Nightingale is the latest establishment by Chef David Hawksworth<\/strong>, the man behind the critically acclaimed Hawksworth<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0The 2-level restaurant took over\u00a0the old club house of\u00a0the historical Marine Building<\/strong><\/em>, a piece of the most significant\u00a0architectural heritage of Vancouver that I always love and proudly tell people where I used to work at.<\/p>\n The interiors were just as\u00a0majestic, with a super high and artistically designed ceiling, supported by tiled pillars and decorative walls filled with lively sculptures of flying birds. And every single diner who walks in here simply cannot ignore the stunning design of the\u00a0magnificent bar, which has a\u00a0towering display of bottles and\u00a0bottles of spirits in vibrant colours. With the decorative birdcages and more of those “flying birds” on top of the super tall liquor cabinets, I felt like being in middle of\u00a0the wizarding library at Hogwart’s looking for my special magic potion. Overall, \u00a0the mix of chic and rustic makes\u00a0the place exquisitely\u00a0elegant\u00a0and\u00a0comfortable.<\/p>\n We were here for lunch. Looking at their menu, which was the only menu for both lunch and dinner, I\u00a0was fascinated by the big shift from the Michelin style\u00a0fine dining at the chef’s namesake restaurant to much more casual approach here, with mainly modern \u00a0Mediterranean cuisine prepared with local ingredients and touches\u00a0of pan pacific influences. The menu was of French bistro style with sections\u00a0of Raw, Vegetables, Pizza, Small Plates, Large Plates, and Dessert. \u00a0But\u00a0there are\u00a0a lot of dishes, \u00a0almost a little too overwhelming for the first-time visitors to the restaurant.<\/p>\n First came the Beef Heart Tartare<\/strong> ($13), and it surprised me with its presentation. The finely shaved cured egg yolk is a very commonly used trick in Taiwanese or Cantonese cooking, besides adding flavours, making the dish look like being covered with luxury gold flakes. Here on this plate, the grilled bread, the green kale pistou, and beef heart tartatre were layering on one and another, and covered in both shaved yolk and white. \u00a0While the shaved yolk worked, the additional egg white kind of saturates the golden colour. And long with the very odd shape of the bread pieces, it was all \u00a0too rustic for me to find it attractive. Taste wise, \u00a0the tartare was smooth, luscious and flavourful. The horse radish worked well\u00a0to brighten the flavour while the kale pistou was subtle and adding that refreshing fresh herb quality to the dish.<\/p>\n The Braised tripe<\/strong> ($15) was cooked with chorizo in a bright San Marzano tomato sauce, and served with grilled bread with kale pistou. \u00a0The grilled bread is the same with the one in the beef tartare dish and it is making those 2 dishes look very\u00a0similar. It just felt like little bit of an afterthought to put the pistou on the toast just to add more to a dish. Some regular crunchy toast would just do fine with that delicious tripe, which was braised to very tender but still had\u00a0a tiny bit of that snappy\u00a0tripe texture. The tomato sauce was less acidic than I expected as it was complemented with\u00a0a good amount of\u00a0sweet and savoury flavours.<\/p>\n The Pacific Octopus<\/strong> ($19) was definitely a winner for a texture guy like me. \u00a0First of all, it had to be a fairly sizeable octopus to produce those big mouthful chunks of meaty\u00a0ocean goodness. And the octopus was slow cooked to a perfect balance of tenderness\u00a0and chewiness, with a\u00a0slightly smoky and crispy exterior from the quick grill before serving. And the different flavours from salty blistered caper, refreshing parsley, spicy fermented chili, and vinegar, all helped tremendously but none overpowering, proving how fresh and tasty that octopus is. \u00a0I definitely recommend this dish.<\/p>\n The Over Roasted Cauliflower<\/strong> ($12) was praised almost unanimously. The cauliflower florets\u00a0were charred and caramelized, tasting both nutty and sweet,\u00a0and also had a soft but succulent texture. The nuttiness and the texture were further enhanced \u00a0by the toasted sunflower seeds, while\u00a0the green harissa added a kick of spicy to the flavours. It was definitely a great choice for comfort food without the guilt.<\/p>\n The Spicy Spianata Salumi Pizza<\/strong> ($17), with piquillo pepper, san marzano and fior di latte on top, was another rustically presented dish, \u00a0and a nice glimpse of \u00a0their fairly large pizza selection on the menu (10 pizzas!). \u00a0Although there was\u00a0less of \u00a0the presence of the spicy Spinata salumi than I expected, the flavours of the tomato sauce with the melted cheese was excellent. When I bite into the crust, I can certainly appreciate the taste and texture of \u00a0a great pie\u00a0dough \u00a0produced inside\u00a0a wood fired oven .<\/p>\n For large plates, we picked the Casarecce<\/strong> ($26), a pasta dish with\u00a0braised rabbit, rapini and a white wine sauce. It was a less memorable dish than others. Visually it resembled\u00a0mac and cheese but with greens in it. The noodles were well made and perfectly al dente, but the very lean rabbit meat that has a quality close to chicken breast, I felt a creamier or a more liquidy sauce would bind the components together a little better.<\/p>\n The Grilled Pork Belly ($24) was nothing like what I expected. The pork belly was grilled, although still meaty and juicy, \u00a0definitely not as soft and tender\u00a0as the slow braised one often found at other places. With a\u00a0sweeter seasoning, I would say it almost had a BBQ pork cheek quality that I found at a Cantonese\u00a0restaurant. This is probably why it was served thinly sliced or it would be a little too chewy. The thinly sliced nectarine, along with white vinegar, \u00a0added some freshness and acidity, giving the dish a ‘sweet and sour’ quality to the dish. \u00a0And it was nice to have\u00a0the pistachio as\u00a0the final savoury touch. I found this this\u00a0dish\u00a0rather unique and playful – a great example of a brilliant dish with fewer components.<\/p>\n There were barely any hard decisions on desserts among us because we just ordered all 6 of them on the menu. \u00a0That’s easy…<\/p>\n The first dessert came and was an instant hit among us. The\u00a0Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich<\/strong> ($12) was whimsical and flavourful, with small chunks of\u00a0real strawberries rendered inside the house made ice-cream, complemented with that buttery shortcake crust, not overly sweet but truly satisfying.<\/p>\n I adored the Hazelnut Financier<\/strong> ($12) just as much, constructed with soft praline and whipped espresso cr\u00e8me, served with more than a handful of candied hazelnuts on the side. It might look very different from a traditional financier, but it carries the lightness and the nuttiness of the original.<\/p>\n Next came a slice of the Meyer Lemon Tart<\/strong> ($12), served with raspberry compose, almond wafer, and whipped cream. \u00a0The tangy citrusy flavour really shined through the light sweetness of other components. I really enjoyed the flavours but wished the filling had been\u00a0a little softer and creamier.<\/p>\n The next trio of desserts all came\u00a0in a mason jar. The Yogurt Panna Cotta<\/strong> ($12), was very smooth in the contrast of \u00a0the crunchiness of the complimentary pistachio and pine nut biscotti. And the grapefruit marmalade on top of the panna cotta\u00a0was quite tasty as I always like any grapefruit flavoured drinks or desserts. \u00a0The Lime Cr\u00e8me with Strawberry and Vanilla<\/strong> ($12) tasted balanced, \u00a0but since it had a similar flavour profile with the panna cotta and the lemon tart, it was less desirable for me because of the less memorable texture. \u00a0The Salted caramel pot de cr\u00e8me<\/strong> ($12), was a little creamier in texture than the lime creme, and salt was used to offset the sweetness which was rather successful, making it a winner of the trio for me.<\/p>\n Like our last brunch meet-up, Food Wench from Drunken Noms and I both got a Bloody Caesar <\/strong>($13.50). It was good but didn’t taste extraordinary for that price. \u00a0She also got another classic cocktail,\u00a0The Old Pal\u00a0<\/strong>($13), a mix of American rye, dry Vermouth, and Campari. \u00a0The price of the cocktails \u00a0here definitely on par with their sister bars at Hawksworth and Hotel Georgia. \u00a0I would rather be interested trying their new cocktails than the classic ones next time.<\/p>\n We also had a chance to visit the mezzanine level of the dining area, which \u00a0we\u00a0discovered more flying birds on the wall. Since the ceiling was a lot lower here, it felt a lot cozier and more intimate \u00a0sitting up here. We also found the enormous wood\u00a0burning oven where they fired up their pizza orders.<\/p>\n As Hawksworth<\/strong><\/em> has become one of the most successful fine dining restaurants\u00a0in the nation well representing Vancouver in recent years , it is\u00a0a name that the locals\u00a0are\u00a0proud to recommend\u00a0to their visiting family or friends. However, my most recent visit\u00a0there, although having impressed my\u00a0visitor with the impeccable quality of ingredients and service, \u00a0didn’t seem as mind-blowing\u00a0as expected. There were\u00a0\u00a0many\u00a0components and flavours on almost every a la carte dish, almost too many, and it felt like walking the fine line between\u00a0sophistication and over complication. But those were the same dishes that had won the restaurant many praises and accolades. What happened?<\/p>\n And here is my thought…<\/p>\n At a fine dining restaurant, every single\u00a0dish is expected to be perfect or at least close to perfect, with all the components on the plate has to be impeccable – the looks, the flavours, and the texture. \u00a0For\u00a0this level of culinary experience, maybe a tasting menu dinner would be\u00a0a much better choice. \u00a0A carefully designed tasting menu allows the focus on only a certain number of dishes, which are relatively simpler and served in certain progression, providing a more cohesive dining experience and telling a much better story on the table.\u00a0\u00a0Going back to those main dishes that did not wow me\u00a0at Hawksworth, the number of components were\u00a0making it a lot more difficult to execute and produce consistent result. \u00a0A great chef can only spend so much R&D time in the kitchen fine-tuning a brilliant creation, but the key of success is to deliver this dish perfectly every single time.<\/p>\n Compared to Hawksworth, here at Nightingale the food is much simpler, served in a more casual and unpretentious fashion, but still up to the high standards such as using locally sourced ingredients with great quality, and utilizing the chef\u2019s classic techniques and constant innovations. And this would make the restaurant appealing to a much wider range of customers. This has become the trend of the restaurant scene in Vancouver.<\/p>\n It was an excellent treat at Chef Hawksworth’s latest eatery. Sitting inside\u00a0such a visually stunning dining room but with such casual atmosphere was already quite refreshing. The food was rather solid with a few amazing dishes such as the Pacific Octopus<\/strong>, the Oven Roasted Cauliflower<\/strong> and the Grilled Pork Belly<\/strong>. And that\u00a0Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich<\/strong>\u00a0 was quite remarkable as well. \u00a0Although it was fun to eat and hang out with 5 other people, it would be a much better dining experience if there were only 4 of \u00a0us\u00a0sharing all the dishes. \u00a0The whole menu could use some slimming down\u00a0but I guess it’s good for them test out all the ideas at the beginning. I am looking forward to coming back here and\u00a0\u00a0trying\u00a0the\u00a0other dishes and the original cocktails.<\/p>\n Website: Location:![\"Nightingale\"](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/image-47.jpeg\")
The Dining Room<\/h4>\n
![\"Nightingale\"](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/image-43.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/a><\/a>The Menu<\/h4>\n
Raw<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Small Plates<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/a>Vegetables<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Pizza<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Large Plates<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/a>Dessert<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>The Cocktails<\/h4>\n
<\/a>The Mezzanine<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Mezzanine<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>From Hawksworth to Nightingale<\/h4>\n
Overall…<\/h4>\n
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\nhttp:\/\/hawknightingale.com\/<\/a>
\nMenu:
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\nhttp:\/\/hawknightingale.com\/menus\/<\/a>
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