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Opening Soon: First Look Inside Dale Mackay’s New “Ensemble”

To follow up on the news that Scout broke last week on the coming of Ensemble, I met up with Dale Mackay off Robson yesterday at the location in the old Corner Suite space at 850 Thurlow (I realise the brand is spelled with a lower case “e” –  as in ensemble – but I reserve the right to sanctimoniously ignore that in the dickish name of the English language).

He and his crew were already hard at work at the 115 seater. Take a look…

Some of the cushy black banquettes are staying. If I recall correctly, the colour palette will see two shades of red, light grey walls and plenty of black.

The blue chairs that The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe was famous for have already been whisked away to auction. They’re to be replaced with these lovely red leather jobs, plucked direct from still warm organ donor DB Bistro. To stand a chance at purchasing some (or all) of those blue chairs, put a bid in at Love’s on Saturday, April 16th (details).

Th0se chandeliers and the black shelves behind the bar are history. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but the shelves are already detached and just leaning against the wall.

Staying are the cozy, bum-hugging bar stools. The buttoned black leather and tin bar frontage has disappeared, however, to be replaced, I believe, with darkly scryed mirror. Dale’s a big Canucks fan, so we can also expect two flat screen TV’s flanking the bar’s center (note the missing Victoria Arduiro espresso machine).

The old, character floor is staying (the same since before Piccolo Mondo and Saveur, I think), but will see a major polish.

The black slitted tables of old (see left) are getting glass tops.

Pretty much every nook and cranny of the space is filled with the flotsam and jetsam of Corner Suite. Lots of cups, plates, glassware and the like. I’m not privy as to how much of it will be re-used at Ensemble. I think these were Corner Suite barman/owner Steve Da Cruz’s old julep cups, but I could be mistaken (they’d make rather jumbo juleps!). In any event, I was told that there’s a chance they’ll be reincarnated to hold frites.

When asked about his progress with Ensemble’s opening menu, Dale told me that it’s already complete, which sounds an awful lot like he’s had a full vision for his own digs for quite some time. Considering the progress already made on the site, I suspect that that’s entirely the case. It’s been my experience that just about every line cook, chef de cuisine and executive chef in the employ of others can describe their dream restaurant (in their first swing at the ownership bat) down to the fork, knife and menu type face, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Though I’ve done it hundreds of times, whenever I check out a construction site it’s still awkward and not a little sad to walk over the carcass of a good restaurant gone. Corner Suite was a room that went out well before its time. The people that made it happen put so much blood, sweat and imagination into turning the space into something altogether different from the norm that a part of me would prefer to see a wrecking ball take the whole place down. Alas, that’s not the way things work. If it was, Vancouver would likely be a smoking ruin.

The only silver lining of its closure is its successor. I’ve had the pleasure of eating Dale Mackay’s food a number of times; twice in competition (he twice won Silver at the Vancouver Gold Medal Plates). His CV tells some of his skill set’s story: protégé to Chef Gordon Ramsay at his restaurants in Tokyo, New York, and London, and then Executive Chef at Lumière, which was, in my opinion (and despite its ancillary shortcomings as a brand, which were certainly no fault of Dale’s), one of the very best restaurants in the country. Dale is also a contender on the soon-to-premiere Top Chef Canada show on the Food Network (starts April 11th), and just last week accepted an invitation to once again compete at the Gold Medal Plates this Fall (I’ll be posting all the names when I get the green light).

Ensemble, which has to be right up there with Hawksworth for being the most hotly anticipated in town, is also on track for a May 2011 opening. If you need a reminder of what it used to look like when it was The Corner Suite, click away below…

  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe
  • inside Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe

There is 1 comment

  1. Hey Andrew, we were sorry to see Steve’s Corner Suite go, but hope Dale does well in the space. For interest’s sake, those electric blue rubber chairs as well as the swivel barstools were from Inform Contract: http://www.informinteriors.com/#/contract.php
    If you know when the auction is I might have someone interested in buying some.
    cheers
    Paul Sjaarda