Charlie’s Restaurant & Bar

Restaurant: Charlie’s Restaurant & Bar

Cuisine: Pizza/Mediterranean/Italian
Last visited: March 9, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1265 Hamilton Street
Price Range: $20-30

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

Food: 3.5
Service: n/a (Media dinner)
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 3.5 (food is on generally good, but not worth it)
Additional comments:

• Chef Brian Ritchot
• Chef from Montreal, one from Spain
• DJ’s/live music on weekends
• Contemporary, sleek, posh atmosphere
• Great for groups
• Specializes in gourmet pizzas
• Mediterranean/Italian options
• Longue like atmosphere
• One large projection screen TV
• Open late
• Pizzas available for take out
• Dinner service only

**Recommendation: Short Rib Pizza, prosciutto di Parma 18 Month, Duck Pizza, Banoffee Pie

I was invited to a media dinner at Charlie’s Restaurant & Bar so the food served this evening was complimentary. However there were no expectations from Charlie’s Restaurant & Bar and the review represents my true and honest opinions.

Overall the evening was very pleasant and the food was good. However if I were to imagine myself as a regular diner I would probably think great atmosphere, good food, but over priced. It’s “Yaletown Pizza”. Better than Opus Bar pizza for sure. Nothing tasted bad, but when you’re paying for it you get more critical. There are things in the recipe or cooking method that could be improved. I would have liked to see smaller sized pizzas at a reasonable price…which they may consider. I just don’t want to share 1 14 inch pizza if I’m having dinner with one other person…and if we order more we’re looking at a steep bill with lots of leftovers.

They offer pastas and a couple mains but their focus is pizza. I liked the thin crust and made in house aspects but it was at times inconsistent and some were crispier than others. I'm not being too picky either - it was a significant difference. However the pizza crust has a slight garlic powder flavour which is great! Also there’s decent leopparding on the bottom of all the crusts – sign of pizza crust cooked properly.

Soggier crust on 1st pizza.

Crisp crust on last pizza!

I attended the evening with Victoria from Victoria’s Food Secrets. 9 courses later and we still had room for one more dessert…so we just reached for the unfinished dessert down the table. ;)

Oh and no – that is not Charlie and the owner’s name is not Charlie…Charlie is a fictional character the restaurant and food is inspired by.

The dessert portion of dinner at Charlie's Restaurant + Bar.

On the table:

House Marinated Olives 4/6

• Citrus & fresh herbs $6
• Olives are olives and there were a variety which I liked.
  
• I like olives so I liked them. The marinade was good, but also standard.

Grappa Cured Salmon 3.5/6

• Cream fraiche, cucumber, mint, salmon roe and lemon zest $15
• Very fresh and big piece of salmon. Quite a simple dish that sounds more interesting. A sharing appy.
  
• I liked the levels of saltiness from this – the salty bite of salmon roe, fresh sea salt on top of the salmon and then the fresh caper berry. The cream fraiche helped to balance and round out the flavours.
• The cucumber, mint and lemon zest was more for décor and not enough to actually add to the dish.
• Not sure how much this appy suits the restaurant, but it’s still good.

Prosciutto di Parma 18 Month 5.5/6

• With pea mousse, snow pea tendrils, a poached egg, two crostini, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
• Not on current menu, but will be added at end of month. Price TBC. I would hope $12-14.
  
• Great combo of flavours and loved the plating. Prosciutto roses!
  
• I loved the pea mousse. Its very light and fluffy. I recommended them to add Mascarpone to the mousse to give it creaminess and richness. Drool.
• I could taste some tuffle oil on the prosciutto – great touch!

• The poached egg could have been even softer and there were fresh green peas underneath it all. Loved the textures of it altogether.
• It definitely needs a few more crostini for the portion.

Meatball Pizza 2/6

• Spicy tomato sugo, pork meatballs, fontina, smoked speck and fresh oregano $23
• It was good, but for $23 I wouldn’t order it. It’s a bit too basic for me anyways so I wouldn’t have ordered it on a regular basis.
• The best part was the Fontina, except it made the pizza extra greasy which eventually made the thin crust a bit soggy.
• It was homemade Italian Sausage meatballs. They were ok but a bit dry and not a highlight. The pizza also wasn’t spicy to me and there wasn’t much oregano. Maybe they should shred them up and spread them around.

Smoked Salmon Pizza 3/6

• Salsa verde, house-smoked salmon, red onion, capers, arugula preserve, lemon and goat cheese $25
• Lots of stuff going on here, but I did like it.
• I liked the big pieces of salmon and there was a decent amount of creamy goat cheese crumbles…a little goes a long way.
• It was salty, slightly peppery and the salsa verde got nicely baked in the oven so it gave off a nutty flavour and crispy texture. It was quite a herby salsa.
• It was almost like an arugula salad tossed on top so it was quite fresh tasting – the heaviness comes from the goat’s cheese. Some could like this idea and others might find the salad messy and distracting. I liked it.

Roast Potatoes – Side 3.5/6

• The potatoes were very flavourful, fluffy and buttery but the skins were not crispy enough.

• If we stopped here I would have been slightly underwhelmed...until...
  

Short Rib Pizza 5.5/6

• Tomato sugo, braised short ribs, caramelized onion, mozzarella, horseradish cream and green onions $25
• This was my favourite of the night!
  
• Lots of short rib, but it was a bit dry. I like how I can see it but this method dried out the meat during baking.
• The beef could have been more marinated to compensate for the drying out. There’s definitely some dried herb they cooked it with so there's still some flavour.
  
• I loved the fresh spicy horseradish cream! It’s spicy, but it tastes like they made it milder so it wouldn’t be overpowering. it also added some sauce/juice to the meat.
  

Duck Pizza 4/6

• Porcini sauce, smoked duck, roast portabellini mushrooms, tallegio, radicchio and truffle oil $25
• This had so much potential and it was very good but I was very bothered by the duck part…which is the main part. It had almost completely dried out during baking and it came off as roast beef. Since it was thin slices of duck it really came off as roast beef.

• You can see how the duck meat is dry and wrinkly. So it was good, but disappointing in that one aspect.
  
• I liked the mushroom flavour throughout though. Nice layers of mushroom flavour including the big slices of juicy Potabellini and truffle oil which I could taste.
• It was a bit on the salty side and I would have liked more shredded cabbage for more of a crunch.

Drinks

Keep in mind I’m not much of a drinker – watch this video to see why.

Champers Thyme 2/6

• Apple, cucumber, thyme smashed with agave syrup, Henrick’s, Prosecco crown $11
• A sparking cocktail to start the night. Couldn’t taste much apple, but cucumber and thyme stood out. Refreshing, but quite bitter (from Thyme) and tart.

Cocktail 1265 2.5/6

• Blood orange, grapefruit, juniper berries, pine nuts, basil, grapefruit bitters, Vodka $10
• I thought I would like this more than I did. Pretty strong drink. The pine nuts are pureed it so it has a very subtle nutty flavour. Bold, citrusy and slightly sweet, actually quite bitter.

Devil 4/6

• Sliced fennel, cloves, cherry syrup, Cazadores Reposado tequila, cherry bitters and ginger beer $11
• I don’t like Tequila, and this was the best drink. It’s surprisingly sweet because of the cherries and it just worked very well. It has a warm spice and slight licorice taste.

The dessert portion of dinner.

Salumi Artisan Cured Meats

Restaurant: Salumi Artisan Cured Meats

Cuisine: Italian/Sandwiches
Last visited: January 15, 2010
Area: Seattle, Washington (Pioneer Square)
309 3rd Ave South
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5.5
Service: n/a (I wasn’t actually there)

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Opened by Mario Batali’s dad
• Specializes and famous for cured meats
• Gourmet home made high quality cured meats
• Famous for cured meats
• Popular for sandwiches
• Large selection of cured meats
• Small selection of specialty sandwiches
• Home made
• Gift baskets available
• Platters available
• 5 course lunch parties available Wed/Thurs ($40/each)
• Eat in/Take out
• Lunch only
• Beer and wine available
• Open Tues-Fri 11am-4pm

**Recommendation: Porchetta

Drool!!!! This sandwich was delicious. Well the Porchetta was…

Now let’s start again. I wasn’t physically there to try the famous Salumi sandwiches, but I’m lucky enough to know Kim. Kim was in Seattle for business and had intentions on visiting Salumi, so on his way back he actually brought 2 sandwiches for me to try. I had heard about Salumi doing my own research, from Sherman, as well as through other foodie friends. I haven’t actually tried them since I’m from Vancouver, but I was very eager to do so the next time I was in Seattle. I have to see for myself what the rave is all about.

I tried the Porchetta and the Salumi Muffo – it’s interesting to note that Salumi is famous for their cured meats, yet the Porchetta sandwich (with no cured meats) was the clear winner for me. Next time I visit I would order the cured meats on their own to try separately. Probably better alone on a platter with some cheese than in the sandwich.

I just found out that Salumi is opened by Mario Batali’s dad. Mario Batali is one of my favourite chefs, so this is a big deal for me. However I’m not letting it affect this review because I wrote the review before I discovered this fact…so I’m literally just adding this paragraph in last minute.

On the table:

**Porchetta 6/6

• Salumi’s tribute to the pig. Pork butter-flied and stuffed with our own sausage meat and spices $9
• The description of the sandwich doesn’t really make sense to me, that’s not how I would describe it because it’s not what it looks like.
• This was an amazing sandwich though! It’s served hot so I had to bake it in the over before trying it again since it had traveled for 2 hours before hitting my mouth.
• The porchetta didn’t taste really salty, even though it usually is. Instead it was just so flavourful, it’s amazing.
• This sandwich is loaded with nice big chunks of porchetta (boneless pork roast). It’s as tender as pulled pork, but it’s actually chunks of it in the sandwich. It’s 90% lean with little bits of fat, but it doesn’t taste fatty at all. It was tender, juicy and had absorbed the wonderful flavours of the whole fennel seeds.
• There were lots of fennel seeds and it brought a beautiful licorice and black pepper flavour to the meat. There was also some garlic although you can’t see it. It’ s very subtle and the garlic flavour is more infused.

  

• The sausage meat was almost like meat loaf, but there wasn’t much of it. The mixture of the two meats just made for an extra tender sandwich.
• There was also a subtle and natural sweetness to the meat and this was thanks to the carrots and celery. The porchetta is supposed to be butterflied and stuffed with veggies, tied and then roasted, but that’s not what it looked like. I did see very small and minimal pieces of carrot, but the pork pieces were chunks.
• This sandwich hardly had any other ingredients or sauces and it didn’t need any. (I love sauce too!) It was simple and just great tasting slowly roasted pork.
• The bread was a baguette and it wasn’t too chewy. I could have eaten the meat alone that was definitely the star.
• FYI – I know a secret! At least I think I know part of it! I’ve never been there so I haven’t witnessed how they make it so may be no secret at all. But beside the porchetta, the secret is in the butter they use for the bread. It’s not butter! They actually use the pork lard (fat) as the butter. I can see and taste it! It has so much flavour and is SO bad for you, but it makes the difference and adds flavour!

Salumi Muffo 4.5/6

• With vegetables, olives, pimiento, provolone, cooked salami, and spicy Sopressata $9
• This is a slightly spicier sandwich but still savoury from the olive, sweet from the veggies (carrots, onions and maybe some celery) and tangy from the pimiento. It tastes like a cross between a green olive tapenade and an antipasto. It was very Mediterranean/Spanish and they brighten it up with some freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley.
• Sopressata is Italian dry-cured salami. The one here is made with whole black peppercorns and the slices are perfect. They’re nice and thin to enhance the best flavour, yet they taste thick…also because the quality of meat is so high. It had a combination of lean and fatty meat but the ratio was right, and when you bit into a black peppercorn it was just delicious and gave it that spicy kick. I actually could have used 1 more slice of each salami because the bread is thick.
• The salami is savoury with a slight tang at the end and it really matched the tapenade. They make all the cured meats in house with old Italian family traditions. I really felt like I was eating meat and not crappy deli stuff.
• The ratio of ingredients was right on as well however I could taste the olive tapenade the most. The provolone was a hard provolone so it stood up to the cured meats without competing with them.
• The bread was Ciabatta bread and it was a littler too chewy and too hard for my liking. However it absorbed the oils of the olive tapenade really well.
• The sandwich was pre-made and out of the fridge, which is a bit unexpected. It was a really good sandwich, but not excellent. I felt like the olive tapenade could have used a few different kinds of olives and the bread didn’t work for me.