28 minute read
COVER
GOLDEN PLATES Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng wows Straight readers
Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine in Steveston came out on top in several categories in the Golden Plates awards
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by Charlie Smith
When I sat down for the rst nine-course meal of my life, I was greeted with a letter at my table setting. Written by Baan Lao Fine ai Cuisine executive chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng, a.k.a. Chef Nutcha, it welcomed me to her elegant dining room in Steveston overlooking the Fraser River. She described her restaurant’s traditional ai cuisine as a “symphony, where each element has to be perfectly tuned to ensure a harmonious, balanced taste experience”.
“This evening, we will be transporting you on a memorable culinary journey featuring nine unique courses,” Chef Nutcha wrote.
And what an experience it was. It opened with Maa Haaw as an amuse-bouche. is stir-fried minced Berkshire pork was infused with ai herbs and a dash of bird’s eye chili and served in a small round ball on fresh pineapple. It didn’t last long on the table. Over the next two hours, sta delivered four appetizers and ve main dishes. Along the way, I tried Phat ai Goong, which was prepared in an edible netting. at was followed by a spicy soup, organic and free-range duck, and next up were two styles of organic rice grown in Chef Nutcha’s home region of Isaan in northeastern ailand. e nal main course, Baan Lao’s signature sockeye salmon dish, be t the restaurant’s location at the mouth of the Fraser River, which is the mightiest Paci c salmon–bearing waterway in the world.
All of this was followed by a house-made organic lime sorbet as a palate cleanser, then a coconut glutinous-rice dish as dessert, and, nally, a nisher of fresh, handcarved watermelon that landed on the table looking like a wild plant blooming in a eld. e entire banquet was supplemented with tea pairings; these beverages came from Japan, China, and Taiwan. e service was stunningly gracious without being stu y. e food was magni cent, with each dish presented and served in a distinctly artistic manner. It was like going to the theatre and being surprised again and again and again.
Canada has no Michelin-starred restaurants yet. But the attention to detail at Baan Lao, along with its elegant yet homey vibe, could conceivably put it in the running for one of these prestigious designations, which are based on meticulous judging that places a premium on originality.
But it’s not just the food and the presentation that attracts diners’ attention. e bright white interior, high ceiling, hardwood oor, and oor-to-ceiling windows facing the Fraser River are augmented by four paintings by a world-famous elephant. Yes, you read that correctly. is artistic ai pachyderm, Suda, even signs her proportionally accurate creations, which she paints with her trunk. Her works of art have been featured on CNN and in the Wall Street Journal—and if you don’t believe me, check her out on YouTube.
A er my rst visit to Baan Lao, I came to appreciate how this suburban restaurant did exceedingly well in this year’s Golden Plates awards voted on by Georgia Straight readers. ey chose Chef Nutcha as the chef of the year only one year a er Baan Lao opened. In addition, the restaurant was honoured as the best restaurant overall, best new restaurant, best ne-dining establishment, best ai restaurant, and best hidden gem. It’s the closest that any restaurant can get to a clean sweep in the Golden Plates.
CHEF NUTCHA, a former nurse and cancer researcher, trained under Chef Vichit Mukura, who served the ai Royal family. A er moving to Vancouver in 2014, she craved the type of natural ai food that she ate as a child.
In an interview with the Straight, she said that she grew up in the rural and landlocked province of Khon Kaen, which is heavily agricultural. Everything she ate as a child was secured fresh, including sh from local waterways. She recalled clearing salamanders and grasshoppers from the rice elds. Water needed to be pumped from the ground. Honey would be collected from local bees.
“I would go hunting and foraging for fresh ingredients in the surrounding elds and forests, bringing them home to cook with my mother,” Chef Nutcha told the Straight through a translator. “We didn’t have electricity, so we cooked over an open re, preparing meals for our family. Each bite was fresh and delicious. at’s how I was raised.”
She added that while ai food always has a fair amount of heat, it’s not necessarily as overpoweringly hot as many westerners believe. e cuisine in Baan Lao, for example, is subtly avoured and cannot be described as mouth-burning.
“In the northeast of ailand, there’s no sea access, so the food is more vegetarianbased,” Chef Nutcha said. “In the south, there’s more Muslim in uence, so curry dishes are common.” e rice comes from a family plot in Isaan and is transported across the Paci c to its destination in Steveston.
“At Baan Lao, we use authentic ai herbs and spices,” Chef Nutcha maintained. “We have a living herb wall at the restaurant to grow fresh herbs. I grow some in my garden at home and we source locally grown organic herbs.”
So what’s more important to Chef Nutcha—the ingredients or the cooking technique?
“ at’s di cult, as choosing the organic ingredients is so important to me,” she replied. “But I think, in general, it’s the cooking technique. Anyone can purchase all the ingredients, but without the proper cooking techniques, it’s just a pile of ingredients.”
Chef Nutcha’s interest in healthy food was honed in a hospital in Bangkok, where she worked as a nurse. In this capacity, she worked on trials of treatments involving cancer patients.
“I recognize that what we eat has a direct impact on our wellness,” she declared. “So I wanted to create meals that are healthy, organic, locally sourced when possible, and have no preservatives.”
Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng was raised in a rural province in the Isaan region of northeastern Thailand, where she came to appreciate the value of fresh ingredients and traditional Thai cuisine.
– Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine executive chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng
Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng’s nine-course meal at Baan Lao concluded with Phohn La Maai, Luuk Choop, and Chaa Mint, which included a slice of hand-carved watermelon. from previous page
And she’s keen to emphasize that Baan Lao is a team effort. It wouldn’t have been possible to launch the restaurant without everyone involved sharing in the same vision.
She chose to live in Steveston because she found it to be such a quaint and charming community. It’s also an ideal location for her and her husband to raise a family.
“It can be tough to establish work-life balance when owning a restaurant,” she conceded. “So I wanted to be close enough to home that my kids can easily stop in to see me on their way home from school and when they’re out for a walk. “We love being part of the community here, and we’re close enough to all the amenities of Vancouver, too,” Chef Nutcha continued. “When we envisioned Baan Lao, we dreamed of a beautiful waterfront location—and we found it.” g
G
olden PLATES EXPLAINED
d IN THE PAST CENTURY, a previous
editor of the Georgia Straight had a great idea. Why not ask the readers for the names of their favourite restaurants and publish the results? Thus, the Georgia Straight’s annual Golden Plates awards were born. And this year, in our 24th edition, we’re seeing how the suburbs are starting to gain recognition. The most obvious example is Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine in Richmond’s Steveston neighbourhood, where Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng is presenting Thai delicacies in ways that have never been witnessed before in this region. Not only did she win chef of the year, but her riverfront restaurant also won in the best overall, best fine dining, best new restaurant, best Thai, and best hidden gem categories. The readers’ choices were calculated as a result of people voting for their favourites in an online ballot on the Straight’s website from June 14 to July 29. From the results, it appears that Vancouver’s most celebrated chefs can no longer claim to have the fine-dining field to themselves anymore. Another suburban business that fared exceptionally well in the balloting was Sawbuck’s Neighbourhood Pub in Surrey. It bested all the Vancouver competitors as the best neighbourhood pub and the establishment with the best pub food. Of course, Baan Lao and Sawbuck’s aren’t the first suburban businesses to do well in the Golden Plates awards. Scott Jaeger, chef and cofounder of the nowdefunct PearTree restaurant in Burnaby, also appeared on the cover of one of our Golden Plates issues several years back. The switch to an online ballot has helped level the playing field for suburban establishments in recent years. But Vancouver’s dining establishments and beverage rooms still dominate the regional field. That’s clear to anyone who checks the readers’-choice boxes sprinkled throughout this issue. One thing everyone can agree on is that it’s been a brutal year for Vancouver’s hospitality sector. That was amply demonstrated when Jaeger’s fine-dining establishment closed last summer as a result of a staggering rent increase in the midst of the pandemic. And we’ve been so impressed by how many other businesses in this sector navigate their way through this economic catastrophe in the face of so much uncertainty. We hope that anyone who picks up this issue is motivated to visit the establishments highlighted in the readers-choice boxes. Think of it this way: they just won the election in their respective categories. g by Charlie Smith
READERS’ f CHOICES
CONTINENTAL
1. Chambar Restaurant 568 Beatty Street 2. Hawksworth Restaurant (tie) 801 West Georgia Street 2. Le Crocodile (tie) 100–909 Burrard Street 2. Les Faux
Bourgeois (tie) 663 East 15th Avenue 2. Cactus Club Café (tie)
Various locations 3. Water St. Cafe 300 Water Street
GREEK
1. The Greek by Anatoli
Various locations 2. Stepho’s Souvlaki Greek Taverna 1124 Davie Street 3. Nammos Estiatorio 3980 Fraser Street
ITALIAN
1. Savio Volpe 615 Kingsway 2. Ask for Luigi 305 Alexander Street 3. Giardino 1328 Hornby Street
LATIN AMERICAN
1. Cuchillo 261 Powell Street 2. El Camino’s 3250 Main Street 3. Havana Vancouver 1212 Commercial Drive
MEDITERRANEAN
1. Cioppino’s Mediterranean
Grill & Enoteca (tie) 1133 Hamilton Street 1. Nuba (tie)
Various locations 2. Branas
Mediterranean Grill (tie) 617 Stamps Landing 2. The Greek by Anatoli (tie)
Various locations 3. Hydra Estiatorio
Mediterranean 825 West Pender Street
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
1. Botanist 1038 Canada Place 2. Blue Water Cafe 1095 Hamilton Street 3. Forage 1300 Robson Street
MEXICAN
1. Tacofino
Various locations 2. Sal y Limón
Various locations 3. La Taqueria
Various locations
TACOS
1. Tacofino, Various locations 2. La Taqueria
Various locations 3. Primo’s Mexican Grill 15069 Marine Drive, White Rock
CARIBBEAN
1. Calabash Bistro 428 Carrall Street 2. The Reef, 4172 Main Street 3. PGs Jamaican Restaurant 1387 Johnston Road, White Rock
LEBANESE
1. Nuba
Various locations 2. Jamjar Canteen
Various locations 3. Superbaba 2419 Main Street
MIDDLE EASTERN
1. Nuba
Various locations 2. Jamjar Canteen
Various locations 3. East Is East (tie)
Various locations 3. Tamam: Fine Palestinian Cuisine (tie) 2616 East Hastings Street
PERSIAN
1. Cazba Restaurant
Various locations 2. Persian Gulf Restaurant 114 A West 15th Street, North Vancouver 3. Zeitoon (tie) 1795 Pendrell Street 3. Celeshmet Restaurant (tie) 6956 Victoria Drive
MALAYSIAN
1. Banana Leaf
Various locations 2. Hawkers Delight (tie) 4127 Main Street 2. Potluck Hawker Eatery (tie) 3424 Cambie Street 3. Tropika (tie) 2975 Cambie Street 3. John 3:16 Malaysian Delights (tie)
Various locations
SOUTHEAST ASIAN
1. Potluck Hawker Eatery (tie) 3424 Cambie Street 2. Anh and Chi 3388 Main Street 3. Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine 4100 Bayview Street, Richmond
THAI
1. Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine 4100 Bayview Street, Richmond 2. Maenam 1938 West 4th Avenue 3. Bob Likes Thai Food 3755 Main Street
Three reasons why meal kit service Fresh Prep is taking over Vancouver, one kitchen at a time
( is story is sponsored by Fresh Prep.)
Deciding what to cook for dinner every night is an uphill struggle for many, let alone nding the time to grab groceries and prepare the meals. A er a long day at the o ce, the last thing anybody wants to do is julienne a batch of carrots or tear up over an onion.
Between juggling work and play, whipping up a package of store-bought tortellini topped with a jar of tomato sauce is really all you have time for. Plus, not everyone has the chef skills required to make an elaborate and nutritious meal.
Vancouver-based meal kit service Fresh Prep is a great place to start for those who are short on time or con dence in the kitchen. e local company was voted “Best Meal Kit Service” by readers of the Georgia Straight in this year’s Golden Plates awards.
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IT’S CONVENIENT Each week, Fresh Prep customers can select from 10 delectable and diverse choices. Half of the recipes are always vegetarian or vegan, and there are also gluten-aware and dairy-aware options. Home cooks also have the option to purchase Add-On items like prepared meals, salads, juices, smoothies, plant-based meats, pastas, desserts, pantry staples, and much more.
Meal kit ingredients are precut and preportioned, eliminating many steps of the cooking process. is is truly a miracle for those who loathe chopping onions, reducing the time spent and the stress of preparing dinner.
On the selected delivery date, an insulated cooler bag lled with reusable ice packs, recipe cards, and ingredients is brought right to the customer’s doorstep.
IT’S SUSTAINABLE Fresh Prep has recently introduced its Zero Waste Kits, a reusable container that reduces meal packaging materials, including single-use plastic. When a meal doesn’t come in a Zero Waste Kit, it’s packaged in a compostable paper bag with ingredients in so plastic. To further its sustainability initiatives, Fresh Prep has developed a recycling program for the so plastics that are rinsed and returned.
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THE MEALS ARE DELICIOUS With Fresh Prep, you can swap your bowl of instant noodles for Mushroom & Ricotta White Pizza, an Alabama Style Chicken Sandwich, or Sesame-Crusted Seared Tuna. Dishes are o en inspired by international cuisines to bring some much-needed excite ment to your current cooking routine. g -
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GOLDEN PLATES Hector Laguna’s mom is the best chef he knows
by Steve Newton
Botanist executive chef Hector Laguna fell in love with Vancouver the first time he saw it—even though the weather totally sucked.
“It’s funny,” Laguna recalls on the phone from the restaurant, where he’s taking a break from rolling pasta. “We came in December for my mother’s birthday, and the weather was horrible. You know, Vancouver weather in December is really, really bad. A little rain. But we got to downtown and we walked around and I told my wife, ‘I would live here for sure.’ And she said, like, ‘We got here an hour ago.’ But I like it. A year later, we were here.”
Laguna rst discovered his love of cooking while growing up with his seven siblings on a farm in Hidalgo, Mexico. All the kids had to pitch in, so they would start out doing dishes and then graduate to making tortillas.
“We were always in the kitchen,” he says. “ at was the place where all important conversations were had.”
It was there that young Hector learned the basics of cooking from his mom, who he says makes a wicked mole and is the best chef he knows.
“She cooks so much stu ,” he says, “and it amazes me, now that I cook professionally. When I think about it, she doesn’t have a single recipe, it’s all by memory and by feel and touch.
“But I did learn a lot from her,” he adds. “I think the most important thing I learned from her was just my love for food and what food really brings to the table, other than just being food.”
Ten years before landing the executive chef job at Botanist (located in the Fairmont Paci c Rim hotel) in 2017, Laguna was picking up valuable pointers under the mentorship of James Beard Foundation Award recipient Michelle Bernstein at Michy’s in Miami.
“She was, professionally, the person who made me want to cook for a living. She is so passionate. She has Latin background as well, so she sees food the same way I see it: as something that brings people together. So we had that in common.”
As far as the food at Botanist goes— cuisine that just won it Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Hotel Restaurant and Best Paci c Northwest Dining in the 2021 Golden Plates—the dry-aged duck breast (with onion crêpe, wild mushrooms, nettles, and preserved cherry jus) is the most popular item on the dinner menu. But Laguna says that the lamb rack and lamb belly duo (with tomato fondue, pu ed grains, and lamb consommé) is his personal favourite.
“It’s a recipe that we grew up eating on a Sunday,” he says, “so it brings a lot of memories for me.”
When he’s cooking at home for his wife and two kids, aged ve and three, Laguna loves taco night, his favourite being tongue tacos. But he also likes to go out on the town and sample the competition. When asked if there are any other local eateries he recommends, the chef raves about delicious meals he’s had at AnnaLena in Kitsilano and St. Lawrence in Gastown. And he wants to try the food at Published on Main very soon.
So what does he think sets Botanist apart from the other restaurants in Vancouver?
“You know, we never take a break,” he replies. “We’re always thinking about a new thing. And with that, I’m not saying we are innovative; at this time, I don’t believe anybody is inventing anything else. But it’s getting creative and always trying to use the fresh ingredients, always trying to treat them the best way possible. Trying to accentuate the produce itself more than, you know, the aesthetics.” g
Hector Laguna’s favourite dish on the menu at Botanist is the lamb rack and lamb belly duo.
READERS’ f CHOICES
HOTEL RESTAURANT
1. Botanist 1038 Canada Place 2. Hawksworth Restaurant 801 West Georgia Street 3. Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge 845 Hornby Street
HOTEL LOUNGE
1. The Lobby Lounge and RawBar 1038 Canada Place 2. Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge 845 Hornby Street 3. Notch8 Restaurant & Bar 900 West Georgia Street
WINE BAR
1. UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar 900 Seymour Street 2. Grapes & Soda 1541 West 6th Avenue 3. Salt Tasting Room (tie) 45 Blood Alley Square 3. - GOBO (tie) 237 Union Street 3. Juice Bar (tie), 54 Alexander Street
B.C. WINE/WINERY (RED)
1. Road 13 Vineyards 799 Ponderosa Road, Road 13, Oliver 2. Mission Hill Family Estate 1730 Mission Hill Road, West Kelowna 3. Burrowing Owl Estate Winery 500 Burrowing Owl Place, Oliver
B.C. WINE/WINERY (WHITE)
1. Stoneboat Vineyards 356 Orchard Grove Lane, Oliver 2. Gray Monk Estate Winery 1055 Camp Road, Okanagan Centre 3. Quails’ Gate 3303 Boucherie Road, West Kelowna
BARTENDER
1. Sabrine Dhaliwal (The Chickadee
Room) 2. Chad Rivard (Odd Society Spirits) 3. Adam Domet (Pourhouse)
RESTAURANT WINE SELECTION
1. Hawksworth Restaurant 801 West Georgia Street 2. Tutto Restaurant & Bar 901 Homer Street 3. Water St. Cafe 300 Water Street 3. Tap & Barrel
Various locations
WINE STORE
1. Everything Wine
Various locations 2. Legacy Liquor Store (tie) 1633 Manitoba Street 2. Liberty Wine
Merchants (tie)
Various locations 3. B.C. Liquor Stores 5555 Cambie Street
INDEPENDENT BAR LOUNGE
1. The Keefer Bar 135 Keefer Street 2. The Narrow
Lounge (tie) 1898 Main Street 2. The Chickadee
Room (tie) 182 Keefer Street 2. Tutto Restaurant & Bar (tie) 901 Homer Street 3. Bartholomew Bar (tie) 1026 Mainland Street 3. Pemberton Station Pub (tie) 135 Pemberton Avenue, North
Vancouver
LIQUOR STORE
1. Legacy Liquor Store 1633 Manitoba Street 2. B.C. Liquor Stores 5555 Cambie Street 3. JAK’s Beer
Wine Spirits
Various locations
RESTAURANT FOR A STIFF DRINK
1. Pourhouse 162 Water Street 2. Minami 1118 Mainland Street 3. The Keefer Bar (tie) 135 Keefer Street 3. Tutto Restaurant & Bar (tie) 901 Homer Street
RESTAURANT TO CURE A HANGOVER
1. White Spot
Various locations 2. Denny’s Restaurant
Various locations 3. Gyoza Bar 622 West Pender Street
PUB FOOD
1. Sawbuck’s Neighbourhood Pub 1626 152 Street, Surrey 2. Irish Heather & Shebeen 210 Carrall Street 3. BierCraft
Various locations
COMFORT FOOD
1. Burgoo
Various locations 2. MeeT Restaurants
Various locations 3. White Spot (tie)
Various locations 3. Tap & Barrel (tie)
Various locations
TEAHOUSE
1. Secret Garden Tea Company 2138 West 40th Avenue 2. Neverland Tea Salon 3066 West Broadway 3. The Teahouse 7501 Stanley Park Drive
GOLDEN PLATES A brief history of Vancouver’s taco love affair
by Martin Dunphy
More than a decade ago, Vancouver began a love a air with tacos that would quickly elevate the humble nger food to a status that some thought might threaten the city’s long-term marriage to sushi.
Not to worry. Although the city clearly thought the food was deserving of its own eateries, the sushi union prevailed.
But tacos were no ing, and Vancouverites scarfed enough of them to enable the restaurants that survived the shakedown to establish themselves in the local scene. e tiny La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop kick-started things near Victory Square on West Hastings Street in 2009 and quickly attracted fans of its traditional al pastor (pork), carne asada (beef), lengua (beef tongue), and pescado ( sh) versions. at same year, Jason Sussman and partner Kaeli Robinsong started up their Taco no food truck behind a sur ng shop in a parking lot o the highway outside the resort town of To no on Vancouver Island. e sur ng couple combined local, sustainable seafood and meats with avours they had encountered while pursuing their ocean passion, especially in California. ose U.S. trips had alerted them in 2008 to the Los Angeles Korean-Mexican taco craze started by a food truck that propelled its owner into a local food empire.
It would prove to be a template for success that applied to Vancouver as well.
“ ere was the whole Korean taco thing, and Vietnamese tacos were happening too,” Sussman told the Straight by phone. “ ey were a big, big, rage.”
Sussman had moved to Vancouver Island at the start of the new millennium.
“My wife, Kaeli, is from Cortes Island,” he said, “and we moved to To no to open the taco truck. I lived in Victoria before that.”
For the sur ng entrepreneurs, though, the parking-lot days didn’t bring instant success
“It started out that working-class guys would come to the truck,” he said. “ en tourists started coming, but they would see this truck and they would just turn around and drive away. Taco trucks, and food trucks in general, were new back then.”
In late 2011, they made the jump to bricks and mortar in Vancouver a er travelling to the Lower Mainland to take advantage of the city’s new limited-entry food-truck initiative. e Taco no Commissary on East Hastings near Nanaimo Street generated lineups as quickly as did La Taqueria.
“I love Taqueria for being very traditional Mexican,” Sussman acknowledged, “but I would say that we were very much more in uenced by California.
“People liked us,” Sussman said. “It was pretty popular [from the start].
“Right o the bat, I did a lot of ‘not tacos’. I had spent a lot of time eating izakaya [Japanese tapas], like [Vancouver pioneer] Guu. So we did a lot of shared dishes, but it wasn’t necessarily what people wanted. People were coming in and wanting tacos.”
So Sussman combined tacos with his creative inspirations, including vegetarian standouts like Brussels sprouts and cauli ower. “Vancouver likes its vegetarian options,” he observed.
Both restaurants have since expanded to about a half-dozen outlets apiece— throughout the city and with one each in Victoria—and spawned many imitators. e di erent Taco no eateries each have distinctive menu elements to go along with some of the franchise’s original faves. “Our sh taco is de nitely the most popular taco everywhere,” Sussman said, “but our crispychicken taco is very popular as well.” ough Sussman worked at the Hastings location at the start, the arrival of his and Kaeli’s rst child brought them back to where they started: To no and the original truck. “I have two children,” he said, “and I live there most of the time now.”
In terms of success, he said, timing was everything. “I really think we were just lucky in two ways,” he said, citing the city’s then- edgling food-truck experiment and the food’s West Coast popularity wave. “Tacos were sort of exploding right then. “I would say we were lucky with timing rather than we were an in uence.” g
Tacofino tacos (and burritos) take advantage of local and sustainable meats and seafoods.
Thai Green Curry with Prawns
coconut green curry, jasmine rice, bok choy, spinach peppers, bean sprout, thai basil cilantro, crispy rice.
GOLDEN PLATES Anh and Chi fulfills patriarch’s culinary vision
by Carlito Pablo
Amélie Nguyen remembers with relish her experience of eating on the street in her parents’ native land of Vietnam. e future Vancouver restaurateur was a young adult at the time, and she and some members of her family were having bánh xèo in an alley.
Bánh xèo is a Vietnamese crepe of rice our made golden by turmeric and stu ed with meat, shrimp, and vegetables.
Although it was only 10 o’clock in the morning, Nguyen ordered bia hoi, a light lager brewed fresh daily.
“It’s a popular thing to go and drink on the street and eat small snacks and stu ,” Nguyen told the Straight by phone. e scene is emblematic of the food and beer culture in Vietnam, and the memory came back to Nguyen quite recently, when she and her younger brother Vincent were thinking of a way to celebrate a major milestone for their restaurant, Anh and Chi. e Vancouver establishment co-owned by the siblings is marking its h anniversary this year. It opened its doors at 3388 Main Street in April 2016.
“Beer has been a part of our culture, and we thought how lovely it is to create something that blends the cra -beer scene in Vancouver with special mints and herbs that are only found in Vietnam,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen reached out to David Bowkett of Powell Brewery, and suggested that they should do a beer together.
The result was Fever Grass, a gosestyle beer flavoured with green peppercorn, citrus, lemongrass, and rau ram, or Vietnamese mint. e beer is available at the restaurant, in select private and B.C. liquor stores, or delivered through the BeerVan Collective. “We thought that would be a beautiful blend of telling the story of Anh and Chi and our Vietnamese roots and how we’ve been able to be part of the B.C. and West Coast community,” Nguyen said.
Anh and Chi, which means “brother” and “sister” in Vietnamese, traces its origins to the old city of Saigon, where Nguyen’s grandmother had a café during the 1970s.
Nguyen’s mother, Ly, learned recipes from her parent, and it was at that establishment that Ly met her future husband, Hoang. Later, Hoang and Ly ed the country, and Amélie, their rst child, was born in a refugee camp in Malaysia in 1980.
e young family came to Canada the same year.
Hoang, who was a teacher in Vietnam, worked in his new country delivering pizzas. In 1983, the couple started serving food to friends during evenings and weekends at their rental home along Kingsway.
In 1985, Hoang and Ly opened the Pho Hoang noodle shop on Main Street and East 20th Avenue, where they did business until 1996. Pho Hoang became an institution in Vancouver, and in 1997 it moved to 3388 Main Street, where it has been reborn as Anh and Chi.
Nguyen recalled that her father got a liquor licence for the old establishment as part of his vision. He wanted to elevate Vietnamese cuisine by pairing home-style food with drinks and cocktails. Hoang died in 2010 and wasn’t able to see his vision fully realized.
It was a mission that Anh and Chi delivered with its combination of authentic Vietnamese fare and drinks in a contemporary setting.
Nguyen said that if her father were still around, he would have felt a “sense of completion”. “His vision has been expressed. We’ve been able to realize his vision,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen also said the celebration of Anh and Chi’s fifth anniversary is as much a nod to her father’s legacy as it is an acknowledgment of the valuable support the establishment got from its staff and industry partners during the pandemic. The restaurant’s employees stayed as the establishment went to “survival mode” in the face of COVID-19.
Nguyen also described as “serendipitous” how Anh and Chi came to collaborate with Powell Brewery for the Fever Grass beer. e restaurant wasn’t having much dinein business because of the pandemic, and Nguyen found time to start her plan of bottling sauces. Anh and Chi didn’t have a bottle labeller, and Powell Brewery happened to have a hand-operated device that it was no longer using, which it lent to the restaurant.
When Nguyen and Vincent wanted to work with a local business to mark Anh and Chi’s anniversary, the brewery came to mind right away. eir mother, Ly, still comes in every morning to shop for fresh ingredients, prepare marinades, and do some cooking. “She’s our secret recipe,” Nguyen said with delight. g
Amélie Nguyen and her younger brother Vincent Nguyen are marking the fifth anniversary of their Main Street restaurant by offering a new beer called Fever Grass. Photo by Mark Yammine.
READERS’ f CHOICES
CHEF
1. Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng 2. Justin Cheung (tie) 2. David Hawksworth (tie) 3. Angus An
CHINATOWN/STRATHCONA
1. Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie 163 Keefer Street 2. Phnom Penh Restaurant 244 East Georgia Street 3. Kissa Tanto 263 East Pender Street
KITSILANO
1. Nook 1525 Yew Street 2. AnnaLena Restaurant 1809 West 1st Avenue 3. Maenam, 1938 West 4th Avenue
COMMERCIAL DRIVE
1. Havana Vancouver 1212 Commercial Drive 2. Lunch Lady (tie) 1046 Commercial Drive 2. Oca Pastificio (tie) 1260 Commercial Drive 2. La Mezcaleria (tie) 1622 Commercial Drive 3. Dolce Amore 1588 Commercial Drive
GASTOWN
1. Water St. Cafe 300 Water Street 2. L’Abattoir 217 Carrall Street 3. Pourhouse (tie) 162 Water Street 3. MeeT (tie)
Inner Courtyard, 12 Water Street
MAIN STREET
1. Anh and Chi 3388 Main Street 2. Published on Main 3593 Main Street 3. Burgoo 3096 Main Street
WEST END
1. España 1118 Denman Street 2. Beetbox (tie) 1074 Davie Street 2. Mumbai Local (tie) 1148 Davie Street 2. Tavola (tie) 1829 Robson Street 2. Saku (tie) 1588 Robson Street 3. Cardero’s 1583 Coal Harbour Quay
YALETOWN
1. Minami, 1118 Mainland Street 2. OEB Breakfast Co. 1137 Marinaside Crescent 3. Tutto Restaurant & Bar 901 Homer Street
FRASERHOOD
1. Savio Volpe (tie), 615 Kingsway 1. Say Mercy! (tie), 4298 Fraser Street 2. Les Faux Bourgeois, 663 East 15th Avenue 3. Ubuntu Canteen, 4194 Fraser Street
SOUTH GRANVILLE
1. Stable House Bistro 1520 West 13th Avenue 2. Heirloom, 1509 West 12th Avenue 3. Bin 4 Burger Lounge 2996 Granville Street
