Teaser to 2015 Taste of Yaletown

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      The media preview for this year’s Taste of Yaletown, a dining event in the trendy Vancouver neighbourhood from October 15 to October 29, started and finished with the perfect food: chocolate.

      Journalists were told to meet at 1271 Homer Street, which happens to be the location of Xoxolat, a chocolate boutique.

      At the counter with different samplings was shop owner and chocolatier Heather Rondeau. There was a cocoa nut in front of her.

      “Where the bean comes from matters. It’s like a grape. A good grape makes an amazing wine. A good coco bean makes an amazing chocolate,” Rondeau explained to the Straight.

      Heather Rondeau of Xoxolat says it's all about the cocoa bean.
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      “They come from all over the world literally. Venezuela is one of the more popular. Peru is amazing. Madagascar is another,” Rondeau said.

      The chocolatier's tip: “You don’t eat quickly. You eat slowly and savour it and appreciate it.”

      Xoxolat is a boutique shop for chocolate treats.
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      The 2015 Taste of Yaletown is the 11th installment of the dining event of menus with set prices organized by the Yaletown Business Improvement Association (YBIA).

      Annette O’Shea, executive director of the YBIA, was at the Xoxolat, and she said that Yaletown has become a dining district with 84 restaurants in the neighbourhood. She recalled that five years ago, the number was 40.

      O’Shea and YBIA operations manager Denna Keating later led one batch of journalists to two of the 27 restaurants participating in the Taste of Yaletown.

      First stop was The Parlour at 1011 Hamilton, a stylish establishment with a pizza oven on the floor and menu of comfort food. Marketing coordinator Sabrina Jensen and chef Matthew Villamoran pampered the group.

      Matthew Villamoran runs the kitchen at The Parlour.
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      From Villamoran’s kitchen came the following: salmon tartare (steelhead, seaweed, sesame seeds, maccademia nuts, ponzu aiolo, micro cilantro, chili flakes, and avocado), classic bruschetta, brocco (broccoli, garlic, shallots, jalapeno, roasted pepper, pine nuts, and sweet soy sauce), meatball minis (pork, veal and beef combination with reggiano, tomato sauce, sirachia, caramelized onion, roasted garlic aioli on brioche), and stacked short ribs (with hoisin and tamarind marinade, granny smith apple, siracha, sesame seeds, and jicama slaw).

      “All our food is meant to be shared,” Villamoran said.

      Chef Matthew Villamoran says male customers of The Parlour like this meaty dish of stacked short ribs.
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      Meatball minis at The Parlour are made from a combination of pork, veal and beef.
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      There were three pizzas well. Standard (pepperoni, button mushrooms, red pepper, onion, bacon, kalamata olives, mozzarella, and banana pepper), Yaletown (ahi tuna, red onion, green onion, avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, and spicy aioli), and Hamilton Street (blue cheese, arugula, poach pear, walnuts, caramelized onion, balsamic glaze, and prosciutto).

      Yaletown pizza at The Parlour.
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      Villamoran takes pride in the freshness of food at The Parlour: “We don’t have a fryer, and we don’t have a freezer. Everything we do is from scratch, from fresh.”

      With tummies groaning with food, the batch went next door to the Hamilton Street Grill, an elegant steakhouse.

      Hamilton Street Grill is one of the pioneers of the Taste of Yaletown event. Its owner and chef, Neil Wyles, is on the board of the YBIA.

      Wyles and wife Joan Harvey personally took care of the visitors, placing them on a table with candle lights and long stemmed glasses.

      “Don’t fill up on bread. That’s the number one rule around here,” Wyles said.

      Joan Harvey and her husband Neil Wyles, owner and chef of the Hamilton Street Grill, were gracious hosts at the elegant steakhouse.
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      Returning later from the kitchen, Wyles and Harvey started the group with a vegetarian soup. Following were red onion and blue cheese salad, roasted butternut squash risotto, Icelandic cod saltimbocca, and New York steak with brandy peppercream sauce.

      Red onion and blue cheese salad at the Hamilton Street Grill.
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      One of the old-time favourites at Hamilton Street Grill is flourless chocolate cake.

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      To finish everything, Wyles and Harvey gave a treat: flourless chocolate cake with raspberry coulis.

      According to Wyles, this chocolate cake recipe has been with Hamilton Street Grill through its 18-year life, antedating the craze over gluten-free food.

      As Wyles noted with a lot of satisfaction: “When you’ve been in business this long, you’ve seen them come, you’ve seen them go.”

      Details here.

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