review: au petit chavignol

Vancouver, being the big, blue-eyed toddler that it still is has remained sadly sparse in its offering of cheese & wine bars. The Salt Tasting Room, which finally opened its doors a couple of years ago, has since had a gradual following with the opening of UVA Wine Bar last year. But just a few months ago I was suddenly teased by a furious buzz of words that left me full of feverish excitement: a 36-seat cheese & wine bar to open in the somewhat stark area of Vancouver at 845 East Hastings Street. &, as if I needed another reason for my heart to suddenly stop beating, I then hear that the restaurant is set to open by Alice and Allison Spurrell, the owners of les Amis du Fromage, alongside with Joe Chaput: the Duke of cheese & salami in the city. oh, Vancouver – just when I instinctively begin to glance outside of our relationship in yearning to fill the void that you constantly leave me with, here you are drawing me back in at the brink of our collapse. You’re beautiful & all, but bless you for finally realizing that I can’t eat your mountains.

A few have criticized Au Petit Chavignol’s location, in saying that the area is gritty & the restaurant displaced. Personally, I’m drawn to the more desolate & disconnected part of the city, where conformity to a district does not yet exist, & the neutrality of its neighborhood provides its visitors with the chance to focus on the food away from the distraction of trends. From layout to lighting, the restaurant is intimate & diffused of pretention. There were booths hugging tight corners of the room but I sat at the bar to subtly spy on the swarm of passionate activity.

Everything is made fresh & in-house on a daily basis. Characteristically, the food menu consists mainly of cheese but also offers home-made terrines, Iberico Ham & Prosciutto di Parma. The pleasant difference between this particular cheese & wine bar & that of any others in the city is that here they also offer soups, salads, fondue & other cheese-infused meals. I ordered a selection of cheeses from the cow (comté de montagne), goat (marcella) & sheep (pecorino brillo). The cheese, fixed in its own presence of flavor ranging from wood to aged chalky saltiness & red wine, bode well with the adequate & diverse selection of wine (by bottle or glass), & was on par with the Riesling; the obvious pet in the room. As per recommendation, I had two glasses of the German Leitz Riesling & found that it was the ideal balance between all the varying flavors on my plate.

I had plans that night already & sadly could not linger, but am already planning on re-visiting again soon. For now I remain comforted with the evidence of effort that my city is displaying & plan on holding steady for.. at least another month.