Restaurant Review: DB Bistro Moderne

Built on the ashes of what was once Feenie?s, DB Bistro Moderne is Vancouver’s version of the one in midtown Manhattan, and one of the latest additions to award-winning master chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud?s empire. Although Boulud hails from Lyon, the culinary capital of France, he is best known for making his mark on the New York culinary scene. He is the chef-owner of ten critically- acclaimed restaurants and has won several awards from the James Beard Foundation including Outstanding Chef of the Year and Best Restaurateur.

As a born-and-bred Vancouverite who has eaten my way through a fair share of this fair city?s restaurants over the years, there is something that I find very interesting about our culinary scene; although there are hundreds upon hundreds of restaurants here, and despite the fact that Food & Wine magazine voted us one of the top ten restaurant cities in the world in 2008, we have zero Michelin-starred restaurants and very few restaurants with powerhouse names behind them.

Now, I have very little use for hype, and have a (perhaps misguided) fear that restaurant chains, or empires, or what have you,  subscribe to a cookie cutter approach that might not translate well into what matters most?what is on the plate.

But I am nothing if not open-minded, and my curiosity won the better of me. Which is why last week I finally decided to check out DB Bistro Moderne for myself, dragging (okay, maybe not dragging) my friend Victoria from Victoria?s Food Secrets along with me.

It was right after the Easter long weekend and fairly early in the evening when I stepped through the mirrored door into the hushed restaurant. My first thought was that it was going to be one of those stuffy fine dining places where you?re afraid to get crumbs on the starched white tablecloth and everyone is whispering like they?re in church. All of that fell away as our host ushered us into the room, which was bedecked in dark wood and warm colors. It was a bistro and it was moderne, but not so modern that it felt unwelcoming, or industrial-as has been the trend amongst some popular eateries lately.

Although the place was more casual than I was expecting, it was immediately apparent that the service was of the impeccable sort that you find in those starchy aforementioned places and costs you the big bucks. It was gracious and attentive without being obtrusive. We were well attended to by several servers as well as Chris Gonzalez, the general manager of both DB Bistro Moderne and Lumiere. I?m also going to skip ahead at this point and say that our meal lasted almost four hours. We ate several courses in a leisurely manner and were always asked if we were ready for the next one before it arrived. My biggest pet peeves when eating at restaurants is being rushed through a meal or asked what I want to drink as I am handed the menu. How do I know if I haven?t even looked at it yet? Needless to say, this did not happen at DB Bistro.

After a short discussion, Victoria and I decided on sharing a starter of pate and that we would both order the price fixe Olympic Hangover Menu; three courses for thirty dollars?an unbeatable deal.

For fairness sake, I must mention that Chris knew who we were, which is why we were able to sample some extras throughout the evening. However, glancing around the dining room throughout service, it was easy to see that the other patrons were attended to with the same thoroughness as we were.

We started off with a small amuse bouche of salmon tartare studded with onion and celery, which highlighted the fresh, clean taste of the fish. Next we were presented with the duck pate en croute that we had ordered, alongside an assemblage of charcuterie, including a pork terrine, housemade bresaola, chorizo and Tusacan salami, cornichon pickles, grainy French mustard, and a large dollop of a sweet onion compote.

I know my charcuterie. I grew up with a smokehouse in the backyard. Sausages regularly hung from the roof of the tool shed like stalactites and my father spent many a weekend curing his own prosciutto. I have often been disappointed by the charcuterie I have sampled at various restaurants around town, often finding them too bland. But I can say that the offerings at DB were much better than any I had previously tried. Everything was seasoned perfectly and had the fresh flavor only good quality meat can bring.

As much as I love sausage, I love pate even more. The duck pate was en croute, which means it was wrapped in a flaky, golden puff pastry. It consisted of magret, leg, gizzard, farce and foie gras, as well as an addition of fig, which added a bit of sweetness and balance to the poultry. The pork terrine “Grand- Pere” with wild mushroom and foie gras was my favorite; it was rich and earthy, tasting the way a forest smells in autumn when the leaves are changing color.

Next came the tarte flambee, an Alsatian flatbread adorned with smoked bacon and Gruyere–two can’t-go-wrong ingredients. The tarte was the only thing that didn’t wow me, but this was primarily because I am ambivalent about flatbread.  Personally I prefer a nice crusty baguette similar to the one I kept smearing with pate. Or a thick authentic tart crust. In retrospect, I should have gone for a salad course and cleansed the palate a little, but that smoked bacon beckoned to me.

Onward. Finally we arrived at the main course. Victoria and I had both chosen the coq au vin.  I can honestly say that until this day, I had never ordered chicken in a restaurant in my life. How utterly boring! But I was certain that this chicken was cooked lovingly in red wine and expected great things. I was not mistaken. The chicken was chicken, no better nor worse than any other chicken really, but what made this dish sing was the sauce, a red wine that had been reduced to a thick syrupy texture and was bursting with the flavors of a French country meadow. It was a tangle of thyme and parsley and bay.  In true Alsatian style, spaetzle were served with the coq au vin; the little dumplings were light and airy, unlike a lot of spaetzle served on this side of Germany.

For dessert I ordered the lemon tart, as I am wont to do in a French restaurant, and Victoria had the apple confit. Both the tarts had thin crusts. While we both prefer a thicker crust on a tart, we both agreed that the desserts were light and delicious. Chris also brought us a sampling of lemon madeleines. Although I was beyond stuffed at this point, I couldn’t resist downing several of them. The tartness of lemon balanced the moist cakiness of the madeleine and the light dusting of powdered sugar.

The perfect end to a perfect meal came in the form of a glass of La Serra, a mascato d’asti, a lightly sweet sparkling white wine named after the region in Italy where its grapes are cultivated. It tasted like expensiveness. I felt like wealthy just drinking it.

All in all, I had a highly enjoyable meal at DB Bistro Moderne and will definitely return. The food exceeded my expectations and the service was truly an example of the sort of service I look for in a dining experience but rarely find.

For Victoria’s review follow this link.

DB Bistro Moderne

2551 West Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604.739.7115