Cecilia’s dinner hour food and drink land in Vancouver’s top tier

Brunch favorite in near Grand Central expands offerings with much success

By for The Columbian Published: September 6, 2024, 6:05am

Photo The sumptuous corner space at Grand Central where people flock for mimosas and Tres Leches French Toast at brunch is now open for dinner. At Cecilia’s dinner hour, Northwest Hospitality, which also runs Amaro’s Table and Gustav’s, offers old-school elegance with classic dishes like Filet Oscar, spinach artichoke dip and pot de crème reimagined for the modern Pacific Northwest. I got a taste of what to expect from Cecilia’s dinner menu when I visited a cocktail night in mid-June hosted by Long Beach-based Adrift Distillers ($35 for four cocktails and starters). Three cocktails made with Adrift spirits were paired with Cecilia’s roasted carrots placed on a pool of whipped feta with diced beets and crunchy pistachios, brick oven roasted cauliflower enhanced with tomato confit and romesco, and a row of seared scallops with a wild mushroom truffle sauce. Everything was exquisite. Attendees could then get dinner in the dining area. I didn’t plan on staying for dinner, but since that day I’ve been wanting to go back and have a full meal. At the tasting, the dining room was fairly empty. On my dinner visit for this article, I made a reservation, but it wasn’t really necessary. It was strange to see a space that’s consistently packed for brunch so sparsely filled at dinner. Did people not know that Cecilia was serving dinner? The days of wandering into Amaro’s Table and finding space at the bar for a cocktail and some bites are long gone, but for now, Cecilia is a place where you can show up and likely get a spot at the bar or at a table. For dinner, Cecilia staff dim the lights and place candles on the tables. The golden rays bathe the pale pink walls and reflect off glittering chandeliers, casting the flattering glow demanded by film starlets seeking a flawless close-up. The result is an elegant warmth that goes well with the quiet music, kind service and approachable elegance of the food and drink.

I arrived at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday night. We started with cocktails. The Garden District ($16) — Freeland gin, strawberry Campari, lemon juice and crushed pink peppercorns — arrived in a highball glass with a long cylinder of ice. The Sgt. Pepper ($16) —Libélula tequila, Bèrto aperitivo, Amargo De Chile, black pepper, lemon and orange juice, sprinkled with chili flakes and topped with a twist of lemon peel — arrived in a tall, flared sling glass. They were both excellent and exactly the high-quality cocktails I’ve come to expect from Preston Groves, Northwest Hospitality’s beverage director. The food matched the quality of the drinks. The menu is filled with timeless dishes skillfully executed and updated. We started with the Spanish Octopus with red wine tomato sauce, roasted potatoes and charred lemon ($24), and the artichoke salad ($16). The tender grilled tendrils of octopus came with a tangle of bitter kale contrasted with creamy potatoes, all bathed in an earthy red wine tomato sauce. The artichoke salad also offered an array of flavors and textures: clean, meaty long hearts of artichoke mixed with salty bits of feta mingled with sheets of prosciutto then dressed with a lemon Parmesan vinaigrette that lent a touch of citrus and umami. Picking just two main courses was difficult, but we settled on a ribeye ($52) and the Chef’s Jambalaya ($28). The 16-ounce ribeye was an excellent cut — just the right thickness with a charred exterior and a red but not bloody interior. I tend to avoid steak when I dine out. It’s typically the least interesting dish on the menu, but this dish was far from dull. The steak was topped with a lob of bone-marrow butter and served with roasted fingerling potatoes and tender broccolini tossed with a blue cheese fondue sauce. The Chef’s Jambalaya had salmon and halibut that evening, in addition to its regular ingredients of prawns, andouille sausage, saffron rice and spicy Cajun sauce topped with a chiffonade of scallions. It was so delicious that, even though I was pacing myself in order to try the desserts, I couldn’t stop eating. For dessert I had an espresso martini ($14), passion-fruit pot de crème ($12) and a skillet cookie with vanilla ice cream ($10). The dessert cocktail with Titos, Mud Puddle Bitter Chocolate Vodka, coffee liqueur and cold brew with a demerara rim had just the right touch of sweetness to make it dessert-friendly without being overly cloying. The passion-fruit pot de crème with toasted coconut and whipped cream was light, fruity and refreshing. The skillet cookie is baked to order but didn’t seem to take long to arrive at our table. It was delicious.

Overall, this was an excellent meal that puts Cecilia at the top of my list of the best restaurants in Vancouver. The food and drinks are top tier, but it’s the warm casual elegance of the entire experience that makes this a place that I want to regularly spend time.

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This article originated from The Columbian on 2024-09-06 13:06:01.
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