Brioche Urban Baking & Catering

Photo courtesy of www.imonlyhereforthefood.com

Restaurant: Brioche Urban Baking and Catering – Panini review

Cuisine: Italian/Bakery/Sandwiches
Last visited: December 17, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Gastown/Downtown)
401 W Cordova St
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on Panini only)
Service: n/a
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Located in Gastown
• Catering /Restaurant/Bakery
• Authentic Italians meets West Coast
• Quality meats & cheese, fresh ingredients
• Large menu: soup/salad/sandwiches/pastas
• Large selection of pastries
• Healthy/Vegetarian/Carnivore options
• Homemade/homestyle
• Casual gourmet café type foods (does that make sense?)
• On site bakery
• Freshly baked daily bread/pastries
• Cozy/Casual/Eclectic atmosphere/clientele
• Good for breakfast/lunch/coffee breaks
• Very decent prices for what you’re getting
• Open until 7pm M-F 6pm on weekends
• Eat in/Take-out

**Recommendation: Chorizo Sausage Panini, Ham, Portobello & Brie Panini. The popular Panini sandwiches are: NY Steak & Mushroom Sauce Panini and the Prosciutto, Bocconcini & Tomato Panini – but I haven’t tried the NY Steak & Mushroom one

The reason why I didn’t rate Brioche Urban Baking & Catering on their service, ambiance or overall is because my friend Kim (www.imonlyhereforthefood.com) had gotten take-out for me and Anita (www.petitefoodie.wordpress.com) so I wasn’t physically there for the entire experience. I also only tried their Panini sandwiches so this review focuses strictly on those. I tried 3 out of 10 Panini sandwiches so I think that’s enough to get a general idea…although I will be back for the NY Steak and Mushroom Sauce one. I didn’t know that this was a popular item until afterward.

Brioche is a pretty small operation nestled in Gastown. It’s a humble location that’s a local favourite. For the size of it, I’m really surprised with how much they do. They offer plenty of breakfast, lunch and pastry options and it’s hard to believe that they can afford to bake everything daily. It offers casual dining, but gourmet style café-like foods. For me it was very simple recipes, made with high quality ingredients and a focus on fresh. The menu is kind of big and they offer everything from Vegetarian dishes, low-fat, to hearty game options.

Since I wasn’t actually there to ask my usual questions, I actually ended up calling Brioche and speaking with their chef to get some answers. Yes – I take my blogging that seriously now…I just want to give a thorough review. This won’t affect my overall review because again my notes were written before speaking to them. They don’t know who I am anyways and it’s already been a week since trying them.

What I did discover is that the chef, Eduardo lived in Sicily for 20 years so he does incorporate authentic Italian flavors into his recipes. The menu really is Italian meets West Coast. I feel like it’s a battle for him to focus on the healthy (West-coast) yet be able to incorporate those heavy Italian flavours people love.

The Brioche Urban Baking & Catering Panini:

Brioche serves a really West Coast version of a Panini sandwich. It was more like a toasted baguette sandwich. A Panini is an Italian sandwich and a traditional one is usually served on a small bread roll. (However small in Italy is never that small). These Panini sandwiches weren’t reminiscent of the ones I had in Italy although it’s not to say that they weren’t good – just different and not authentic Italian.

The authentic part was the focus on quality meats and fresh cheese. The non-authentic part was the bread. I do love how it’s baked fresh daily however the ‘baguette’ they use is more like a Ciabatta style baguette. They’re rustic, dense baguettes with a hard exterior and chewy centre. They’re the thick ones, not the thinner French baguettes. They make them well, but an authentic Italian Panini roll is supposed to use undercooked bread. It should be a smooth undercooked roll and not a Ciabatta because Ciabatta’s bake up too hard during the Panini grilling process. The bread is supposed to be undercooked and finish cooking on the grill.

The choice of bread may be part of the West Coast influence, I’m not sure. Yes, the bread is good, but for their Panini I think something thinner and softer would showcase their high quality meats and fresh cheeses better.

On the table:

**Chorizo Sausage Panini 4.5/6

• Specialty Panini: Chorizo sausage, lettuce, tomato, avocado & Bocconcini $8.95
• The avocado and Bocconcini is an option they have for their specialty Panini – I really recommend it.
• I’m not even a big chorizo or sausage fan, but this one really impressed me. The quality of the chorizo was really high and it had a spicy kick to it too. It was a bit oily, but I guess it usually is; they were really generous with it too.
• The avocado part is definitely the West Coast influence to a tradition Italian sandwich.
• It was semi-mashed avocado and I wish they were more generous with this part. It ended up being overpowered by the chorizo, although it was the perfect amount of meat. They just didn’t give enough avocado.
• The bread was ok for me. I think this was a whole wheat bread we ordered it with. Order this Panini with a sliced bread rather than a baguette/ciabatta because a sliced bread absorbs the flavours of the chorizo, whereas the baguette wouldn’t have done that as well. It also wasn’t grilled long enough. It wasn’t even really grilled – it was more lightly toasted.

Prosciutto, Bocconcini & Tomato Panini 3.5/6

• Premium Panini: Prosciutto, Bocconcini, tomato & lettuce $6.75
• We had this on a baguette, and I think the Focaccia would have been a better mach. The baguette was toasted, but not long enough and it grilled up a bit unevenly. I do love the fact that they drizzled olive oil on the baguette before toasting it. They don’t use butter here.
• They were very generous with the prosciutto which was great.
• The Bocconcini was good, but too mild for this sandwich. I think I would have preferred it with a goat’s feta or something a bit stronger to compliment the Prosciutto.
• I had a couple flavours of savoury going on. But I wanted either a tang or a sweet note. I would have liked it with a drizzle of balsamic glaze or with something sweet like honey, or both. For the sweet, some cantaloupe slices would have been nice…but this is just me getting creative now.
• It would have been great with some freshly chopped basil leaves too. Brighten the flavours up a bit and give it another dimension of flavour. Or they could have sprinkled some dried oregano on the bread before toasting it. Dundarave Olive Company in West Vancouver makes olive oils that would be a perfect match.

**Ham, Portobello & Brie Panini 4.5/6

• Ham, Portobello, Brie, lettuce and tomato $6.75
• The Ciabatta worked well with this sandwich. I know the picture shows the bread looking a bit thick, but the fat from the brie melted into the Ciabatta which made it softer and absorb the creaminess.
• They gave a nice amount of meat and cheese for this. A perfect ratio.
• There was not enough mushrooms though. We all shared and I think I had one slice of mushroom in my 1/3 of the sandwich.
• I really liked this one because it had salty brie, salty black forest ham, and then what should have been sweet and juicy plump mushrooms…too bad I only had a bite of that.
• I want to try ordering this one with chicken instead of ham…I think that would be a great combo. Chicken, brie and mushrooms...and then a nap afterward…

Steveston Pizza Co.

Restaurant: Steveston Pizza Co.
Cuisine: Pizza (Gourmet)
Last visited: July 30, 09

Area: Richmond (Steveston Village)
100 – 3400 Moncton Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 1
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Specializes in gourmet pizzas in an unpretentious setting
• Fresh, gourmet & quality ingredients
• Toppings to the edges
• A bit pricier, but you're getting what you paid for
• Owner is Italian and a chef
• Unique pizzas, chef-created
• Take-out, a small bar to eat-in
• Opens at 5pm

**Recommendation: Flame Pizza, Japanese Pizza

It's easy to miss this local pizza joint. Located on the corner of Moncton and 3rd Ave, you wouldn't even notice it unless someone pointed it out. Enough to seat 4 people this pizza place caters to a take-out crowd. Familiar to locals, Steveston Pizza opens at 5pm and draws in a steady evening crowd. I've been here a couple times, and the first time we spent $75 on pizzas between 4 people. You're definitely paying more than usually for pizza, but its quite worth it for the quality of ingredients you're getting. They don't serve single slices and one pizza is a lot for one person, so it's best to go with a group of 4+ so you can order a variety and share them all.

On the table:

• Buffalo Mozzarella Salad 6/6
  
• Fresh ingredients - so you can't go wrong. Nice big chunks of fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. I had it with a simple balsamic dressing - technically it doesn't even need dressing becuase the quality is there. This is a pretty big salad though, meant to be shared.
• Water 4/6
  
• Shrimp, snow crab & basil pesto.
• A nice amount of baby shrimp on top, they don't skimp! Every bite you get shrimp. The crab is found underneath the cheese though, and it's all flaked. I tasted the texture of it more than the flavour. I wished the pesto drizzle was actually a pesto drizzle though - they mixed it with a mayo type filler which was a bit disappointing.
  
• Earth 3/6
  
• Brie, gouda, camembert, oven-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and enoki mushrooms.
• This is definitely heavy on the cheese, the flavours all meshed together and the tomatoes were a bit on the watery side for me. The tomatoes brought out a tartness rather than a sweetness in the pizza. I think if you're using brie and camembert though you should really match it with something sweet rather than tart. The ingredients are still all really fresh - but the flavours just weren't very complementing. It sounded better than it tasted. The texture was all gooey so I could only eat 2 slices in a row before I needed a switch up - it was easy to get sick of. A bit oily too, becuase of the types of cheeses used - but that's a bit expected.
• **Flame 6/6
• BBQ chicken breast, pineapple, onion, green pepper and jalapenos.
  
• This pizza is less adventurous, and you could probably find any of these ingredients at any pizza chain. But the combination of these toppings is fantastic! The flavour of this pizza stands out amongst the others because its so bold. Savoury and sweet BBQ sauce, with a bit of tartness and another level of sweetness from the pineapple, and a hint of spiciness from the jalapenos - this hits all your taste buds, and in the right way too!
• **Japanese 6/6
  
• Wasabi-scented teriyaki chicken breast, enoki mushrooms, hokkaido camembert and sesame seaweed julienne (no tomato sauce)
• This is a truly creative pizza! Made for pizza eaters looking for a change and something out of the ordinary. Unlike the "Flame" toppings, you can't find these topping at any pizza chain. Definitely distinct in flavour; this is a must try if you're into trying new things.
  
• What would make it more perfect is if they went heavier on the enoki mushrooms and added a wasabi mayo drizzle on top! Enoki mushrooms need to be used liberally - otherwise you can't taste them becuase when they're cooked they just get soft and get overpowered by everything else. That's why they're served in bundles when you get them with noodles and soup. If you break them up from they're bundles and use them in a pizza - they are bound to get overcooked and lost in everything else...and unfortunately that's what happened. If they added more enoki to this pizza and went heavier on the wasabi it would be perfect. I still recommend it though!
  
• Black 4/6
  
• Honey glazed chicken breast, fig, gorgonzola and mascarpone mousse, walnuts and arugula julienne - $21 (Only available in a medium)
• I really enjoyed this pizza. This was close to getting a recommendation, except I felt as though the gorgonzola overpowered the other flavours a bit. I couldn't really taste the marcarpone mousse - which is a waste. The figs were nice and plump and it went well with the crunch of the walnuts. The honey was a great touch. Definitely enjoyable! I would order it again.
  
• Brown 2/6
  
• I tried this pizza the first time I went to Steveston Pizza - several months ago. They don't have it on the menu right now though. I think they might bring it back when the summer is over. Its definitely a hearty pizza, fit for colder months. The main ingredient is duck. The duck is poached in a red wine reduction and there's also tomatoes, caramelized onions and gorgonzola on it I think. A few other toppings of which I don't remember anymore. The duck pieces were a bit of on the fatty side for me - yes that could mean adding more flavour - but it just felt a bit heavy for my liking. Duck is usually fatty, but I could have done with leaner pieces.
• Again this one only comes in medium for $21 - and you should definitely share one becuase after 2 slices you need a switch up. It's filling!