12B Underground Kitchen

I was pretty stoked when I learned that the Vancouver Chowdown’ers were planning to visit 12B for the monthly chowdowns. The moment that the date was announced, I immediately responded and requested for two seats. Well, it was so popular that all the places were snapped up already. We were put on a waiting list in case someone pulls out at the last minute.

Just a week before the night of the supper at 12B, fmed (who organized this chowdown) informed me that there is one, and only one, seat that had just became available. Fmed asked if I am still interested. So instead of passing it up this chance, I went alone. Suanne was game enough to let me go alone (thanks honey!).

12B is an Underground Kitchen and is run by Chef Todd. A couple of days before the dinner, I called Chef Todd asking for permission to write about 12B. He was agreeable but did lay down some ground rules. I could write about anything but I must help protect his anonymity.

So I can’t tell you where 12B is. If I tell you, I have to kill you. Let’s just say that it is located somewhere in Vancouver. I was only given the address of 12B days before the dinner. And that too, I was only informed via individual email of the location. Such secrecy!

Chef Todd hosts 6 to 12 people each night. Twelve is about the maximum number of people he could fit in comfortably. There is only one sitting for everyday he works the kitchen.

At a glance I was wondering how Chef Todd could fit twelve people in the two long tables but we could actually fit all twelve guests quite snuggly.

I think if Chef Todd wants to, he could fit in more in the adjacent lounge. But I think twelve is all he could manage. After all he is a one man show who does everything …

… and it is not just cooking. I did not realize how much work it is for just one person to run the whole operation. I am just amaze thinking about it. Oh … that is Chef Todd at the end of the corridor playing the role of the reception welcoming his guests.

I can imagine his job description reads as follows:

When I called him at 10AM in the morning, he was already working preparing for the dinner that night. He said that he works pretty much a 16 hour day.

12B is tastefully decorated with some nice art pieces. The event starts at 8PM. Being one who normally have dinner at 5-6PM, this is considered a really late dinner to me.

The only person I know personally at this dinner is fmed. Some of the rest I know of their names from hanging out at the Vancouver Chowdown forum. So it was kind of awkward in the beginning especially in the presence of such accomplished foodies. These chowdown foodies sure knows the restaurant and food industry like the back of their hand. They would talk about who owns what restaurant, who fought with who and went their separate ways, the secret techniques used by certain chef and all that kind of stuff.

You know, I think these guys should start a food blog on their own given all their knowledge.

When everyone is assembled. Chef Todd burst into the room and declared that “smoking is mandatory”. It is his way of saying that “make yourself at home”.

It is a BYOB event too. Almost every one brought a bottle. So there were a lot of wine to go around the whole night. I thought it was a nice touch to sip wine from mason jars. Small touches like this sets the casual tone for the night.

Chef Todd’s kitchen is just next to the dining area. It is roomy for one chef and he keeps it very well organized.

The guests keeps popping into the kitchen to chat with him. He was very accommodating even though he was working non stop all the time. There are not many chances where one gets to observe the chef preparing the meal.

I guess you will also notice the same thing I did when I saw his stove. It does look unremarkable isn’t it? Why … even one of the knobs were broken. He keeps a plier handy in case he needs the knob. Go on … click on the pictures above in case you are curious as to the kind of sauces and herbs that Chef Todd uses.

One thing that surprises me was that Chef Todd varies his menu everyday. I thought it would be easy for him to just repeat his menu for at least a period of time. Given that weekend reservations are booked solid right through February next year and the limited number of guests he can host every night, the chances of returning guests are very slim.

Dinner was served at 9PM. I was way past hungry at that time. I did not realize it would start that late. For some reason, no one asked about what is being served for the night. It is like Omakase — we trusted Chef Todd to surprise us.

Here comes the food …More after the jump. Click to read the rest of 12B Underground Kitchen (589 words)

© ben for Chow Times, 2009. |
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Post tags: Restaurant Review, Vancouver, Western