Paint the windows black and then cover them with tinfoil.
At the end of my tenure as manager and sommelier of The Observatory Restaurant atop Grouse Mountain, that was the recommendation I was prepared to advance to its ownership.
You see, what to many was The Observatory’s top selling point, its view, had for me become its biggest challenge and indeed, on many nights, the very bane of my existence.
Far too often, patrons were singularly fixated on securing one of approximately four window tables that they perceived to be incomparably desirable and, if they were seated elsewhere in the room (I will point out that pretty much every table in that restaurant is situated right next to, or a scant few feet away from, a window), they would permit an irrational disappointment to completely destroy their dining experience.
A typical evening working in The Observatory required endless shuffling of diners and explaining, with disciplined calmness, why not every one of the evening’s approximately 75 to 100 guests could have the exact spot they wanted.
I mention this because it is my contention, even now, nearly a decade and a half after my departure from that restaurant, that the chefs and service staff of The Observatory are given short shrift for the work they do, losing out time and again to the diner’s subjective experience of the scenery.
Despite its name and scenic location, I believe that The Observatory is first and foremost notable for the calibre of its food and service, its view supplying, when the evening is clear, an added bonus that in no way should make or break the dining experience.
This perspective was upheld when I recently visited The Observatory for the first time in many years. It was an exceptionally cloudy night on the tail-end of the Dine Out Vancouver promotion.
My timing was strategic; I conduct my restaurant reviews anonymously and it was important to me to attempt to get in and out of the restaurant without being “made.”
I am pleased to report that with the exception of running into a former colleague from the operational side of the mountain upon my arrival at the Skyride, I did not encounter anyone else I knew.
The lone supervisor who was overseeing the entirety of the evening’s dinner service was unknown to me and betrayed not even the faintest glimmer of knowledge about why I was visiting.
I dined with my frequent co-conspirator Gil, and together we tucked into chef Dennis Peckham’s menu with zeal. Peckham joined the restaurant in April of last year and has developed a thoughtful menu that emphasizes local, sustainable ingredients.
Gil’s meal began with an appetizer of Rabbit Presse, a terrine-like creation consisting of two medallions of coarsely chopped rabbit wrapped in prosciutto, served with a vibrant green parsley cake, violet mustard cream, and a sprinkling of micro greens.
Despite its slick presentation on a black granite slab and the impeccable arrangement of its elements, the dish was still rustic and honest, packed with complex flavours and pairing well with a glass of Gaja DaGromis Barolo.
Here I must pause to offer the one piece of nagging criticism that I have for The Observatory. Naturally, you will need to take this with a grain of salt as my former role as wine guy for the restaurant, so many years ago, perhaps makes me predisposed to censure on this topic, but I find The Observatory’s wine list prohibitively expensive.
That five-ounce glass of Barolo was $31 and that price marks a middle-of-the-road selection from the by-the-glass list, which tops out at $62.
I will grant that the selections on the list are elegant, reveal a good depth of knowledge and, in many cases, must have taken considerable time to source, but I feel like the list is largely a trophy or showpiece for the restaurant and may be off-putting to the average diner.
I chose sturgeon for my appetizer and was delighted by the dish.
Two dense cubes of moist and succulent sturgeon were accompanied by tender spheres of sweet potato, a velvety sauce of squash and a creative dome of smoked egg yolk. The combination of textures and flavours was a winner, with no element on the plate challenging or competing with the beautiful sturgeon. A glass of Hospices de Beaune Meursault Les
Genevrieres chardonnay ($23) married elegantly with the dish.
For his main course, Gil chose wild boar, five exceedingly tender rounds of pork served with earthy and colourful beets in a number of incarnations, with quince jelly, confit fingerling potatoes and, the star of the dish, delicious and boldly flavoured wild boar sausage, which revealed deep notes of roasted meat and deft seasoning.
For my entrée, I selected beef tenderloin, served perfectly medium rare with a bed of sherry-braised barley, carrot puree, sunchoke, smoked bone marrow and miso mustard, this latter element providing the first truly novel accompaniment to steak that I have encountered in years.
For dessert, the kitchen graciously accommodated an off-menu request for a cheese plate, which arrived bearing assorted aged cheddars and ash-ripened camembert. In addition, Gil sampled a rich and satisfying sticky toffee pudding with Guinness ice cream, a golden, nicely caramelized treat accompanied by a chewy, indulgent wedge of date meringue.
Our meal was $215 before gratuity. Skyride tickets are complimentary with dinner reservations.
The Observatory is located atop Grouse Mountain at 6400 Nancy Greene Way. theobservatoryrestaurant.ca 604-998-5045
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. Contact: [email protected]
