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Silver lining for new eatery
Patrick Hennessy walks a teetery path between lucky and unlucky.
Three years ago, he urgently needed a kidney transplant, his own ravaged by a genetic disease called X-linked Alport syndrome. A match wasn’t looking good. Coincidentally, at about the same time, a family secret was unlocked: his father had been adopted as a baby. Long story short, Hennessy had a genetic uncle who stepped forward and donated his kidney just in time. His uncle asked for one thing in return: that Patrick become a Montreal Canadiens fan.
And recently, another teetery walk. He began construction on his first restaurant, Barbara, in Chinatown, just as the pandemic came knocking. It slammed the restaurant industry with a mighty blow, but Hennessy sees a silver lining.
“I consider myself lucky. It slowed the pace of construction, I could figure out where the money needed to go, and I didn’t have to lay anyone off,” he says.
Right now, it’s just Hennessy and general manager Betty Cooper running the show. Their bios glow of experience — he was a sous chef (one of seven) at New York City’s Eleven Madison Park, which took first place in 2017 for the World’s Best Restaurant award; he’s also been sous chef at Chambar and Kissa Tanto. Cooper was behind the bar at Hawksworth, Nightingale and Boulevard. In other words, they know a thing or two about hospitality.
Barbara is an intimate place (17 seats in normal times, reduced to 10 with social distancing) and is in the Brixton Flats (built to Passive House standards with an almost zero carbon footprint). The kitchen, behind the counter seating, provides live theatre.
The street’s too edgy for outdoor seating, Hennessy says.
The restaurant is named after Hennessy’s mother — sort of.
“Her name is Barbara Jane and she’s always called Jane, but when I feel cheeky I call her Barbara,” he says.
She raised four children and for a time, his two half siblings as well, as a single mom.
“She’s an absolute angel. I was the youngest and when she came home from work, we’d cook dinner while my siblings did homework. We’d all sit down and tell her one thing that happened during our day.”
And that’s what he wants at Barbara.
Take some homework to give him a jolt of déjà vu.
The abbreviated menu feature creations are seasonal, based on what’s available. There are nine small plate dishes, refined in technique but not fussily plated at $14, $16 and $18 price points. The payoff is in the flavours.
“When people ask and I explain all the steps, their eyes are wide open,” Hennessy says.
For $49, you can choose a dish from each tier, plus the chef sends out three extras. We ordered five dishes to share and dessert to take us from hungry to satisfied.
Albacore ceviche was a sunlit dish with chopped fennel cooked down with lemon juice, orange zest and segments. To lower acidity and add umami, there was a swoosh of roasted garlic horseradish purée. That swoosh prompts people to ask the chef to bottle it for sale. Not yet, he says. Too busy.
Crispy octopus with olives, dry-cured chorizo, scorched scallions and saffron aioli had deep earthy flavours. The octopus was beautifully tender after a 12-hour sous vide; it was further smoked and charred and deep-fried for another layer of flavour and texture. Cauliflower flan (a half sphere of deliciousness cooked in a water bath) was nestled in a herb salad and surrounded by crispy fried cauliflower and roasted almonds.
Arctic char (two pieces) was crispy skinned and cooked perfectly. It was served with hummus, lemon brown butter, pine nuts and a mint and dill salad with pomegranate vin.
Asparagus, so fresh, was bedded down with “egg mimosa” (cooked, jammy eggs), endives, shaved Parmesan and chives.
For dessert, there was a choice of a palate cleansing rhubarb strawberry granita or a desserty cocktail from Cooper’s list. She combines unlikely ingredients and hits harmony. For example, the Love Bird mixes scotch, Aperol, Amaro and a peach purée into a bittersweet deliciousness.
Since there are few dessert options, you might opt instead to finish your meal with the Forty Thieves, a whisky cream-based cocktail with espresso and black sesame. The tiny wine list — everything is available by the glass — features B.C. producers like Mayhem, Arrowleaf and Kitsch.
When Hennessy’s kidney-donor uncle comes to dinner, Hennessy says he will hug him long and hard, but he hasn’t been able to quit the Vancouver Canucks.
“I went to a (Canucks vs. Habs) game with them two years ago and they got me a Montreal Canadian jersey, but I kept standing and cheering involuntarily for the Canucks,” he says. His kidney was probably very distressed.