Terroir
2232 Marine Dr., West Vancouver
604-922-9266
TerroirKitchen.com
Open Tues.-Sun., 5pm-10:30pm
Even if you’ve never heard of chef Faizal Kassam, there’s an excellent chance you’ve eaten his food. The former executive chef (for seven years) at Cibo Trattoria and its adjoining Uva Wine & Cocktail Bar, he’s also cooked at Hawksworth, Bacchus, La Brasserie, Bin 941, and several others. Suffice it to say, Kassam has serious cred and finely honed skills. The news that he was leaving Cibo to open his own restaurant in West Vancouver was intriguing. What kind of food would he serve? What would the space be like? How would he do on the oft-snubbed North Shore?
It appears he’ll do just fine: Terroir’s doors opened at the end of May, and traffic has been steady since. Occupying the address that formerly housed La Regalade (next to Zen Japanese and Mangia e Bevi), the space has historical significance for Kassam –he got his start there, 16 years ago, as a dishwasher. Don’t expect any signs of its predecessor, though: It’s been torn out and cleaned up, and the result is an airy, bright, casual room accommodating just 40-odd seats. (La Regalade crowded in more than 90.) The kitchen runs along one side and is separated by some glass partitions – mainly for noise reduction, I would imagine.
The menu is a well-chosen list of share plates, ranging from appetizer to entrée. Italian, French, Spanish, and North African influences abound. As the restaurant’s name suggests, ingredients are locally sourced as much as possible, and they flirt well with the Mediterranean influences. A heavenly dish of house-made gnocchi ($18) was so pillowy it felt like the touch of my fork would cause spontaneous dissipation. Dotted with small squares of saffron-infused pecorino, thick lashings of venison ragù, and – just for shits and giggles – cocoa nibs, of all things, it was a textural and tasteful symphony that we couldn’t help ordering again on a second visit. Crispy pork belly over slow-cooked Puy lentils and smoky cauliflower ($18) took a clichéd dish into excellent and exhilarating territory; the skin on the pork was paper-thin and perfectly crisped, while the lentils (not usually a favourite of mine) were aromatic and silky.
Some dishes seemed a bit dear for what was on offer. A lovely plate of zucchini “carpaccio” came lightly dressed with red-wine vinegar, shallots, and pine nuts, but at $14 it came across as slightly overpriced. Buffalo mozzarella with Sapo Bravo tomatoes, meanwhile, seemed like false advertising, as the cheese played a distant – and rather tiny – second fiddle to a plate of well-seasoned but almost too-ripe tomatoes. Perhaps calling it tomato salad wouldn’t justify the $18 price tag, though.
These small quibbles aside, there is excellent value to be had here on both the food and wine lists, the latter thanks to GM Calvin deGroot. By-the-glass options hover between $11 and $14, with most under the $12 mark, and include knockouts like the 2014 Coolshanagh Chardonnay from Naramata and Giesen’s The Brothers Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Both are excellent, bright, mineral-forward wines that play ever-so-nicely with the food.
It would be a serious disservice to not mention dessert. The tiny dulce de leche pot au crème ($4) proved the perfect finish when we wanted just a few bites of something sweet. The much more substantial chocolate tart with pistachio brittle and rosewater cream ($11) was a masterful mix of influences – but be warned that however much you may love chocolate, this, too, is a share plate.
Food: ★★★★
Service: ★★★★
Ambiance: ★★★★
Value: ★★★
Overall: ★★★★
All ratings out of five stars
★: Okay, nothing memorable.
★★: Good, shows promise.
★★★: Very good, occasionally excellent.
★★★★: Excellent, consistently above average.
★★★★★: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
