David Hawksworth’s Bel Café opens at Rosewood Hotel Georgia

David Hawksworth created considerable buzz when he opened his much-anticipated fine dining Hawksworth Restaurant last spring. Now, the restaurant has a more casual sibling.

Bel Café officially opened today in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia at 801 West Georgia Street. The sparkling space is named after Hawksworth’s wife, Annabel, and it's styled after cafes in Europe. While you can order soups, sandwiches, coffees, and pastries to go at the counter, if you want to sit down, it’s full service all the way, even if you’re just having a coffee.

On the corner of Howe and Georgia streets, the space has charcoal slate floors, wool banquettes, and zinc countertops. It boasts a shiny Mirage espresso machine and serves 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters and local SPOT Tea.

The menu items are as gourmet as one would expect from Hawksworth. Sandwiches ($9.40 to $10.60) include one with roasted Berkshire pork, red cabbage, jalapeño, and house-made mustard. Another is filled with albacore tuna confit and a celeriac rémoulade. And there’s a vegetarian roasted butternut squash, Asian pear, arugula, and brie sandwich.

The salads ($10 to $14) include a spicy green papaya chicken salad. Soups ($6.80 to $10) come in two sizes and two options: roasted tomato with Cheddar gougère or white cannellini bean with smoked bacon.

Breakfast offerings include an organic-egg sandwich ($6.10) and house-made granola parfait ($5.60).

And then, of course, there are the pastries and sweets. Made daily, the selection includes chocolate croissants, shortbread, lemon tarts, pound cakes, and macarons (black sesame and yuzu sounds interesting).

The café is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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