Juniper
185 Keefer | 604-681-1695 | JuniperVancouver.com
Open daily, 4pm until late
If, on entering Chinatown’s newest dining spot, you feel like you’ve stepped into a distillery lounge, there may be a reason for that. Juniper’s owners originally considered opening a distillery in this space, and the prominent placement of local spirits behind the long bar reinforces that idea.
As the name might suggest, Juniper is a gin-forward restaurant that focuses on all things craft, spirit and local. Famed barman Shaun Layton leads the team behind the wood, and the focus on the herbaceous spirit is evident on the menu, where a dedicated G&T section (all $12 each) includes such standouts as the Rad-ish, which mixes Ampersand Gin (from Duncan) with fresh watermelon radish, dehydrated lemon, pink peppercorn and lemon tonic.
The Catalan was another favourite, with Defender Island Gin, Fever Tree’s Mediterranean tonic, a thick slab of squeezed grapefruit, and a few sprigs of thyme. It’s subtle and aromatic, with deep herbal notes up front, and a light, refreshing finish.
Gin is also a separate cocktail category (as are bourbon, scotch, rum and vodka, to a lesser degree). The G&T Sour ($13), made with Broker’s gin, lemon, lime, tonic and egg white, was a pleasant, light sipper, ideal for taking the edge off after a stressful day, and a good gateway into more serious cocktails.
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the food, and neither has chef Sarah Stewart. In the same way that the cocktails here lean toward the light end of the palate, so do the edibles. Stewart comes from a farming background in Ontario, and is whiz with foraging and preserving. Seafood comes from Organic Oceans, meat from Two Rivers. It’s a seasonally-rotating menu that relies heavily on local producers and tends to the healthier side.
The fish charcuterie board ($21) is a good example. Potted octopus, smoked fish, and a seafood “sausage” are all made in-house and paired with house pickles, light, crunchy caraway crisps and some marvellous herbed crème fraîche butter. The sausage is a bit indeterminate in terms of taste, and has the texture of a weisswurst, but at least was nicely grilled. Grilled beets with burrata ($15) was excellent. Large, thick slices of red and yellow beets are quickly grilled, leaving the insides very lightly cooked. Red beet cream and carrot puree line each side of the plate, and golden, roasted carrots sit in between. Large dollops of burrata surround the plate. It’s satisfying and surprisingly hearty, and would make a good starter to share between two or else a lighter main.
Ricotta gnocchi ($18) with turnip serves up the entire vegetable, top and all, in brown butter with crispy sage and crumbled hazelnuts. This “waste-less” style of cooking is happily becoming more popular, especially at restaurants like Royal Dinette and The Mackenzie Room. Here, the turnip plays very nicely with the gnocchi, providing a nice textural balance.
Juniper is a fairly new operation (it opened in early December), but it’s off to a good start, and its unique take on the popular locavore-craft movement should serve it well.
Food: ★★★
Service: ★★★★
Ambiance: ★★★★
Value: ★★★
Overall: ★★★1/2
All ratings out of five stars.
*: Okay, nothing memorable.
**: Good, shows promise.
***: Very good, occasionally excellent.
****: Excellent, consistently above average.
*****: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. In addition to obsessively collecting cookbooks, she is a judge for the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
