their suits and skirts popped in and out of doors taking away bags and munching quickly on their lunch breaks. The staff were kind and efficient and the atmosphere was very laid back and smelled wonderful!

Chef Felix and his team at the Heritage Eatery know chicken wings. Their fried chicken wings, deep fried in pure deliciousness, are crispy and seasoned to perfection. These are worth a trip down all on their own! They are marinated for 4 days then steamed and dry rubbed with 5 spices. The Eggplant appetizer was very nice and I generally dislike eggplant, but these were firm and flavourful. The wings came out alongside Heritage Eatery's famous Duck Bowl. The duck was incredibly sweet and tender and served half breast and half confite on a bed of rice. I could have stopped there and left satisfied, but Felix wanted us to try a few more things and I'm glad he did! The Pork Belly Bao boasted huge, immense, pieces of tender, succulent pork belly. The Bao was perfect and incredibly fresh. The sauce was tangy and sweet. The Cotechino Bao is equally as good! Cotechino is a peppery Italian sausage and not something I've had in a bao before, but works so wonderfully! Jenn loves udon. A lot! She once had udon everyday for a full week. My right hand to God! Heritage Eatery's House Udon with char shiu was very good, "cute mushrooms and tender noodles" was Jenn's succinct summation and I really liked it as well. The broth was very flavourful and was the highlight of the dish.

Duck Rice Bowl, House Udon with Char Shiu, Wings & Eggplant

Rice Bowl with Duck & shredded Pork Belly

Bao Trio: Cotechino, Pork Shoulder & Shitake

Fanny Bay Oyster Bar & Shellfish Market / August 3, 2016 by Jenn Chan

If you know me, you would know that I'm a huge Shellfish fan, specifically Raw Oysters! It made me extremely happy to see Fanny Bay Oysters have opened up a Restaurant in Downtown! The Bar is beautifully decorated, and have photos of their Oyster Farm all over their walls. I find them to be very interesting! There's something about ordering Oysters from a Restaurant that started off with have many years of Oyster Farming under its belt, it's like ordering wine straight from a winery!

Our server, Emilia, gave us many suggestions, such as this - Oyster Shooters! I'm not typically a shot type of girl, but these were delicious! There are 2 different ways you can take a shot: Slurp the Oyster, lick the rim, shoot it, then bite on the lime OR lick the rim, squish lime into the shot, do the shot, then slurp the oyster. The shot is basically a mini-Caesar and it was an absolute delight!

Of course, we ordered a dozen Oysters. We had a Variety of them: Kumamoto, Kusshi, Raspberry Point, Fanny Bay & Shigoku, from the Pacific, to the East Coast - they all tasted amazing and went well with the Apple Cider Mignonette

We were curious about trying the Geoduck on their menu and to our excitement, Emilia took us over to the tank and showed us a live geoduck. I got to say, it was not what I expected! It looked like an elephant trunk with nostrils at the end of it and was rough to the touch, it made me second guess my decision to order the Geoduck Sashimi. We decided to order it anyway, since there wasn't many restaurants that served geoduck. The dish was beautifully plated, chopped up and served in its shell, in watermelon radish, complemented with pickled ginger & horseradish. To our surprise, the texture of the sashimi, when it came out to our table, was great! It wasn't at all rough, and tasted like raw scallops to me. If you have never tried geoduck before, I highly implore you to try it!

We ended our dinner with splitting a Bouillabaisse, another dish that was suggested by Emilia. I'm glad we listened to her since this dish was absolutely amazing! Mussels, Clams, Prawns, Ling Cod, and Scallops bathe in a fragrant white wine saffron butter broth. The broth was slurped up, and the dish disappeared quickly! I highly recommend ordering this when you visit Fanny Bay Oyster Bar!

Words & Photos: Jenn Chan