Bishop's @ 2183 West 4th Avenue
Bishop's is one of those places whose reputation precedes it. Look up "high-end fancy Vancouver bistro" in the dictionary and it will say "Bishop's". John Bishop has no less than four cookbooks to his name. Other high-end bistros may fall victim to vanity and slack off in one or more areas such as service or consistency, but from our experience dining at Bishop's for the first time last Friday night, they seems to still have it all together after all these years.
Exquisitely balanced flavors, attentive and knowledgeable staff, quality down to the smallest detail, locally sourced ingredients - all phrases that spring to mind to describe our experience there. You pay a hefty price tag for a meal at Bishop's, so you are definitely paying for all of that.
Most bistro places fall short in so many ways that I find it outrageous to pay out the nose for such second-rate quality. It's not that I'm a cheapskate. I'm not rich, but I am willing to pay full price for a good meal if it is truly good. Most bistros don't live up to their prices, that's all. Our meal at Bishop's the other night left us with not a single complaint, so we felt it was money well spent.
To get a sense of just how serious a restaurant this is, just have a look at their wine list, which is by far and away the most extraordinary I've seen anywhere in Vancouver. It's more than 20 pages long, and includes decades-old bottles of wine, port and champagne. To name but one example, they have a bottle of 1927 Dow's port available for $1800.
Moreover, they list the name of the maitre d' and executive chef at the bottom of the menu, and the dessert menu has its own pastry chef. They also have a vegetarian and vegan version of the menu available upon request. I've heard of offering 'vegetarian versions' of dishes, but never of an entirely different menu. That's quite considerate.
I phoned Bishop's last Thursday to make a reservation for Friday evening, fully expecting it to already be booked, but we got in without any problem. I was surprised to find the place empty when we arrived at 7 pm on Friday evening. People came in bit by bit over the course of the meal, but the place was never packed. I suppose the price tag does have a winnowing effect, even for a place this centrally located and boasting such a good reputation.
Upon entering, I was asked if I would like to check my coat, which I did. When we sat down, we were immediately greeted by John Bishop, confirming the rumors that he greets every guest himself.
Curiously, they don't have a cocktail menu. Instead, the waiter informed us that if we had any special requests for cocktails they would be happy to prepare them. Being the nervous type, I'm not able to recall cocktail names on the spot, or at least the only ones I can recall are the typical boring classics, and that's not what I'm out to try. I want to try something I've never heard of, that's the whole point. I remembered reading in one of the reviews that they had a good signature martini, so I asked about that, and the waiter promptly informed me that they did indeed have such a drink: the signature Bishop's martini made of passionfruit, pomegranite and vodka ($13).
We ordered this. The waiter asked whether we wanted two orders, and I demurred, saying we only wanted one order, and we would share it (trying to save a little money). He kindly offered to bring out two glasses, and we accepted. It was by no means my intention to try to eke out more volume for the same price by splitting the order, but this is the glass we were each served:
That looks like a full glass to me. It was a very generous portion, essentially two for the price of one, so we were very impressed by their consideration. Slightly light on the vodka, but very finely balanced in terms of the sweetness and not too fruity. I think they did good by not going overboard with the alcohol in this. Amazingly I didn't feel tipsy at the end of the meal, even after having had a martini and a full glass of wine.
Our meal began with the following complimentary soup sipper:
(Sorry for the darkness of the photos. It was very dark in there and hard to shoot.)
Unfortunately, I don't recall the details, save that it was a cold tomato bisque with a dab of some kind of oil on top. The soup was light yet potent and a wonderful little taste bud tantalizer to begin the meal with.
Next, they brought out some bread:
But this is Bishop's we're talking about. This wasn't just any bread. It was all house-made. There were two types: Milk bread and soda bread with blueberries and hazelnut. Both were delicious - the milk bread soft and, well, milky, and the soda bread closer to the consistency of a dessert cake, but without the excessive sweetness. I usually leave bread sitting on the table whenever bread is served before a meal, because (1) the bread is usually gross, and (2) I don't want to fill up on bread.
All of the bread was gone within 10 minutes. It was that good. Remarkably, they asked us if we wanted some more rather than merely clearing the plate. We did indeed take some more. So much for not filling up on bread. I just couldn't resist.
As a joke, I asked Kweepo if the butter included alongside the bread was house made too. Much to my consternation, she apparently took it seriously and asked the waiter when he came by whether the butter was also house made. I don't recall what the waiter said, but a few minutes later he returned to the table carrying a small plate of what, he went on to explain, was hand-churned butter from a dairy farm in Agassiz (a small town just past Chilliwack) where they sourced much of their cheese and butter. Not house made, but as close as you can get. He had apparently taken the request quite seriously. He also explained that this butter had just come into season. It is only in season beginning at the end of summer, at which time they bring back a big hunk of it from the dairy farm.
Rather than being annoyed by the question, he seemed delighted by it, by the interest in the specific details. I found this remarkable, and it was a constant throughout the meal. We had many questions throughout the meal and were constantly surprised by the remarkable lack of hesitation and specificity with which each of the servers was able to respond, on the spot, to questions about whatsoever particulars we might have. Every ingredient seemed to have a long back-story like this.
And the hand-churned butter? Heavenly. It's remarkable how different the taste is from conventional butter. You could almost eat it straight like that it tasted so creamy and rich and not fatty.
Starters range in price between $14 and $18. There were five choices on the menu. We settled on one of these items. We wanted to save a little money, so we ordered only one opener, which we intended to share.
Smoky Eggplant and Walla Walla Rotolo Pasta ($18, walnut, fig and fresh borlotti bean sauté, house cured prosciutto bianco)
A little while later, when the above opener was brought out, we were each brought our own plate. We hadn't even asked for this to be done. And the portion was very large. It looked like a full portion. If the full portion is six of these rolls, then that would be like a main course in itself. It feels like they boosted the portion. Either way, we were very impressed by yet another instance of them generously adapting the order to our particular circumstances. At other restaurants, withering derision would have been our reward for ordering only one appetizer, not care and consideration.
The dish itself was nothing short of exquisite. Here is a close-up of the roll, disrobed, to give you a sense of what it is exactly:
It's what appears to be narrowly sliced lasagna sheets filled between the layers with eggplant puree. I had no idea what in the world "eggplant and walla walla rotola" was supposed to mean, so this was a complete surprise to me.
Balanced finely atop the rolls are white beans and what appears to be Italian parsley. What at first sight appears to be a slice of parmesan or some other salty Italian cheese is in fact the so-called "prosciutto bianco", a clever euphemism to render palatable something most would otherwise set aside: lard. I assumed it to be cheese at the time and devoured it.
A half fig sat demurely in front. It went exquisitely with everything else - the walnut, the occasional bean, the pasta, the eggplant filling. All was a harmonious whole. And again, what a generous portion it was. We both had this same portion.
Our mains came out not long thereafter. First mine:
Sloping Hill's Pork Belly Confit with Fennel Pollen ($35, Tarragon spaetzle with roasted corn and artichokes, scarlet runner beans, sour cherry kriek and mustard seed juice)
Again this was absolute perfection, every bite heavenly. I can't emphasize how good this was. There's good, then there's very good, then there's OMG good. The fatty belly was for the most part delicious save near the end when I had to set aside some of the fat. They did an impressive job making one of the less palatable parts of the pig so delicious. The pork was wrapped into a sort of ball and placed atop a smattering of various items, all of which went very well with the pork and created a very well balanced dish. The burst of cherry sweetness in particular was a revelation that brought alive the taste of the pork. The artichoke complimented the pork in a more subdued and delicate way, while the corn and spaetzle gave it substance. Spaetzle is a starchy thing made of egg white and flour. It was provided in just sufficient a quantity to not become cloying. I can still remember the flavor of this dish, several days afterwards.
To go with this I got a glass of Peter Lehmann 2007 Shiraz from Australia ($14), which was a grand choice, although Kweepo's Cab Sauvignon went with my dish even better.
Yarrow Meadow's Duck Breast ($39, leek and ricotta tart, thyme roasted discovery apples, apple cider jus)
Another remarkable pairing of rich meat with fruit-based sauce and actual fruits. Just like the pairing of cherry with pork belly was genius, so the pairing of apple and duck seemed like a match made in heaven. The counterintuitive pairing of fruits with meats is something the Europeans have been doing for ages. The duck was cooked well, with the fat cooked enough to not be chewy. The small block of pastry provided alongside the duck was also excellent - flaky and light, filled with leek and house made ricotta. And the little daub of yellow sauce you see there was quite amazing, although I didn't catch what it is. Every single element stood apart and had something interesting to contribute to the flavor of the duck. It was a pleasure choosing a little bit of each with every bite so that every bite has a slightly different pairing of flavors, taking a little bit of apple with the duck breast this bite, then a little bit of tart with sauce and duck breast next bite, etc.
With this Kweepo got a glass of J. Lohr Oaks 2008 Cab Sauvignon from California ($14). I don't want to embarrass myself by attempting to describe its attributes in the manner of a true wine aficionado. I don't recall smelling prunes or leather or moss, but I do recall a bold, rich wine with deceptively fruity nose that complemented both dishes well.
The desserts range in price from $12 for a Maple and star anise crème brûlée (which sounds wicked good) to the average $14 for Lemon verbena panna cotta with sour cherry sauce (idem) to $18 for a selection of local cheeses with seasonal accompaniments. We got the following:
Warm chocolate cake with early grey tea ice cream ($14)
Call me old fashioned, but I just have to have chocolate for dessert. The other desserts do sound amazing. There's something indescribable about warm chocolate cake with chocolate syrup paired with cold ice cream and fresh fruit. This was absolutely perfect in that regard, with the fresh peaches. Though the peaches were crunchy. But a minor gripe, as this dessert hit the spot perfectly.
(Mini rant: I've never been able to find good juicy peaches in Vancouver. Everybody seems to be under the misunderstanding that peaches are supposed to be hard and crunchy. They're not, people! Maybe some types are, but you haven't tasted what a peach is like until you've had a peach that just melts and explodes with juice when you bite into it.)
The flamboyantly bejeweled and bespectacled combination busboy and waiter cleared our table with aplomb and restrained professionalism, and at the end, with plates balanced precariously on one arm, withdrew a curious implement from his shirt pocket, the likes of which I'd never seen before, with which he proceeded to gently scrape the table, funneling the bread crumbs away for disposal. I got a picture of it here. Is there a name for this? I admire how we humans can come up with implements specialized for the most trivial purposes. It even has a latch hole for easy hanging.
The price tag for this meal came out to a respectable $184.64, tip included. This was among the most expensive meals I've had in Vancouver. But it was also among the best.
To sum up, the food at Bishop's was uniformly delicious. There were no missteps. I am impressed how such rich and sumptuous flavors are created using what are essentially very basic and easily found ingredients such as white beans, prunes, cherries and eggplant. And considerable thought is put into the provenance and quality of all of their ingredients, many of which are locally sourced. The only criticism I can think to level is the price. If they shaved a little of the price, it would be absolutely perfect. If I was rich, I would go here every week. Otherwise, for the rest of us, this is a safe and reliable place to go on special occasions to have world-class cooking of the highest order.
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