by Claudia Kwan, FoodConnect contributor
claudia@foodconnect.com

Unless it’s for a specific promotion or event, I have this aversion to making reservations at restaurants. Call me a commitmentphobe or a scatterbrain but on top of the other things I have to do on a daily basis, it feels almost impossible to firmly say what restaurant I’ll be at on an evening several weeks in advance.

It’s one of the reasons I haven’t had a chance to head to Pied-à-Terre in Vancouver’s Cambie Village (as well as the fact I never like to rush in and review a restaurant within its first few months of opening.) The 30 seat boite—dining room ten paces long and five paces wide—has already gotten high praise from others and the wait for a reservation was up to six weeks in advance at one point.

Fortunately it now seems to have settled down a little, and if you’re not choosy about having an exact dinnertime, you can call in the afternoon when the notion of heading to Pied-à-Terre flits across your mind and likely have a table booked for late the same evening.

We sheepishly arrive about 10 minutes early for our Thursday night reservation, parking around Cambie having been less of a nightmare than we were anticipating, and are guided swiftly to a waiting table while our coats and bags are whisked away. What a place lacks in spontaneity is made up for by how smoothly everything is paced when it’s a reservation-focused joint, I suppose.

The attentive service continues through a recitation of the specials, a thoughtfully suggested Kir Royale that’s exactly what I want even though I didn't know it, and the bringing out of 4 pieces of room temperature baguette skewered vertically on a metal chit holder—cute, and practical, considering the space limitations.

I can’t seem to make up my mind about what I want, and after the server discreetly checks on us for the third time, I ask for her recommendation between the duck confit and the beef shortrib bourguignon. The sauce for the shortribs is perfect, she says, that’s what I’d go for. So be it.

First up is a simple tomato salad for B and a thick rectangular slice of pale pink foie gras parfait delineated in a thin layer of fat for me. Several cornichons on the side would theoretically cut the richness of the liver but mount nothing more than a feeble sally against this very generous serving of foie. Another server keeping an eagle eye on the dining room swoops in and tantalizes with the suggestion of a glass of Sauternes to complement the appetizer. It’s the perfect upsell—a suggestion to upgrade the customer’s experience rather than merely rack up the bill, and I readily acquiesce.

The sirloin steak frites in Café de Paris butter is exactly what it should be, but the beef bourguignon fails to live up to its billing. The sauce on the shortribs doesn’t have the depth of flavour that I would normally expect in a braised dish, and while it’s charmingly presented in a double-handled shallow round bowl, ultimately lacks ‘wow’ factor.

The price points are slightly higher than at some other French bistros in town, but no one can accuse the chef of stinting on the portions. To my regret, I’m forced to forgo tarte tatin and Armagnac and prune pot du crème.

The cream and dark wood interior’s most noticeable features are a tidily organized compact bar at the back of the restaurant, Mac laptop at the ready, and black wall sconces and a central black crystal chandelier, putting a modern clean take on a traditional French feel. We soak up some more atmosphere engaged in conversation with a neighbouring table—that always seems to happen when you’re sitting cheek by jowl in bistros—and digesting the experience.

Pied-à-Terre won this year’s Vancouver Magazine award for ‘Best Bistro/Brasserie’, although I’m not sure it’s so easily replaced the cuisine at La Regalade, Jules Bistro, or Salade de Fruits in my heart. The charm factor and exquisite level of service is notable however, and a good reason to brave the Cambie corridor... as long as you can commit to a reservation.

Pied-à-Terre
3369 Cambie (and West 18th)
Vancouver, BC
604.873.3131
www.pied-a-terre-bistro.ca

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