So.cial at Le Magasin Restaurant in Gastown, Vancouver (Canada).
For those of you who don’t already know this, I’m a seafood-eating vegetarian, officially known as a pescetarian. Eating out can often get boring when even the most extensive menus only give me a choice of salmon or halibut. So when a hip downtown restaurant invites you to try out their new veggie-heavy menu, you go.
I took my own advice last Friday night and headed to So.cial in the exquisite 1911 Gastown heritage building, Le Magasin. Newly painted red walls contrast with the white tin ceiling and warm brickwork that pervades the Gastown neighbourhood in Vancouver.
New Executive Chef, Harman Gill, is making quite the statement with his original creations. Not one to be shy, Harman believes that vegetables should be a larger part of everyone’s dining experience. I promise this to you, though: vegetables don’t have to be boring, especially when the creative mind of Gill is masterminding the kitchen.
Our five-course fully vegan meal (why challenge him with vegetarian when you can demand vegan?!) came with ingredients like burnt chives, bottom-flavoured mushrooms and crispy bread pieces.
Every part of the vegetables were used and each cooked differently. The full flavours created a rainbow of tastes in every bite. Surprisingly, most were just boiled with water and salt, letting the natural aromas emerge to the surface.
I’m used to being served lots of salads for vegetarian options, with vinaigrette dressing. Harman’s dishes, though, were bursting with a range of colour that roused taste buds in seemingly every space of my mouth. In fact, I was so distracted with the flavours that I forgot to take my usual photos of each dish. I guess you’ll have to stop by if you’re in Vancouver to see them.
And don’t even get me started on the desserts. Fresh blueberries were the stars of the vegan dish, but Harmon brought out a chocolate ganache for those of us who ate dairy. What I thought would be a rich chocolate taste was tempered by a fresh lemon slush seeping in from the top. Homemade donuts were added to the aftermath because, well, they were brought out and looked so yummy.
What I Liked:
- In a city like Vancouver, you’d think vegetarian and vegan meals would be offered aplenty. While you can certainly get those kinds of meals all over the city, it’s difficult to find really interesting vegetarian and vegan meals (and ones that don’t cost an arm and a leg). So.cial is leading the pack in this regard.
- The atmosphere at So.cial is tame: music on the softer side incites conversation, the elegant building elicits times of grandeur, and the staff keep things casual but upscale.
- For hockey buffs, one of the co-owners is ex-Canucks coach Bob McCammon (also head coach and GM of the Philadelphia Flyers, assistant coach of the Edmonton Oilers, and held scouting and player development positions with the Detroit Red Wings and Oilers). Ex-Canucks goaltender Kirk McLean is also a partner.
Copyright 2009 Lori Henry
Recent Comments