Every so often Hawksworth restaurant teams up with various chefs for unique collaboration dinners, and tonight we were at one of them.
This latest edition was a one night only “wild culinary collaboration” that welcomed the return of celebrated Canadian chef Michael Hunter. He was back in Vancouver for an evening of culinary mastery and to celebrate the release of his new cookbook, The Hunter Chef in the Wild on the Westcoast.
Chefs David Hawksworth, Michael Hunter, Sylvain Assie, and Marissa Gonzalez took ticket holders on a “multi-course journey from the rugged mountains to the pristine waters of Canada, that promised the very best of wild game, seasonal ingredients, and seafood.” (as per the press release)
Seats were limited and the evening was sold out, but we were lucky enough to share a table amongst friends and food enthusiasts. Dinner was seven courses and we enjoyed each with its own wine pairing.
Our time began with “snacks for the table”, and this included Hawksworth’s popular house-made focaccia, topped with sun-dried tomato, shredded cheese, and green olive for the table to share. This was a strong start as everyone raved about it and ate more than we wanted to, considering that we had so much more food to go. Soft and spongy with quality toppings, I could have eaten the whole loaf myself.
Next came a plate with three small bites, of which my favourite was the Spanish sandwich with ham and manchego cheese. Nostalgic, it reminded me of a simpler time of school lunches. This was the perfect morsel to have me curious over the next other two bites.
The Crispy polenta with caramelized onion was crispy on the outside and mashed on the inside. Sweet from the cornmeal and the onions.
And the third bite was a parmesan duck liver parfait tart, made savoury and sweet with the brightening blueberry chutney topping.
This course didn’t come with a wine pairing so we started with a cocktail from the Hawksworth signatures listing. I got the “wa-hawk-ah”, the strongest and booziest cocktail of them all with del maguey mezcal, punt e mes, bowmore 12yr, peychaud’s, benedictine b&b, and angostura bitters. The smokiness of this flowed especially well with the grown up ham and cheese, where it would be the “cola” in that pairing.
Our 2nd course foreshadowed that the meal will only get better the further we went, course by course. This was sashimi-style geoduck served stunning in it shell. Dressed with olive oil, anaheim chili, and lemon. One of the many recipes we would be trying tonight that is also included in Chef Hunter’s new book. The geoduck was sliced up in to perfect bites to best enjoy its texture. Not rubbery, but it had a nice soft cartilage-like crunch that I thoroughly enjoyed. Fragrant with citrus and peppery from the greens, lovely and light to match with its bubbly pairing.
This was Hawksworth’s house blend Brut from Fitzpatrick located at Greata Ranch in BC. Custom for the restaurant, it even came with its own unique label.
The third course was my favourite, especially given that Chef Hawksworth himself finished it off table side for us. The menu described it as Dungeness crab chowder, but its creamy texture was more like a bisque with a sweet corn purée and nori bon bon garnish for varying texture. A labour of love, Chef himself personally pried the meat out of 10 2lb crabs to stuff into these bundles wrapped in seaweed. The soup was incredibly rich and velvety, and it had a bold flavour like a sauce. Dare I say, this might be the best soup of the season. So good that I finished my serving, then looked to completing my friend’s, literally licking the bowl clean and using the focaccia above as a sponge to wipe up what my tongue missed.
Once again, the soup was so good that I even forgot about the wine pairing, and that is a shame because it did well to cut into the solidity of the soup. The 2022 Tantalus Chardonnay from the slopes of East Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley. Its higher acidity made it a refreshing chase, with a fresh crisp and a bite of gasoline to neutralize.
Course no. 4 was also in the “Hunter Chef in the Wild” cookbook. Like a deconstructed sushi rice bowl with BC albacore tuna, cured salmon roe, sushi rice, tonkatsu sauce, ginger, and furikake. Each ingredient lovely, altogether a full meal in itself.
I loved the unexpected sake pairing. Kamoshibito kuheiji, sauvage, junmai daigingo sake from Nagoya, Japan. With 50% grain polishing for a smoother sake and an overture of florals. This cut into the oils of the fish and the fishiness of the eggs providing a breath of fresh air.
Our meat course was Bison tenderloin served blue and decadently topped with smoked uni butter, that included an actual piece of uni; plus raw and sautéed pine mushrooms and pine nuts. My portion was a perfectly formed round. The flavour earthy, the quality tremendous. However, after the first three bites the meat became a lot, and I could have used some fresh vegetable to balance out the plate. Some sweet roasted peppers or asparagus would have been nice.
The wine at least helped it this regard, although I did find it just as heavy. Macintyre Merlot blend from Ardua in Naramata, BC.
Not on the one day only menu, but as a bonus, Chef Hawksworth brought out an impressive looking Brussels sprouts platter. Round bulbs served still attached to the giant stem it grew from. All served family share style with a Thai chili vinaigrette glaze, sauced right before us. Half the fun was to go hands in and saw sprouts off of stem. I typically love all and any Brussel sprout dishes, and this was no different.
To help bridge savoury and sweet we were given a scoop of Sea buckthorn sorbet made with cedar essence, as our pre-dessert. The frozen dessert came to Vancouver from Toronto, along with Chef Michael’s family and luggage. It was incredibly tart, and thankfully we were warned that it would be as such, instead of getting a rude surprise. It did the trick and our palates were rejuvenated and freshened for our 7th course: dessert.
Apple tarte tatin with candy cap ice cream, walnut praline, and dulcey. Sheets of flakey pastry sandwiching dense cream. A little on the sweet side, which the drink pairing helped to remedy.
Another unexpected, but happily surprise. The Woods Nocino Amaro from North Vancouver. Made from green walnuts its unique almost coffee-like notes were complimentary and on the same vein as the ice cream.
In closing, if you missed this one, you really missed out. So be sure to keep an eye out on their next one night only collaboration.
Hawksworth Restaurant
801 W Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6C 1P7
(604) 673-7000
hawksworthrestaurant.com
