NO.1 GAOLER’S MEWS HAS LOCK ON FOODIES
Once a month luxe dining event garners rare ‘wow’ from reviewer
It’s the most unprofitable dinner in the city. In fact, the restaurant loses money and L’Abattoir chef and owner Lee Cooper either has a whacko business sense, or something else is at work.
I’m talking about the monthly No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews dinner held in the private dining room across a cobblestone courtyard from the restaurant in what was once the city ’s first “gaol”. This ex-jailhouse rocks.
“It costs us money every time,” Cooper says, “but it’s a passion project, not designed to make money. It’s my outlet and it’s fun. We try not to lose too much money.” Oh, the perks of being your own boss. (He runs L’Abattoir, one of the best Vancouver restaurants, with Jack Chen and the pair recently opened Coquille Fine Seafood.)
The $275 per person price tag seems to put lie to the no-profit claim, but no. The multi-coursed meal with fine wines involves luxe ingredients like caviar, foie gras and black truffles — ingredients too costly for the L’Abattoir menu. I noted the super generous serving of caviar crowning one dish (steamed sea urchin custard with pearls of Meyer lemon curd).
The pop-ups are where Cooper puffs up with pride and joy, and why he’s OK with the deficit.
“It’s fun to cook for people who are genuinely excited to be there and are really into what we’re doing. It’s a lot more rewarding and satisfying. I shut everything off and I cook,” he says. The cost “weans out people who don’t want to be there 100 per cent,” he says.
Eight diners sit at a counter in the kitchen and to nab a seat you must be at the ready, fingers perched over keyboard, when online ticket sales open. They’re gone in an average two to four minutes.
Gina Kang, who sat next to me when I attended, had lunged at her keyboard at the precise moment they went on sale and in a frenzied few seconds of hitting refresh, she’d scored tickets for herself and partner Christopher Law. They are Cooper’s exact target audience. Kang’s Instagram profile asserts “Nothing but food satisfies me.”
The dinner got a rare “wow!” out of me. Over the course of the meal, I had 10 beautifully executed dishes, but could not face the petits fours and had them packed to go. Wine pairings were by wine director Lisa Haley and as pourings progressed, Gina and I were giddily matchmaking friends we knew. (Single ones, that is.)
Dinner began with a parade of canapés: scallop crudo with chili and lime; side stripe shrimp with
passion fruit, green garlic and other herbs; bone marrow croquette; baked Pacific oyster with black truffle and whipped garlic butter.
We moved on to heartier dishes — the sea urchin custard mentioned earlier; tandoori-style black cod ( baked in a Green Egg charcoal oven) with apple and sunchoke purée; pheasant terrine with foie gras and truffles; roast saddle of lamb (grilled over charcoal) with brassicas; house-made goat fromage blanc with black figs and apricot. Dessert by pastry chef Hilary Prince, was a lovely confection of buckwheat and honey cake, beeswax ice cream and poached pear.
L’Abattoir and Coquille are family affairs. Prince is Chen’s wife and Cooper’s sister-in-law, making Chen a brother-in-law. There’s more culinary genealogy — Cooper’s uncle is chef Bernard Casavant, a B.C. Restaurants Hall of Fame inductee and a boldfaced name in Vancouver, Whistler and the Okanagan. Cooper and Chen have been culinary bros since they were both cooking at Market by Jean-Georges.
Now about those tickets: They go on sale at 10 a.m. on the first of the month before each dinner. That is, fingers must be perched and nimble on May 1 for the June 22 dinner tickets.
Sign up at gaolersmews.com for announcements of upcoming dinners. There are reminders on Instagram and in a newsletter.
Cooper says they don’t play favourites, even for friends or family.
“My wife’s never been, nor any of my friends,” he says. “People do get angry after trying month after month.” And if you’ve heard rumours Coldplay got reservations, not true. They booked out the space for a private dinner.
The No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews dinner, like haute couture, is a pretty special bespoke meal for folks who, like Kang, feel nothing but food satisfies them.