Cacao
1898 W. 1st
604-791-5370
CacaoVancouver.com
Lunch: Tues.-Fri., 10am-4pm
Brunch: Sat.-Sun., 9am-4pm
Dinner: Wed.-Sat., 6-11pm (by reservation only)
Well, this is nice: My first review of 2017 is about a restaurant where I had one of the best meals of the past year. Twice. I’m going to take it as a harbinger that this year is going to be a tad more positive than the previous 12 months.
That this is thanks to chef Jefferson Alvarez is perhaps not surprising. Alvarez is a chef whose food I’ve long admired for its daring and innovation, yet also its simplicity. As executive chef at the now-closed Secret Location (just the restaurant; its retail component has taken over the entire space), Alvarez pushed plenty of boundaries, with results that ranged from mind-blowing to, at times, slightly mundane. But you could never doubt his damn-near-obsessive dedication and courage.
At Cacao, his first ownership venture (in partnership with mother-and-daughter duo Marcela and Andrea Ramirez), Alvarez is serving up a version of casual pan-Latin cuisine that digs deep into his Venezuelan roots – for example, fresh arepas: small corn-based pitas. On a recent visit, they were stuffed with king oyster mushrooms and soffritto, a reduction made of garlic, onion, tomato and paprika. They were served on a piece of tree bark, and tasted as beautiful as they looked.
While you can order à la carte, I strongly recommend going for the three- or five-course tasting menu, both of which are a steal at $45 or $75, respectively. Expect to get a little more than you bargained for, both in terms of quality and quantity. Alvarez is a chef who enjoys exploring the possibilities of a single ingredient, like with his sturgeon chicharron ($14), which features puffed, crispy skin and charred fish coated in activated charcoal, decorated with dots of paprika aioli, crispy shallot and paper-thin radish. Or the corn cachapas ($12) of puffed, poached, crispy and soft kernels of various species, a housemade cheese that is bruléed, and arepa crisps. It’s a textural symphony that offers something slightly different with every bite.
Larger dishes depend less on textural contrast than bold flavours that focus on a few key ingredient, like a seared filet of branzino ($22), in which shatteringly crisp skin covers butter-soft flesh and sits over a piece of delicate green plantain on a bed of pico de gallo. Lamb leg ($28) is crusted in coffee and cocoa, and braised until it falls apart at the touch of the fork.
Bar manager Sergio Grandolfo, who worked with Alvarez at Secret Location, takes a similar approach to both his cocktails ($10) and zero-proof beverages ($5). While the Pisco Sour was a dream, with El Gobernador cider and aquafaba rounding out Angostura and lemon, it was the hooch-free honeydew-and-thyme concoction – made by cooking the melon for several hours, then blending it with thyme, lemon and sugar – that really blew me away with its refreshing, not-too-sweet palate and heady nose. It was also a perfect pairing for most of our dishes.
If you can, stop by for lunch or brunch to try the casual arepas and brunch dishes like bison short rib and eggs, or gluten-free waffles.
Food: ★★★★★
Service: ★★★★★
Ambiance: ★★★★
Value: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★
All ratings out of five stars.
★: Okay, nothing memorable.
★★: Good, shows promise.
★★★: Very good, occasionally excellent.
★★★★: Excellent, consistently above average.
★★★★★: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
