Pan-American “Latitude” On Main St. Joins The Scout Community
October 17, 2009
Main St.’s new Latitude restaurant and wine bar is now a proud member supporter of Scout. We will be publishing their news and press releases on our front page, and hosting an individual page for them on our list of recommended restaurants. Click ahead for a taste or visit their Scout page here Read more
East Hastings Wine Bar “Au Petit Chavignol” Joins Scout…
July 23, 2009
Au Petit Chavignol is now a proud member supporter of Scout Magazine. We will be publishing their news and releases on our front page, and hosting an individual page for them on our list of recommended restaurants. Scroll below for a taste or visit their Scout page here:
Details
845 East Hastings St. (Between Hawkes and Campbell)
Vancouver, BC V6A 1L9 | MAP
Telephone: 604-255-4218
Email: info@aupetitchavignol.com
Web: www.aupetitchavignol.com
Open from 5 pm Thur-Mon (7 days a week beginning this Fall)
Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
Gallery
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The Team
Proprietors: Alice Spurrell, Allison Spurrell, Joe Chaput
Fromager: Joe Chaput
General Manager: Annette Rawlinson
Chef: Brad Miller
About Au Petit Chavignol
In March of 2009, Alice and Allison Spurrell, owners of les amis du FROMAGE, along with Joe Chaput, opened the doors to Au Petit Chavignol, a 36 seat cheese and wine bar located at 845 East Hastings Street in Vancouver’s historic Strathcona neighbourhood, next to their newest location of les amis du FROMAGE. Opening to rave reviews, the restaurant has been a great success and a welcome addition to the les amis du FROMAGE family.
Au Petit Chavignol is a cheese-centric restaurant, with additional hot and cold selections including fresh seasonal salads, fondue, raclette, tartiflette, croque monsieur and other cheese based specialties. We make everything fresh daily and in-house. We offer the best selection of cheeses along with local artisan and house made charcuterie.
Whether you desire something small to nibble on before or after an event, or perhaps a full meal, Fromager Joe Chaput and Chef Brad Miller are sure you will leave satisfied. Come and EAT, DRINK and EXPLORE with us.
We offer several wines by the glass and bottle, along with bottled and draught beer. Our reserve wine list is made up of wines that vary from familiar to the obscure; to cheese friendly favourites and our favourite varietal…Riesling. Several of the “by the bottle” wines can be ordered by the glass if you commit to ordering at least two glasses.
Although the restaurant is currently only open five nights a week, we plan to have the restaurant open seven nights a week starting sometime in early September 2009.
Reviews
Metro News – Anya Levykh- July 17, 2009
Metro News – Anya Levykh- April 16, 2009
Globe & Mail – Alexandra Gill – April 15, 2009
Vancouver Sun – Mia Stainsby – April 02, 2009
Full Bodied – March 23, 2009
PINQ – March 23, 2009
Vancouver Courier – Tim Pawsey – March 20, 2009
Martini Boys – Cassandra Anderton – March 20, 2009
Vitamin V Daily – March 18, 2009
Vancouver Magazine – March 18, 2009
BROWSE ALL RESTAURANTS
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East Side Welcomes Sweet New Wine Bar
March 13, 2009
I had to go and review a completely different restaurant for the paper tonight but I couldn’t help but also take a long-looked-forward-to tour of the brand new Au Petit Chavignol, a wine, cheese and charcuterie bar umbilically tied and allied to the almost finished Les Amis du Fromage location next door. Check it for yourselves at 843/845 East Hastings. So nice to see it busy out of the gate.
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Propped up and already deeply cut, the Fermin Jamon Iberico de Bellota ham on the hoof did seduce in a most irregular, Rape of the Lapiths sort of way, but my betrothed belly could only afford a beer before elsewhere, a tart tongue lash of Blanche de Chambly.
Scout contributor Owen Lightly – solo star of one of my favourite local blogs, Butter on the Endive – was out front in his whites, knife busily slicing meat and splicing cheese. That’s him pictured on the left (above) next to Joe Chaput, local Lord of the Cheese and Salami Bossman. If you’ve never met Joe, he is oft-mistaken for a Bhuddist super ninja – David Carradine style – head shaved and armed with gouda and brie (when he works a wheel of cheddar his hands make wap wap sounds like a kung fu superstar). Anyway, lots of the people were there looking good under the flattering glow of a cool bar set up. The menu looked savoury and simple, and the wine list read like poetry. Great beers, too.
Regular readers might recall that I popped in for a recce while it was still very much in its embryonic stage, a mess of dust and tools and imaginings courtesy of designer John Shields. See the video above. I also took pics that day, which might prove interesting for the many before-and-after fetishists among us…
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My sleeve drained and appetite sufficiently primed, it was then off to work proper. Break legs, fellas.
VIEW ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS
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Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines, and a proud board member of the Chef’s Table Society of BC. He lives and works by the beach in Vancouver.
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Q&A With Sebastien Le Goff Of Cibo and Uva
March 7, 2009
One or twice a week Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose which ones they’d prefer to answer, with a minimum response rate of 20. A Rorschach test, for sure…
A highly decorated veteran of Vancouver’s restaurant scene, Sebastien Le Goff toiled and poured as GM at Cin Cin and Lumiere before becoming the front and back polymath and sommelier at the Moda Hotel’s two resident hot properties, Cibo Trattoria and Uva Wine Bar.
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Scout Q&A
Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Yaletown – Nuba, Pacific Dry Cleaners, and Agro Café.
The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Dark, bitter chocolate.
Default drink of choice: Negroni.
The one place you’d move to: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Favourite wine varietal: Pinot Noir.
The person you can imitate: My former boss in Hong Kong.
One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: More restaurants open late at night once you have finished work. eg. Blue Ribbon in NYC.
Bartender who could sell you anything: Audrey Saunders at the Pegu Club in New York City.
Cheap place for dinner: Gyoza King.
Book you’re reading: “je l’aimais” by Anna Gavalda, a contemporary female French writer.
Last place traveled: El Salvador.
Biggest fear: Losing my sense of smell and taste.
Cliché that you use too often: French people drink more than others.
Dead film actor you wish was still making pictures: Jean Gabin, famous French actor from the 60’s.
Best sneaker in the world: Puma.
Place in BC that you love escaping to: Qualicum Bay.
Under what circumstances would you join the army: If they needed a sommelier (ED. NOTE: this is by far the best answer we’ve yet had to this question)
Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: He drove a train in France.
Best bar stool in the city: Boneta.
Dumbest purchase ever: A pottery mask from El Salvador that I knew would likely be broken on the plane on the way back – and it did!
What are you proud of: What I will achieve tomorrow.
The thing that makes you the angriest: Drivers changing lanes without signaling (I drive a scooter and have been hit twice).
Saddest thing about Vancouver: The downtown eastside.
Most challenging part of owning a business: Working with the right people.
Best fine dining restaurant in the city: Jean-Georges at Market.
Your nickname growing up: “Seb”.
Talent you wish you possessed: Painting.
Musical instrument you long to play: Saxophone.
Sport you gave up: Football (soccer on this side of the world).
The game you’re best at: Table Tennis
Best gallery in the city: VAG
Somewhere within an hour of Vancouver that is worth checking out: Bowen Island.
The number of fist fights you’ve been in: 2.
The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Being stuck in Burma (at the border with Thailand).
Three things of no value that you will keep until you die: A picture of my grandfather driving a train on the day he retired; a shark tooth (fish caught by my uncle); and a traveling journal (through Central America).
Best concert experience ever: The Cure (in the late 80’s) and Sigur Rós at the Chan Centre in 2008.
Aspect of your personality you wish you could change: Be more patient.
How you waste time at work: Reading wine magazines.
The thing you wished people cared more about: Having polished shoes.
The thing that makes you the most nervous: pouring red wine to someone wearing white clothing.
Town you were born in: Nantes, France.
Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Seinfield.
First memory: My grandfather cooking me French pancakes (crepes).
Quality you admire most in yourself: Perseverance.
Album that first made you love music: Indochine (French band from the 80’s)
Default junk food of choice: Instant noodle bowl.
The career path you considered but never followed: History teacher.
The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: None. I would go at least once anywhere.
Your top 3 films of all time: Pulp Fiction, Les Nuits Fauves, Casablanca
The first three things you do every morning: Turn the music on. Look out the window. Prepare a French press.
The thing you’re addicted to: Wasabi peas.
Luckiest moment of your life: Finding a job in Singapore after running out of money.
Favourite book as a child: Gaston la Gaffe – French comic book.
Other Cool People
Uva Wine Bar
October 5, 2008
Details
900 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 3L9 | MAP
Telephone: 604-632-9560
Email: info@uvawinebar.ca
Web: www.uvawinebar.ca
Open for breakfast and lunch daily from 7am to 2pm
Open for dinner daily at 5 p.m.
Gallery
The Team
Executive Chef – Neil Taylor
Head of Operations – Edward Perrow
Bar Manager: Brad Stanton
About Uva Wine Bar
Enticing cocktails, refined wines, eclectic import beers — Uva Wine Bar, located adjacent to the Moda Hotel, is Downtown Vancouver’s newest enclave for connoisseurs of wines and spirits seeking a sanctuary that caresses the eye as well as the palate. From the finest charcuterie, to artisanal cheeses and to hard-to-find wine selections, indulge in Uva Wine Bar’s cosmopolitan, yet relaxed interpretation of a true Italian ‘enoteca’.
Uva Wine Bar epitomizes the spirit of its location in the heart of Downtown Vancouver’s arts and cultural district. Striking, yet inviting décor sets a bold statement. The elegant modernism of its interior design combined with the building’s historical elements, such as its delicate 1908 terrazzo floors, creates a unique, yet vibrant setting that must be experienced.
Steps away from the Orpheum Theatre, Robson Street, and some of Vancouver’s finest art galleries, Uva Wine Bar is the perfect beginning or end to your night out in the city.
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Latitude
October 5, 2008
Details
“Wine and Food of the Americas”
3250 Main Street, Vancouver, BC | MAP
Telephone: 604-875-6246
Web: www.latitudeonmain.com
Email: info@latitudeonmain.com
Open seven nights a week from 5:30pm
Gallery
The Team
Chef de Cuisine/owner: Lisa Henderson
General Manager/owner: Larry Nicolay
Sous Chef: David Jason Carr
Floor Manager: Kendra Patton
About Latitude
Latitude is a 46 seat restaurant and wine bar in the heart of the vibrant Main Street neighbourhood. Presented by the former owners of Tofino’s legendary RainCoast Cafe, Latitude’s menu is inspired by the wine regions of the Americas, with all seafood and meat selections sustainably harvested and produced in BC.
The carefully crafted wine list, focusing exclusively on North and South American wines, offers 36 choices by the glass from the Okanagan to Napa, from the Maipo to Patagonia. The emphasis on selections from Argentina and Chile assures high quality and affordability. The wine list is complemented by a solid range of domestic and international craft beers, as well as some fine scotches and brandies.
Join us for a casual full-course dinner or late night small plate sharing and wine sampling.
Reviews
‘The food concept is arguably one of the best and most original on the east side…’ Andrew Morrison, Westender
‘Henderson’s menu is earthy and served bistro-style with the sort of quality lost on Main Street when Aurora closed last year.’ Mia Stainsby, Vancouver Sun
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