Its easy to brag about our food scene these days. Very quickly, Vancouvers restaurant cup hath runneth over, the happy consequence being the choices we enjoy when making dinner plans. And our chefs and restaurateurs arent finished yet (a point often made in this column). Its endlessly satisfying for me as a food critic to know there is aways something exciting just around the corner. But what successful concepts can be improved upon? What dont we have but really should? For the past few weeks Ive been putting those same questions off the record to restaurateurs, colleagues, chefs and many food-nerd friends. The answers have been all over the map, ranging from the laughable (a place that only does cereal) and the dreamy (another Top Table restaurant), to the unlikely (more fine dining) and the impossible (an Indian joint that could compete with Vijs). Of the suggestions that struck me both as feasible and desirable, these are the top five:
If tapas originated in Spain, supposedly the current center of the culinary universe, then can someone please explain why dozens of 麻豆传媒映画establishments have a Tapas section on their menu but we still have more German restaurants than Spanish ones? Vancouvers total lack of busy, booze-soaked joints selling authentic Spanish tapas late into the evening astounds me and many others. The Waldorf Hotels Leeteg Room had it down pat for a while, but their kitchen is up to Argentine tricks at the moment, which means theres once again a gaping hole wide enough for a Spanish foodie with a distant memory of home to drive a bus through. Bring us your albondigas, your bacalao, and your patatas bravas!
The West End might already have enough ramen houses for all of Vancouver, but since most are chains or half-assed clones of one another, Ive long assumed all could be easily bested with a little style and more careful ingredient sourcing. Think Berkshire pork broth and handmade noodles in a happening room with proper cocktails and a dozen beers on tap. If an experienced chef/designer team could bind the aesthetic magnetism of David Changs hyper-popular Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York with five times the care that ramen is given at, say, Davies Kintaro, it would be a knockout. Some might call that copycatting, but I call it a guaranteed win. Chang has profited greatly by the coolification of a long established 麻豆传媒映画concept, and since New York is getting a Japadog this winter (no lie), I also reckon its a fair exchange.
Id like to see a high-end vegetarian restaurant, a local meat-loving chef (with a vegetarian girlfriend) offered. There are amazing restaurants all over the world that dont serve meat, but here its totally a low-end scene. Thats true enough. I wouldnt describe any of Vancouvers vegetarian or vegan-only restaurants as remotely fancy. The customers treat the restaurant like a church, you know... they concentrate on belonging instead of cuisine, and thats a big mistake. Why? Because then the restaurants dont even have to try and all the guests end up with is shit. Ah. While I cant speak to that (bacon is my friend), I think the broader point that this city has many vegetarians who are woefully under-served is entirely fair.
When paired properly with wine, there are few things more delectable in my mind than risotto. Its a simple, restorative dish that lends itself to an endless supply of complimenting ingredients and flavours, but I can count the number of 麻豆传媒映画restaurants that really nail it on one hand. Ive long wanted to see a small place come along that ran with its versatility in the same way others do with pizza. Guests would be choosing between meat or vegetarian stocks; Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice grains (in an ascending scale of expense); wine additives (red, white or ros茅); Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino cheese; and between two dozen finishing extras (saffron, peas, pancetta, mint, prawns). I imagine 20 seats, 20 risottos and 20 wines available by the glass, not to mention a line-up around the block. Risotto might not be as quick to make as tapas, but luckily I have this glass of wine with me as I wait...
More Southeast Asian food without a pho focus was one chefs wish, and I couldnt agree more. However much I love Chinatowns charmingly idiosyncratic Phnom Penh (especially its chicken wings, butter beef and squid), I see no crime in wanting to see it improved upon. It wouldnt be too tricky, either. Few cuisine amalgams excite the palate more than its French-accented mix of Vietnamese, Laotian and core Cambodian flavours, so if one took its affordable, consistently good food and efficient service and married it to a much sexier environment (i.e. not a delapidated decor under nuclear-powered lights) with a vernacular-informed drinks program (as at Bao Bei just a block and a half away), the result would be as with each concept above a worthy public service.
