Vancouver: L’Abattoir

dine here with Don Draper

:Gastown:

Mmm, scallops and oxtail dumplings

I love buzzworthy restaurants. I’m not sure if it’s because I sort of enjoy it when a restaurant falls flat on its face, or because I like the feel-good feeling  when one lives up to the hype. I suppose it depends. In the case of L’Abattoir, a little birdie told me it was great, so I read up on it. Sure enough, the reviews have been praising this Gastown establishment (for everything from it’s creative elixirs and witty cocktails to the décor and culture, oh, and of course, the food). L’Abattoir’s two principals have quite the resume. Grunber was a general manager at Market, a Jean-Georges restaurant, and Chambar, a former Rob Feenie establishment. Cooper also worked at Market, as well as Fat Duck in England. That concludes the history lesson, back to the fun stuff.

The appetizers sound intricate and include terrine of pork hock and foie gras and a poached egg, quinoa, and swiss chard concoction. I opted for the Dungeness crab and chickpea toast and got a delightful hollow cylinder of toasted brioche filled with a crab mixture. My dinner date had the salad of chicken. Although it was sooo not my mother’s chicken salad; instead, it was a plate of chicken mousse cubes and pickled cauliflower tossed in a foie-gras flavoured mayonnaise and lemon and parsley vinaigrette. That's gooder than momma's chicken salad (not better).  Now to the mains…

I had the roast flank steak and sweetbread. I will never look at flank steak the same:

Not what you expected right? It was luscious and rich. I could have done will a few less peppercorns but would have bathed in the potato fondants and sweetbread if I could?!?!

How does a girl balance all this savoury earthy goodness? Why with a nice piece of lemon meringue.

FYI, the service was impeccable. This meal was the start of my Buddha belly. You should see it, it’s pretty epic.