Restaurant Review: Hawksworth Restaurant
HAWKSWORTH RESTAURANT
801 West Georgia Street ~ hawksworthrestaurant.com Twitter: @HawksworthRest ~ Instagram: @hawksworthrest Co-Diner: Tim Golem
If there is one restaurant in Vancouver that is decorated with accolades more than any other, it is easily Hawksworth. Owner and Chef David Hawksworth’s restaurant is located inside the beautiful Rosewood Hotel Georgia downtown, which was built in 1927. Here’s the laundry list: Maclean's magazine named it the Restaurant of the Year and one of The 50 Best Restaurants in Canada 2012. Canada's 100 Best Restaurants ranked it at #2 in 2015, #3 in 2016, and #6 in 2017. You can find it in enRoute magazine’s Dining Guide 2016. Vancouver Magazine named them Best Upscale 2016 and Best Upscale 2017. The Georgia Straight called them the #1 Best Fine Dining 2017. Westender chose them as #1 Best Restaurant 2017 and #1 Best Upscale 2017. There is plenty of talk and plenty of high praise.
I have been lucky enough to have visited on two occasions now; once on a previous visit to Vancouver before I lived in the city and once recently on a Saturday evening as my special birthday dinner. The hotel itself is very beautiful and entering the restaurant feels nothing short of luxurious. The staff knows how to take care of their customers extremely well, from the hostess to the servers. The level of care put into making sure that each guest has a memorable experience is second to none. A reservation is very important, as they are always completely full. Upon entering, you’ll find yourself in the bar area at first. This is more of a lounge area, dimly lit, perfect for grabbing a sexy drink. Beyond that, you’ll arrive in the beautiful dining room, a massive crystal chandelier acting as the focal point. You can see right into their giant glass wine cellar and can only imagine the fancy vintages housed within. The room is upscale and comfortable. It’s exactly what one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber; dark woods, posh leathers, plush cushions, marble tabletops with an understated and beautiful fresh orchid on each. It feels high-end, exclusive and special.
The hostess offered to take our coats and then we were promptly whisked over to our romantic table for two. We got settled in by candlelight and were handed several menus. Next we were offered our choice of sparkling, still or tap water to drink. Our server was an expert at his craft and was extremely attentive. He must have wished me a happy birthday about one hundred times! I excitedly anticipated everything that was to come. We began with the extensive cocktail menu and I chose the beautiful-sounding Violet Hour ($13.00) from the Sparkling section.
Jim Beam 6 yr, creme de violette, fresh lemon, orgeat, Scrappy’s aromatic bitters, bubbles.
Effervescent and wonderfully floral and fragrant. The perfect drink to toast and celebrate with! I loved every sip!
The food menu involved two parts: the à la carte page which consisted of starters and mains, and the Chef’s tasting menu page which described each course included. All of the dishes in the à la carte section sounded completely divine and consisted of words like: popcorn sweetbread, wagyu beef, foie gras, bone marrow, lobster tail, and black truffle. Essentially all of my favourite things. But on this night, we were visiting with the intention to enjoy their multi-course Tasting Menu ($118.00 per person). I happily ordered it with a giant smile plastered across my face. Let the parade of fine foods begin!
We also ordered a basket of Bread ($6.00) which arrived right away.
Four different types of bread were included; baguette, an olive loaf, a multi-grain one, and two crispy and salty papadum-style sheets. These were served with a whipped brown butter and extra virgin olive oil. Each bread was soft, fresh and delicious. I especially loved the olive one, filled with amazing plump olives.
Next, our tasting menu began with an amuse-bouche; an Oyster.
Crème fraîche pearls, northern divine caviar.
Simply, a perfect oyster. Shucked to perfection and presented like a beautiful jewel. The salty caviar played seamlessly with the brininess of the oyster. Before moving on, we were brought tiny white disks. Our server poured hot water over them, and the disks immediately expanded into little cylinders - tiny hot towels for us to wipe our fingers with, since we had used our hands to eat our oysters. This is the kind of attention to detail that I am happy to pay for.
Next to arrive was the first of two starters, a Dungeness Crab salad.
Melon, grapefruit.
Served cool, this dish was dotted with black garlic and pickled onion petals. Ultra fresh, this plate seemed to serve as a palate cleanser before all of the bigger, richer dishes began to arrive. The sweet crab and melon made so much sense together, and the acidity and sharpness from the onions and garlic created a lovely balance.
Next was our second starter, this one hot; Duck Confit.
Black truffle, rösti, tallagio.
This was described to us as a poutine. I’ll take a high-end play on a poutine any day! And this was one of the best dishes of the night! The shredded duck confit was succulently delicious, the cubed potato rösti crispy on the outside and light on the inside. The liquid cheese and preserved truffle took the dish up to the next level. I also enjoyed the bit of heat from the peppers. Amazing! (It was possible to add freshly shaved truffle to this dish for an additional $18 per gram, which we did not do. Although I kinda wish that we had!)
After a short break, we began the mains portion of the meal. Starting with Lingcod.
Squash, gnocchi, chorizo vinaigrette.
I loved this dish very much. The tender white fish was lightly seared and cooked very well. The gnocchi was pillowy soft. However, my favourite part were the capers and bits of chorizo which added a deliciously salty burst of big flavour.
Before our second main dish arrived I ordered a second cocktail. It was my birthday, after all. This time I visited the Gin section of the menu and picked one called Hotel Georgia ($12.00). Named after the hotel, I figured that it had to be good.
Beefeater gin, orgeat syrup, fresh lemon juice, orange blossom water, egg white, nutmeg.
Incredible! This cocktail is expertly concocted and does the hotel’s name well. The flavours are delicate and spicy. I highly recommend this one, you’ll look so cool at the bar drinking it.
Next up was our second main dish, the Ribeye Duo.
Celeriac, beets, red wine jus.
This dish offered the possibility of adding on seared foie gras for $18, which again, we did not do and probably should have. Regardless of that, this plate was completely amazing. The meat was cooked to an ideal medium rare and was excellently seasoned. The celeriac chips added wonderful texture and the beets created a beautiful earthiness. The meat was so tender that it was like butter. The flavours on this plate were so robust. I think that out of all of the dishes, this is the one that I have been thinking about the most. Simply perfection.
At this point, it was possible to add a cheese course for an additional $15. We had been planning to do this throughout the entire meal. Sadly, when the time came we were just too full!! There was no way that we could manage cheese on top of our dessert as well. Unfortunately we had to pass on the cheese, which made me sad because I was very curious about their selection. Lastly, it was time for dessert. White Chocolate! Did I mention that it was my birthday?
Citrus, cranberry.
This dessert was nice because it was quite light. You certainly don’t want a big, heavy dessert after a meal like that. The white chocolate basket was filled with custard and topped with meringue shards. I liked the frozen raspberry drupelets scattered about the plate.
We were stuffed and happy. The bill arrived and along with it some petit fours. (Just when you think it’s over!)
These are always my favourite, especially the sugar-coated fruit gelées that they do. A perfect final taste. And even this isn’t all. Our server then brought us a tiny little to-go bag which contained two mini banana breads inside. He told us that they were for our breakfast tomorrow. All of the special little touches are so incredible and I appreciated them.
Hawksworth is obviously not inexpensive. For most people, it’s the type of place that you get to go to for special occasions. I enjoyed every part of my experience very much and can see how they are able to rank so highly among the best restaurants in the country. They also serve brunch on the weekends and I’d love to try that next. Get the tasting menu: Live your best life.