L’Abattoir in Vancouver
L’Abattoir in Vancouver is by far one of the most enjoyable and unexpected meals I have had in the last few years. But before we jump into the actual food. Let me set the stage for the neighborhood and overall environment. L'Abattoir is located in the Gaslamp district of Vancouver; think San Francisco meets lower West Side Manhattan. The restaurant is surrounded by a mixed bag of hipster coffee shops, storefronts, and other cool yet slightly overpriced stores that are trying to take what one can only guess was a rough neighborhood and turn it into hipster chick; my type of place.
Before jumping into the meal, we happened to check out the LuLu Lemon Lab; if you have never been, think Nike ID X In-Person craftsmen ship, it is cool, go if you have the chance but make sure you bring your wallet.
Ok, enough about the setup and the Lulu Lemon store, back to tell you about an incredible meal and restaurant. When you walk in the door, the footprint feels sort of small, there are stairs when entering both up and to a sub-street level. The bar area looking slick, but I headed to the back room located behind the kitchen in what looked to be an extended part of the restaurant to allow for additional setting, very cool!
Upon sitting down, we were greeted by our server and ordered drinks; pretty much the entire table had Whisked Away I wished, I had ordered Bitters and Smoke because the base liquor was Mezcal, my favorite. About halfway through enjoying the cocktail, I noticed something pretty spectacular, they were playing 90's gangster rap and a moderate volume, just loud enough to enjoy but not too loud that it was overwhelming. While most would likely think this was off-putting, or not appropriate for a venue and occasion such as dinner, to me and the guests I was sharing dinner with all agreed it was something of a guilty pleasure and well curated.
Dinner continued on, I had the squash 4-ways, never thought I would think squash 4-ways would be something to write about, but I must admit that the 4-version of the squash stuff with ricotta cheese was unexpected and delightful. The duck was perfectly cooked and all the deserts were sugar delicious goodness. One of the big stand-outs for me on top of the duck was the local wine. I had no clue that Vancouver/BC had such lovely wine and thanks to a great host for picking out some real winner.
Feel free to check them out on the web, or heck, go to the restaurant and see what it is all about.
On the web at the following locations:
