When the WE broke the news in early 2008 that international celebrity chef Daniel Boulud would launch DB Bistro on West Broadway and re-open Rob Feenies defunct Lumiere next door, the onset of the global financial meltdown was still months away. It was a happy time for our restaurant scene, one that encouraged speculation on who would arrive next to lift Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»even higher up the ladder of culinary acclaim. Would it be Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, or both?
Vancouvers glitterati were out in full force on the night of Lumieres opening, as were many of our top chefs whod taken the night off to pay their respects to the newly arrived superstar. Boulud charming, bespectacled and dressed in signature whites crammed me, David Hawksworth (Hawksworth), Pino Posteraro (Cioppinos), Tojo Hidekazu (Tojos), Scott Jaeger (The Pear Tree), Rob Clark (C Restaurant) and a few others into a booth tucked away in the back and personally delivered course after course. His local pupil, executive chef Dale Mackay, was doing the cooking and it was flawless.
I havent been to a restaurant opening party since (theyve never been my thing), so the details of the evening have remained fresh. Suffice it to say that I left convinced that Boulud was to borrow a new colloquialism too big to fail. Yet, as we all know, both restaurants were shuttered after just two years. The why of that is still the subject of debate. Most argue that they were too fancy in the Age of Comfort Food (ushered in under the duress of the financial crisis). Theres probably plenty of truth in that, but with the benefit of hindsight I see Bouluds inability to connect with Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»diners as the real smoking gun (to wit, we all went once to see what the fuss was about, realized it was an absentee operation, and never went back). I could point to the continuing dominance of all the high-end chefs I dined with that evening as evidence of this, but I need no further proof than the later success of the one whod been preparing our food.
Indeed, if there was any silver lining to Bouluds ill-fated adventure to our shore, it was the opening of Ensemble, the restaurant belonging to his former protegé, Dale Mackay. Located on Thurlow just off Robson (formerly Saveur, Corner Suite Bistro), the new 115-seat room is the antithesis of Lumiere and DB Bistro in many ways. It is casual, approachable, centrally situated, and most importantly busy. While much of its shocking amount of trade may have had to do with Mackay winning the Food Networks Top Chef Canada title shortly after the restaurant opened, I like to think of it as a natural consequence of the Ensemble being, well, good.
Mackays food is as innovative and well composed as it ever was, only its less smartly dressed and less expensive than its ever been, and rather than go the comfort food route, one can still find refinement (Arctic char with apple and hearts of palm) with a dash of hungry man (pulled pork sandwich with fried pickle) amidst all manner of uncommon invention in between. I half expected the chervil and tarragon risotto to be awful on account of tarragons tendency to overwhelm, but it was subtly done, with all the wet magic one demands of a superb risotto. (Its now a month later and Im still thinking about it, even replicating it at home). Other lovelies have included a brick of tongue-melting pork belly (now served with choucroute and a mustard-infused pork jus) and a chicken duo that sees two strips of poached breast flanking a decorous arrangement of crispy skin rolls, peas and red wine-soaked pearl onions. The flavours are bright and the presentations unfussy but artful. Save for the delicious tarte flambée with bacon, fromage blanc and onion (a carbon copy of the popular dish at DB Bistro), its all playful, original cooking. The portions lean toward the insubstantial, but were still getting dishes that no one else is giving us at the moment, and were not being charged through the nose for them (the average price being $15).
Whats more, the room is a keeper. The nature of the soundtrack might be hard to discern over the din, but I love that no matter how loud it is, you can still hear the kitchen yell out service! every now and then. Best of all, it feels real: dark but not the least bit sullen, showing best when its full, which is often (I love the red chairs, plucked from organ donor DB Bistro). The service is skilled but unpretentious, and backing it all up is a wine and cocktail program from Lumiere/DB Bistro veterans Kevin Van Hullebush and Christopher Cho (two of our best). On each of my visits Ive been waylaid by draught sleeves of Red Truck Ale, but sips from the drinks that my wife enjoyed on our last didnt disappoint. All told, Ensemble is the complete Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»package: affordable, casual, stylish, easy. After years toiling and waiting in the wings behind other celebrity chefs, its Dales turn now, which begs the ultimate question: is there a White Spot ad in his future?
850 Thurlow St. | 604.569.1770 | www.EnsembleRestaurant.com
