"2013-05-17T00:00:00"^^ . "6"^^ . "BIRTHDAY REVIEW!!!!\nWe made this reservation 2 months in advance and still could not get a spot for Friday (my actual birthday). With a wait like this, one can only imagine the anticipation that was built up for last night's dinner.\n\nArrival was a bit awkward-- there was only one other table eating in this small restaurant when we arrived at 6:30 so it was a little uncomfortable to be seated directly next to them and have to squeeze in when all the other tables sat open for at least an hour. I felt like we were crashing their private dinner In fact, it didn't really fill up until about 8:30. This made it that much more awkward because there wasn't a lot of background noise to soak up our respective conversations.\n\nWe began with a glass of Cava and some warm bread. Then the gildas: Olives stuffed with anchovy and a soft cube of bread. I thought my boyfriend would hate this as he's not a huge anchovy fan, but to my surprise he gave it a big thumbs up! The perfect little mouthful with a glass of sparkling wine!\n\nWe were very pleased with how seasonal the menu was. The chef made wonderful use of local ingredients like fiddleheads, wild leeks and morels (always a birthday treat for me!) The seven course carte blanche was very heavy on the fish dishes and all were prepared exqusitely. The standout was the wild caught BC salmon with a pesto of mustard greens and wild leeks. The skin was cooked separately from the fish and presented as a crisp, shattering garnish. The fish was cooked to a soft medium rare with two fat, foraged morels. This dish was honestly a piece of art-- like a painting of a stream with all the fresh ingredients playing a colourful role.\n\nThe sweetbreads that were perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The lamb was slow roasted and very tender and while the accompanying porcini sauce was tasty, this dish was not our favourite. I kept thinking that something was missing- maybe a little fruit or acidity to balance the earthiness of the mushroom?\n\nDessert was a mishmash of contrasting textures. I don't remember what the server called it, but it was a pistacho cream with little shards of meringue on top of some orange jelly. I did enjoy the flavours, and the subtle crunch between soft cream and mild jelly-- but I couldn't help but feel that the dish itself had been created from a string of leftovers in the kitchen. A little uninspired, or maybe just not my thing.\n\nIn the end, we agreed that the dinner was fabulous and the salmon was one of the most exquisite dishes we've tried. We'd probably go back and try a Sunday Lunch with a bit more emphasis on meat and maybe some foie gras, which was curiously absent from the carte blanche menu.\n\nA memorable experience and fabulous seasonal ingredients highlighting a carefully crafted meal. Why not 5 stars? The seating situation was just awkward, although it felt more comfortable as the restaurant filled up. While the service was mostly great, it was clear that one of the servers was bullshitting her way through the ingredients used in the dishes. She tried, but I'm not sure I believe that there is such a thing as \"wild sauce\". I think there was a noun missing. \n\nWorth the wait."^^ . "4"^^ . . . "6"^^ . . "5"^^ .