Thursday, April 03, 2008

The Chef and the Carpenter

We went out for dinner Monday night, courtesy in part to hubby's workplace. We decided to go somewhere different for a change, and that's probably why we bought the Entertainment book, to have something to look through because heaven knows we've barely used it.

I decided to look up the Chef and the Carpenter, a french restaurant that has been around since god knows when. They don't have their own website, but the reviews I read all said what a great place it was, so we thought we'd give it a try.

Being a Monday night, it was fairly quiet, especially down that stretch of downtown. Not that we mind, we like peace and quiet. What a quaint restaurant it was. As we walked down the street, we saw a group of young asians hanging around, and hubby thought that was where we were going to eat. Turns out it was a noodle house of sorts, must be cheap for so many students to hang out there. The Chef and the Carpenter on the other hand, was very traditionally french. The exterior was painted a french blue, and as you walked in, it was very reminiscent of the french restaurants we visited in Paris.

Hubby started the meal with a potato leek soup, which must've been made with whipping cream, it was so creamy and smooth. I opted for the lobster bisque, which was heavenly. You could smell and taste the sea in the soup. For the main course, I had their roasted halibut in a lemon butter sauce while DH had their chicken breast in a maple syrup cognac sauce. Both of course came with the usual roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables, and the sauces were to die for. Since DH was having the menu fixe prix, he got to have a Creme Brule to end the evening.

Not only were we the only couple in the restaurant that night, it was very Parisian in that there was an old gentleman who was eating htere by himself. We saw many patrons in the Paris restaurants who obviously frequented their neighbourhood restaurants as the chef and the server would greet these diners heartily. This old gentleman was no different, he wandered out after his meal and came back later on to chat with the owners.

I'm sure it gets busy there on the weekends, so we were fortunate to have the attention of the owners all to ourselves that night.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd be worried at the lack of patrons if I didn't know a restaurant has been around forever and has a good reputation. :) Sounds like a wonderful meal! Can't go wrong with lobster bisque or fish.

Did I tell you about B having potato leek soup somewhere recently and he said that S makes a much better p-l soup?

Epicure68 said...

Altho that's how we found the Afghan Horsemen to begin with, remember? Cuz their booth was the least busy at the Bite of Vancouver.

Yeah, I think you told me about S's potato leek soup being better. No big surprise there.

Anonymous said...

Well, booths at fairs wax and wane...sometimes there's a crowd, sometimes there ain't. But if you enter a restaurant and can hear the crickets in the background (those of us Merry Melodies cartoon afficionados enjoy that image), then it's not a good sign. ;D

I remember your telling me about it, but I wasn't there since I was in Europe when Taste of Van was on.