Haute French restaurant Origo Club hits Richmond
In Richmond, restaurant talk is around breathless recommendations for Chinese food. But there’s lately been buzz around a French restaurant opening in the Oval Village area currently home to a lot of cranes and construction. It’s called Origo Club and it exudes confidence — the kind that swallows a $5 million build, more than twice the intended budget.
“The budget was originally $2 million,” says managing partner Woody Wu. “We signed the space for 10 years, and we’re here for the long term and mentally prepared. The first three years we’ll build our reputation and get the word out.”
It was money beautifully spent. Origo Club includes a swish modern dining room, a couple of private rooms, a private meeting room and an art gallery. I love a dining room that can make the frumpiest of diners look good. Not that I noticed any; most were wellheeled and I noted a Birkin or Kelly bag on an arm.
It makes good business sense — a French restaurant for a cosmopolitan Chinese community. The local owner is Chinese Canadian and is passionate about passing on wine knowledge to a hungering Asian clientele.
The chef, David Pan, most recently headed Bishop’s restaurant and with Wu, globetrotted, visiting wineries and restaurants; it seems there’s serious money behind the project. Wu’s partner operates Origo Club in Beijing, a private wine and food club and Wu, a sommelier, built the wine cellar at that location.
By now, you’re thinking dinner at the Richmond Origo is just for those in the fast lane but the food menu is in league with say, Le Crocodile or Provence Marinaside. Mains were $32 to $55 (the latter, a steak with truffle fries). There aren’t, however, a lot of budget-minded wines.
The pressure is on the food program to recoup that $5 million investment. The kitchen hasn’t yet reached cruising speed and could use a few more main dishes. When I visited, there were four mains, four sharing plates and four savoury mignardise.
“We eventually will have a bigger menu, and perhaps a prix fixe as well,” says Wu. “We’re trying to make sure each dish delivers right now.”
Pan’s food is elegant and modern. I found dishes weren’t consistent but one that I tried was absolutely sublime. That was the duck breast ($38), with five-spice seasoning, fish consommé, orange-glazed endive, carrot purée, and fried leeks. It was tender, juicy, filled with duck flavour — the best I’ve had in a long time.
To start, a kale salad Lyonnaise ($16) was a towering, substantial and tasty dish with smoked oyster mushrooms, pickled fennel, comté and fresh cheeses. A little less dressing and it would have been a lighter, floatier delight.
Mussels and clams with andouille sausage, tomato, garlic and chili sauce ($23) had a delicious full-bodied sauce. The seafood was fresh but I wished for bigger mussels and for some French bread to sop up the sauce. But oysters ($4.50 each) with mignonette pearls and horseradish were plump and gorgeous.
The other main dish we tried was a house-made pappardelle with truffles, morels, truffle mornay sauce and comté cheese ($32). I was excited to order it but downhearted to see an overwrought, clumpy plate of pasta. It had too much sauce to which the noodles clung in a dense mass. Too bad because I loved the flavours — who doesn’t love morels and truffles?
For dessert, a dark chocolate “cremeux” (think chocolate pate) with pistachio creme and pistachio sponge and delicate wafers of meringue ($13) was nicely presented.
During the day, pastry chef Remi Ho (Chez Christophe and Cioppino’s) takes over the coffee program and is café manager; he’s working with the best roasters in Vancouver blending coffees. He’ll soon be offering afternoon tea.
Wu’s wine list is all seriousness, with the wines all from prestigious Burgundy and Bordeaux appellations. He offers 15 wines by the glass, including Champagne and dessert wines, and every night there’s a feature (i.e., expensive) wine by the glass dispensed by a Coravin system. (It bypasses popping the cork as the wine is dispensed by a hollow needle while argon gas flows into the emptied space, preserving any remaining wine).
Wu has plans — tea ceremonies and Asian art seminars for starters — but before that, I think the food needs tweaking and a little more ambition.