Vancouver Community College has brought back their popular – VCC Chef’s Table for the Summer until June 30 at the Downtown Campus. I am a huge fan of dining at culinary art schools as the food is cheap, tastes great and it helps train our future chefs.
Chef Hamid Salimian shares his knowledge and expertise with a new generation of chefs as an instructor in the VCC Culinary Arts program. He did an awesome job crafting the menu with the students.
This pop-up style restaurant is located in the Bistro on the 2nd floor. Just walk up the stairs and it’s on your right.
Guests are seated while the students use modern techniques to create a 5 course set menu before your eyes for $30 or $45 with wine pairings.
It’s a small space, so I think there were 5 tables. All reservations are gone, but be sure to check back in the Fall for their next Chef’s Table series.
The menu rotates every 2 weeks and its a surprise what you will be served.
If you don’t want to do the wine pairings, they have cocktails and other beverages they can prepare for you.
The first course is the Puffed Foie Gras with an apricot puree, candied almond, and rose water honey bubble. It is paired with Grey Monk Odyssey Brut Rose 2012.
The texture was very delicate and tasted so good. We popped the honey bubble and mixed it into the puffed foie gras.
Cavatelli and Lobster has NextJen gluten-free cavatelli, lobster, sweet onion, parmesan, and lobster foam. It was paired with the Fern Walk Sauvignon Blanc 2014.
The lobster was cooked perfectly and the lobster foam was so addictive.
Roasted Squab has sour cherry, red beet, brown butter vinaigrette and topped with greens. It is paired with a Sumac Ridge Pinot Noir 2015.
The squab was tender and full of flavour, but I wish the piece of squab was larger.
24 hour Short Rib has popcorn sweetbreads, hen of the woods, and potato. It is paired with a Red Rooster Hen House Ruffled Wine.
This was our favourite dish of the night. Short rib was tender, potato puree was additive, and we could eat a whole bucket of those little popcorn sweetbreads.
Chocolate Bar has hazelnuts, milk chocolate, and salted caramel ice cream. It is paired with a See Ya Later Ranch Gewurztraminer 2014.
It was so good! The dense chocolate bar and the salted caramel ice cream was a match made in heaven.
It was so much fun seeing all the students create the dishes right in front of our eyes. All the dishes came at a good pace and it was a great experience. For $30 for 5 dishes, it is worth the price. You get a good amount of food, but if you are a big eater, you might not be completely full.
I would come back again in a heartbeat for their VCC Chef’s Table.
Address:
250 West Pender Street, Vancouver
