Tacofino Ocho takes its menu up a tasty touch
Three years ago, I talked to chef Stefan Hartmann about his study in carrots (braised, puréed, foamed and accented with goat cheese and candied pecans), and about onsen eggs with watercress jelly, Jerusalem artichoke powder, Parma ham and more foam that were part of his sixcourse tasting menu at Bauhaus restaurant as opening chef.
“And then a gentle goodbye with a collage of tonka bean ice cream, a meringue kiss, a nibble of cake and rhubarb and strawberry,” I wrote in a subsequent review of the dinner. We’d talked of his 16-hour days, seven days a week at Bauhaus and of the one-Michelin star Hartmann restaurant he operated in Germany.
Well, look at Hartmann now. He left the dizzying high-wire act of haute cuisine over a year ago, hit refresh and became the regional chef for Tacofino, the little engine that could. No more foam.
Tacofino began as a funky taco food truck in Tofino in a surf shop parking lot. Recently, owners Jason Sussman and Kaeli Robinsong opened their eighth Tacofino operation — Tacofino Ocho, one of six in Vancouver. They fanned taco fever across the city using fresh, local ingredients and bright flavours in engaging settings (sometimes wa-ay too noisy for my liking).
And so these days, Hartmann’s excited about Mexican street food.
Tacofino Ocho differs from the Tacofinos before it in that this one is besotted with fire and the menu clings to the new Wood Stone charcoal grill.
“It’s been Jason’s big dream to have that charcoal grill,” says Hartmann, who works closely with Sussman. “It provides unique flavours and the smokiness is beautiful. Everything’s been touched by charcoal. Even the salad is grilled romaine. We try to work with the grill as much as we can.”
It does, however, require a new set of skills, and when the kitchen’s in full control, there’ll be a lot more dishes coming off it.
The owners and chef recently visited Oaxaca and Mexico City and gleaned tips from Hartmann’s friend Alejandro Ruiz, of Casa Oaxaca, a star chef in Mexico. The result? “We wanted to build the restaurant around the charcoal grill and work with pure flavours,” says Hartmann. “What we saw there were not complicated tacos, just meat and something on top. We soaked in the energy from the street food and don’t want anything complicated or crazy.”
Tacos, central to the other locations, play a smaller role at Ocho and they’re physically smaller as well, at four inches rather than six. And they’re much more Mexican street style, simple and straight forward.
Ocho’s menu is more ambitious with sharing plates off the grill, branded by heat and smoke. The whole rockfish we tried ($28) was enough for three or four people. Share dishes come with lots of tortillas to use as you wish — to wrap, eat separately or with which to wipe the plate.
The fish, beautifully cooked, eyeballs haunting me, came with a punchy, roasted veg salsa. All the dishes had varying degrees of punch — a delicious seven-ounce grilled top sirloin, sliced, had a bold chimichurri type sauce and I happily embraced garlic breath.
“We weren’t sure how to make that dish street-food style. It came down to what I like to eat with steak at home, a herb butter,” says Hartmann. “We also needed to add a heavy element, so we added fried cheese curds to the dish.”
For starters, I had the most refined beef empanadas ever ($8), sitting atop mashed black beans and drizzles of crème fraîche and a habanero dip to punctuate.
Equites ($6), a casserole of corn mixed with chipotle mayo, lime, cotija cheese, lime and chili was tasty, but I think elote — grilled corn on the cob with cheesy, spicy, herby embellishments — would have made me happier.
When it comes to desserts, if the meal’s been really good we’ll order one each expecting the calories to be worth it.
So we ordered two, both $6: Oaxacan rice pudding topped with preserved sour cherries and churros with a chocolate sauce. Alas, the thick churros hadn’t cooked through to the centre.
The rice pudding was done the way Hartmann likes it, German style, dense without creaminess. I prefer creamy, but the sour cherries atop were delicious and I mixed in the juice to loosen the pudding.
For drinks, there’s a good selection of local craft beers on tap, Mexican beers by the bottle, a clutch of wines and tequila-based cocktails (no mescal?).
Service is prompt and cheerful, but I would suggest servers take leftover rock fish to the kitchen to cut and pack up. I almost dropped it onto my lap from the small and crowded table as I folded it into a container plunked down. As for noise level, it’s high but so are the ceilings, and so I was content.