luxury

I will talk about Market by Jean-Georges first since I am still in the process of giving the hotel feedback. Once I have completed that I will post the rest of my report.

For a foodie like me, I was very excited to heat that Jean-Georges Vongerichten would be opening his first Canadian restaurant in Vancouver at the Shangri-La. It of course helps that he is one of my favourite chefs as I have been to many of his restaurants: Jean-Georges, JoJo, Vong and Mercer Kitchen in New York, Vong in London (RIP), and Market in Paris.

The restaurant was full on opening night. We were fortunate to be able to get a last minute reservation. The restaurant is split into two dining areas -- one a smaller cafe off to the right on the main entrance and a larger main dining room with a private room to the left once you go around the bar area.

The dining room is done in taupes and greys with some accents of red; a neutral background for the food. There was a LOT of staff on hand -- perhaps due to opening night -- and the service was quite French and very attentive without being intrusive. Bread was replenished constantly as was our water.

The menu is reasonably priced for the quality -- appetizers (les entrées) about $12 on average, mains (les plats) $25, and desserts at $8.00. Some familiar items on the menu included the rice cracker coated tuna with sriracha scallion sauce, the seared scallops with cauliflower with raisin caper emulsion, and the molten lava chocolate cake.

While all food items were available the wine list was incomplete (not all selections had arrived in time) was fairly limited, and the cocktail menu was terribly uninspiring.

I had the rice cracker tuna which was just awesome to start. My sister had the creamy tomato soup which was decadent and rich without being too heavy. I then had the lobster with potato truffle gnocchi (a sublime dish as the lobster was grilled and then removed from the shell) and my sister the asparagus salad. The asparagus salad had some light and airy hollandaise sauce which went well with the vinaegrette on the salad.

For dessert, I had the creme fraiche cheesecake which is so light and flavourful and juxtaposed against an intense sorbet and some stewed cherries. My sister had the molten lava chocolate cake which she thought was okay (the one at the Mercer Kitchen in NYC was far better).

Jean-Georges himself was there and I was fortunate enough to get a photo taken with him to add to my collection: Jacques Torres, Daniel Boulud and his Kitchen brigade, Phillipe Rochat, Antoine Westermann, Emile Jacob, and Paul Bocuse.

I really enjoyed the restaurant immensely and will definitely will be back. I think Market will give YEW at the Four Seasons a run for their money. I would give Market the edge for service (the service style is more formal) and an edge on the food. The ambiance is better at YEW.

It will be interesting to see how Market performs a month from now, once the hype has died down some and Jean-Georges has left the kitchen. I am, however, already planning our return visit to the restaurant.