VANCOUVER | St. Lawrence Restaurant

In May and June 2023, we travelled from east to west across Canada. From Halifax in Nova Scotia to Montreal in Quebec, to Toronto in Ontario, to Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. Along the way some night trains and commuter trains, the Niagara Falls and – imagine this – a bus journey. A true Trans-Canada Train Trek.

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Inspired by an Instagram story by Claus on having dinner at St. Lawrence, Danny booked a table at the restaurant for the last night in Canada.

“A heartfelt homage to chef and owner Jean-Christophe Poirier‘s heritage, formative years in Quebec and early experience in renowned Montréal restaurants, St. Lawrence offers a marriage of classic French cuisine and the gastronomic identity and culture of les Québécois“, the restaurant website introduces the St. Lawrence.

“French spirits serve as the backbone of classic and signature cocktails, while the French focused wine list offers the perfect complement to chef Poirier’s rustic, signature haute country cooking and underscores the fact that at St. Lawrence, simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”

“At its heart, St. Lawrence showcases time-honoured traditions in an elevated-yet-approachable space where food, drink and atmosphere combine for a transportive dining experience unlike any other.”

St. Lawrence received one Michelin star in 2022 and has received many other accolades.

Setting

Maybe the colour of the walls is nit ‘pure’ green, but I remember green being a main colour inside this small and cosy room. The kitchen is open. The ambiance is very bistro. People are dressed casually.

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A mix of set choices and free options

We chose – and payed – the menu dégustation. For CAD 125 plus tax and gratuity you chose your started, main and dessert from the menu and you get some in between dishes. The sides come at an extra charge.

We started with an apéritif. Water was free, still or sparkling. To know who ordered which, St. Lawrence works with different glass sizes.

The meal

We started off with a chicken consommé with a duck mousse. This was followed by home-made bread with butter and rillette. The official title was: whole red spring wheat bun, maple-rosemary smoked salt with cretons; foie gras custard, brown butter bread crumb, maple syrup, chicken consommé.

As a starter, I chose pâté en croûte du jour (terrine of the day with house made pickles and mustard), which a specialty of the house.

We chose to share a side: éclair à la mousse de foie de canard (choux pastry filled with duck liver and foie gras mousse). That was a star dish.

Next up, the main. flétan et quenelle, fregola, courgettes et sauce bouillabaisse (halibut and quenelle, hand-rolled fregola, zucchini and bouillabaisse sauce). Delicious, but a small portion.

To freshen up the palet, a trou normand. Sorbet crème fraîche, vinaigre de miel et citron (sour cream sherbet, honey vinegar, bee pollen and lemon curd).

For dessert I chose tarte au fromage de chèvre, sarrasin, dattes et noisettes (savory goat cheese tart with seeds, dates and hazelnuts). Again delicious but such a small portion.

You can’t order tea. They don’t have tea. You can have coffee. That’s it.

But you do get petits fours consisting of a maple cookie, lavender marshmallow and chocolate fudge.

And as a parting gift: home-made herbes de Provence (Provence herbs).

So?

I will recommend St. Lawrence to people going to Vancouver. But somehow I was a little underwhelmed. Why not offer (almost) everything on the menu in a longer, more elaborate set menu? At a higher price.

Maybe that’s not how fine dining works in Vancouver? Not having tea I find ridiculous, but Claus told me it’s not unheard of. Strange.

The herbs as a parting gift were a really nice touch.