A couple of weeks ago I dined at House Guest to try some of Executive Chef Jimmy Stewart’s new dishes off his Spring menu. My friends Thor Diakow, Andrew Sosa, Chelsea Hobbis and Cassandra Anderton joined me to sip and savour Bar Manager Justin Darnes cocktails and Chef Jimmy Stewart’s dishes.

We started off with a bar snack and cocktail:

Madeline’s with Ramps Butter

House-made Pimm’s & Lemonade

1^st dish:

Confit Chicken Wings

2^nd dish:

Canned Soup #amuse with smoked salmon, pine oil

The Immortal Jelly Fish Punch

3^rd dish:

Flavours of Tuna

4^th dish:

Chef Jimmy Stuarts’s Spring Salad – Peas and their Shoots, Ramps, Wild herbs and weeds, Carrots, Fennel, Rhubarb, Turnips, Mushroom Soil,  Hazelnuts,  Buttermilk dressing and Ash Goat Cheese

5^th dish:

The Grilled Asparagus Salad

The Mad Hatters Tea Party

6^th dish:

Halibut Cheeks with pumpernickel gremolata,, borage flowers, grapefruit, peas, turnips

7^th dish:

 

Duck breast in a cinnamon & coffee glaze on a cherry sauce with farro risotto

8^th dish:

Whole wheat hazelnut cake – balsam & beet merengue, buttermilk ice cream, cinnamon infused whipped cream

My Take:

The Confit Chicken Wings were crispy and we loved the rosemary salt which gave them a good flavour. The Canned Soup #amuse with smoked salmon, pine oil was so good and the presentation equally matched the creativity in the flavour profile. In the Flavours of Tuna dish, the Tuna Tartare was my favourite of the two. Chef Jimmy Stuarts’s Spring Salad is truly inspiring as is each seasonal salad he has created, this one brings the bounty of spring to the plate. The Grilled Asparagus Salad had a wow factor to it that blew me away in a very good way of course, flavours to perfection. The Halibut Cheeks was served with pumpernickel gremolata which gave the dish a crunchiness with borage flowers, grapefruit, peas, and turnips, the presentation of the plate was stunning as well. The Duck breast in a cinnamon & coffee glaze on a cherry sauce with farro risotto was not only stunning in presentation, was also delicious with that cinnamon and coffee glaze. The dessert was complex in its design and the ingredients used made for a fine finish to this wonderful meal, the Whole wheat hazelnut cake had the following components on the plate, balsam & beet merengue, buttermilk ice cream, and cinnamon infused whipped cream.

House Guest is located at 332 Water Street in Vancouver.

Tel: 604-699-0249

Location: 322 Water Street, Vancouver

Twitter: @housexguest

By: Richard Wolak