It's a café with brunch dishes, pastries, and coffee by day, but come evening, Novella on Main Street turns into an intimate, elegant "wine lounge" with an identity all of its own.
Called Vignette, the dinnertime concept is the flipside of the all-day elevated-but-casual hang, featuring both a tasting menu and a la carte dishes with a tight but adventurous wine and drinks program.
Behind the playful menu is Chef Ash Kurtz, who most recently was at Novella/Vignette's sibling venture, Bar Susu. The restaurants are also part of the same family as the award-winning Published On Main.
Kurtz' dishes take the familiar and in some cases turn them entirely inside out - for example, the "Welsh Rarebit" is really like the crouton on French Onion soup super-sized and surrounded by a reduced sauce that is the meaty, onion-y essence of the beloved bistro classic.
At other times, however, he recreates flavours in earnest, like with the housemade "Ketchup Chips" with their own Boursin cheese. Don't be fooled by the fact that the plate looks like the kitchen is pulling your leg and just opened up a bag of Rufles and dumped out a brick of Boursin. The chips are thick and crunchy and coated with a deeply umami house-crafted seasoning, the perfect foil for the creamy, herby dip.
Another approach to playing with your tastebuds is the scallop dish, which comes with broken sour cream, celery root, whey, and leek, and while it is light, bright, and refreshing, it also manages to taste like a bagel with smoked salmon and a schmear of herbed cream cheese. The tajarin with Mimolette takes cacio e pepe up a notch thanks to the tangy French cheese.
For drinks, the wine selection focuses on small-batch producers, so look for some interesting labels and pours, along with a fun cocktail program. If you aren't imbibing, take note that Vignette is brewing up its own house-made root beer.
If you're not opting for dining a la carte, virtually the whole tasting menu - with optional drink pairings for an additional charge - features entirely different dishes, which gives you a different taste of what Kurtz and the Vignette team are up to.
Vignette is located at 2650 Main St (inside Novella) and is open Wednesday to Sunday from 5 p.m. Reservations are available via Tock.
Watch: What happens at night at this all-day Vancouver cafe?
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