Two Chefs and a Table

We actually came across Two Chefs and a Table in Gastown when we were in the neighborhood for a modern music concert at Ironworks earlier this year. We didn’t go in but decided to try it out some other time. And of course, we completely forgot about that, just as many other nice looking restaurants we ran across. Two days ago when I was searching restaurants for Animo’s Bon Voyage dinner, among all the fancy names we opted for TCAAT, judging by its online menu, we thought it’d be a good choice. It turns out that our dining experience there was fresh and satisfying.

Restaurant is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, several blocks away from all the bar scenes and hip lounges/bars in central Gastown. Once stepped in, the first thing I noticed was their open kitchen, along with five small tables and one long table for large groups. Three chefs and one waiter are all guys. The entire décor is minimalism, and very, hmm, clean. In retrospect, during our two hours of dining, I constantly smelled floral aroma but couldn’t figure out where it came from. It is a small, intimate dining place, with capacity of 20 customers at maximum. Large windows allowed sunlight and twilight shining through in a lovely early summer evening in Vancouver.

I chose three courses from their menu, which updates on weekly basis, and Animo opted for a Chef’s choice of five-course set menu. He also picked wines for both of us, Sandhill Merlot to go with my red meat dishes. Amuse bouche was brought onto our table promptly - a small piece of homemade pastry topped with tomato and cheese, which was quite tasty.



Duck Pate was my first course - cranberry pate spread onto white bread, topped with mustard and caramelized pearl onion. It was so full of flavors, the sweet and sour caramelized onion and mustard compliments with the slightly pungent duck pate beautifully. I could taste each flavor separately on my palate, yet they mix with one another perfectly. Even a few minutes after swallowing, the mixture of delightful flavors still swirled around my mouth. Evening started off quite nicely, I thought.


Twenty minutes into our dinner, people started to show up, mostly with reservations. Restaurant seemed to be full by 8 pm. Mixed Grill, my second course, arrived after a good 15 minutes of waiting. Two slices of sausage, a small rack of roasted lamb and pureed potato mixed with oyster mushrooms. Both sausage and lamb tasted amazing, and the lamb was in particular exquisite - medium done, perfectly marinated. Sandhill Merlot was the excellent match for this dish.

I’d have to admit that I could’ve ordered a different main course, as the main was another five generous portions of the same lamb racks, sided with grilled carrots, baby zucchini and potatoes. Lamb this round was just as good, but a bit too salty for my liking. I am not sure if I am just accustomed to normally pretentious, tiny portions of bistro food, but five pieces were too much of red meat to handle. I wound up giving three of them to Animo, who had already been stuffed with his own Beef Wellington. Even so, I feel hesitant complaining about their generous portions ($19 dollars for five decent sized lamb rack was a definitely no-find). They could eliminate two racks and add a bit more sauce or greens with a two-dollar lowered price.

Overall our dining experience was delightful – good food, friendly service and cozy atmosphere. It costs us almost as the same as what we had at Refuel, but with much better quantity and higher quality. It is still expensive, if asking me, but given choice, I’d much rather spend $120 at Two Chefs and a Table than any other so called bistros. Evidently it also serves brunch and lunch, so one of these days I’d love to come back to try out their seemingly delicious brunch menu.