Dinner at Diva at the Met

As promised, here is the menu from the "world class" meal I had at Diva at the Met located in the Metropolitan Hotel in Vancouver. It was magnificently cooked by Chef Hamid Salimian and orchestrated by sommelier Corey Bauldry. It was a wonderful experience!

amuse bouche

olive oil marshmallow, black olive salt, olive butter diva bacon, parsnip, maple dehydrated brioche, sturgeon caviar nitro gravlax mini pork puffs, tabasco powder, tabasco mayo beef tartare, crispy tendon puffed foie gras, quince, melba toast baked potato, winter truffles, chives frozen cucumber soda

blue mountain brut, okanagan, british columbia nv grapefruit elderflower fizz

1st course

 sunshine coast sturgeon b.c. side striped prawn, dill ash cured scallop, salmon roe, champagne jelly william fevre petit chablis, burgundy, france 2009

2nd course

albacore tuna & dungeness crab yuzu crisp, oyster leaf, cucumber, avocado, soy vinaigrette blasted church, hatfield’s fuse, (gewurztraminer, pinot gris, pinot blanc, ehrenfelser), okanagan valley, british columbia 2010

3rd course

 pickled winter vegetables blood pudding, bone marrow croquette, trumpets la stella, la stellina, merlot rosato, okanagan valley, british columbia 2009

 4th course

 sweetbreads salsify, pressed onion sherry jus chateau ste. michelle riesling, columbia valley washington 2009

 5th course

 perigord truffle truffle pappardelle, 63º egg, pork belly crouton del fin del mundo, reserva pinot noir, patagonia, argentina 2009

6th course

 sablefish tomato eggplant stew, fennel rocca della macie, sasyr, sangiovese & syrah, igt, toscana, italy 2008

 dessert

 stilton cheesecake rhubarb, port ganton & larsen prospect winery “the lost bars” vidal icewine, okanagan valley, british columbia, 2009

Diva at the Met Restaurant, 645 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC Y6C 2Y9

Photos of the Week:

Legends in Hospitality: The Power in Front (of-the-house)

Twenty years ago, if you can recall, hardly anyone knew the name of a chef in a restaurant. Status and power belonged to the guy at the door (rarely was it a woman). That was who you needed to know and, more vitally, who you wanted to know you.

There was a moment-in-time when you could actually find Danny Meyer running Union Square Cafe, Joe Baum at the front door of Aurora, George Lang holding court near the iconic murals at Café des Artistes, Sheldon Haseltine nodding you in at the über-trendy Joanna’s, or Drew Nieporent opening the door for you at Montrachet (and now at Corton).  Elaine Kaufman ran her star-studded eponymous bistro on New York’s Upper East Side until she died at 81 last year.

But these days, few people know who’s standing at the check-in desk. Celebrity chefs may be off promoting themselves or their latest ghost-written cookbooks or endorsing some new line of cookware, but they’re still the go-to people for the best tables, the generous midcourse freebies, the second round of desserts – and in an age of texting and instant messaging, they’re instantly available.

I was reminded of this reversal of power when I took a dear friend to The Four Seasons for an impromptu birthday lunch last week, since she’d never been there. Now you may say, “The Four Seasons?  I haven’t been there in ten years, not since mother came to town.” Well, let me tell you:  You’ve been missing a level of refinement of both food and space that you hardly find anywhere these days.

Many restaurants drop off the media radar if they aren’t constantly screaming to the blogs about everyday trivialities, or if their celebrity chefs lack an itchy Twitter finger -- but at The Four Seasons, hardly anyone knows who’s in the kitchen. Instead, everyone knows the restaurant’s two managerial rock stars, Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini. They are the dedicated owners of New York’s fabled restaurant, located in the triumphant Seagram’s building.

Neither of them is a judge on Top Chef nor a headliner at South Beach Food & Wine Festival.  Instead, Julian and Alex, who bought the restaurant in 1995 from another revered pair of front guys – Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai -- move from table to table every day, ensuring that service glides unobtrusively, and recognizing their “regular” clients’ gastronomic foibles – and that means the entire room. They are the real “table hoppers” even though at least half the room knows the other half. They yaw when necessary, fawn when appropriate, and do whatever it takes to keep Henry Kissinger and Richard Gere coming to lunch.

We had our birthday celebration in the bar room, home of New York’s “power lunch”, and the place was hopping with confident, deep-pocketed sorts of people who pay little attention to the city’s PR machinations. The place is 52 years old and feels as fresh as a basket of just-picked herbs. Sunlight pours in from double-height windows; tables are large; the Brno chairs, by architect Mies van der Rohe that were controversial when the restaurant’s first impresario, Joe Baum installed them, are capacious and comfortable; multiple layers of cloth smother the clunk of dishes that afflict too many high priced bistros; and Alex and Julian know your name along with every last detail about every item on the menu.

For it is their food as much as it is the chef’s. Read the menu carefully and discover a study in tradition, restraint -- and somehow also a bit of magic. You want to order everything because in your mind it all tastes good and, simultaneously, comforting.

We ate real bay scallops as a special of the day; beef carpaccio with mustard greens and aged parmesan-like stravecchio from Wisconsin; soft polenta with wild mushrooms and an excess of truffles, striped bass (real striped bass, not some farmed half-breed) with autumn vegetables in a chorizo-mussel broth.

And that’s the way the menu goes:  “A Selection of Oysters and Clams; Scottish Smoked Salmon, Proper Garniture; Filet of Bison, Foie Gras, Perigord Black Truffle; Grilled Tuna, Roasted Fennel with Feta, Black Olive Tapenade; Filet Mignon, Cauliflower, Sherry-Mustard Sauce.” There’s not much in the way of linguistic fireworks here. There are no farmers names or anything about sustainability or grass fed or non-GMO or other ideological diatribes that clutter menus.  Instead, everything was utterly and quietly perfect. 

I recognized a continuity of style in menu language (American and self-assured), service (invisibly visible) and restaurant’s attitude toward its customers (“friendly, but not familiar,” was what Joe Baum dictated). After Baum left to create more magic elsewhere, the place got run down by its corporate owners, then revived by Tom and Paul, who after many years were succeeded by Alex and Julian.  It was this uncommon continuum – where the power lay in front of the house – that perhaps explains why the place feels fresh and new, but also as comfortable as your bedroom slippers.

Two tables away, some men were finishing their coffee when Alex and Julian appeared with a bottle of champagne, a 16-inch-high “toque” of pink cotton candy and a whispered “happy birthday.” Their business could wait; it was time to celebrate.

It is no surprise that they were feted with the 2011 “Legends in Hospitality Award” just the other night at a gala for the American Hospital in Paris Foundation. Their efforts in the world of food and the good life have been duly noted.

As for me, I may begin to ask upon entering a new restaurant, not the name of the chef in the back, but “Hey, what’s the name of the guy up front?”

My prediction for 2012? A generation of celebrity maitre d’s with a television show to call their own.

Things You Can Count On

There are so many things in life you can count on.  Certain friendships, finding chicken and Lipton tea in the grocery store, and relying on your "go-to" restaurant.  You know, the place where they smile when you enter, give you the best table, and where the chef comes out before your guest arrives and chats you up.  It's not the best restaurant in your repertoire, nor the fanciest, or plainest.  It's consistent enough with a few razzle-dazzle dishes and showy decor to make it feel fresh every time you go.  But much like the mid-term elections, lunch yesterday was a disaster. The experience brought out the worst in me; perhaps it began when the waiter told me that Grüner Veltliner was a French wine (it's not, it's Austrian), and suggested that I opt for a very pricey chardonnay instead.  Maybe it was the 1 hour and 15-minute wait for the main course when we were one of the first tables to arrive.  Maybe it was because I wanted my friend, one of those friendships I count on, to be happy and impressed and satisfied with her meal.  Being "an insider" in the restaurant world makes it difficult sometimes because the flaws are so evident and...preventable.  But knowing the vicissitudes of the industry also makes me a much more appreciative, generous, and patient customer.  I know you'd never know it by this little rant.  I won't divulge the name of the restaurant but would advise the general manager never to pull out a chair and sit down at a customer's table.  Especially when she's cranky.

I won't divulge the name of my friend, either, except to say that she is one of the most generous women I know.  There is never a time that I'm with her that I don't learn something -- about being a mother (she has 3 beautiful daughters), about books for children, about famous authors, about diplomacy, about graciousness and gratitude.  She's also funny.  After hunting for the lamb in her lamb salad (after a good 10 minutes), she declared "here it is!  Everything's okay."

And speaking of things to count on, we all need a recipe, or two, that work.  Here's one from Radically Simple that was featured yesterday in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. And be sure to click here to "like" me on Facebook and enter to win a free autographed copy of Radically Simple!

Sauteed Chicken With Roasted Grapes and Grape Demiglace Makes 4 servings

3/4 pound small red or black seedless grapes 3/4 pound small seedless green grapes 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, divided use 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (each, 8 ounces) 1/4 cup minced fresh chives

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the grapes from their stems. Put half of the grapes on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes.  Puree the uncooked grapes in a blender until very smooth. Strain through a sieve, pressing down hard on the skins.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook 4 minutes on each side. Add the grape juice and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the juice becomes syrupy, 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Add the remaining butter to the pan and cook, stirring over high heat, 1 minute. Add the roasted grapes and cook 1 minute longer. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with chives.