Fifteen years ago, Vancouver chef Rob Feenie sent shockwaves through the industry when he announced he was taking a post with Cactus Club Cafe, then a mere 17 locations strong.
His role? The growing upscale-casual chain's new "food concepts architect," - a lofty title for consulting chef and menu development whiz.
For context, this was 2008, so pre-Olympics Vancouver, and on the heels of his being - as The Toronto Star put it - "ousted" from his own restaurant, the much-lauded high-end Lumiere. Not ringing any bells? Fair enough, but it's important to know that at its peak, Lumiere was considered one of the country's best restaurants, and Feenie a bona fide culinary star.
In 2008, I wasn't in Vancouver - in fact, I wasn't even in Canada - but I did know who Feenie was. After all, he was the only Canadian chef to win in Kitchen Stadium on the Food Network's popular series Iron Chef America in a 2005 battle. Never having the chance to dine at Lumiere, the first time I met the accomplished chef was at Cactus Club, at a luncheon several years ago when they were introducing some new dishes.
New gig as 'Chef-in-Residence' at Bacchus
Now, as I recently did, you'll find Feenie inside the posh boutique Wedgewood Hotel's restaurant, Bacchus, where the formidable culinary talent is serving as the Chef-in-Residence, after his time with Cactus came to an end last summer. To his credit, Feenie is both consistent and surprising - quite the feat.
Not only is Chef Feenie responsible for injecting some of his signature style into the Bacchus menu, but he is also a restaurateur on the brink of rebuilding an empire. He says he is about a year out from launching his own high-end restaurant venture; the wheels have been in motion for some time, but there is still time and work to go. And that won't be all, the chef suggests. He hopes to get several casual concepts up and running, a la Feenie's, Lumiere's more casual bistro-style sibling.
But that's the future, and for the time being - specifically, dinnertime on a busy February Saturday night - at Bacchus, Feenie has several tables of guests he's checking in on, a kitchen full of chefs putting out plates of anything from burgers and fries from the Lounge menu to things like a delicate Hamachi crudo with white soy ponzu and compressed seasonal fruit and cucumber ice.
Feenie's signature touches on the Bacchus menu
Since signing on to help out Wedgewood and Bacchus, Feenie says he put a whopping 48 menu changes in place within weeks, which required a staggering amount of nimbleness from the team. The timing is impeccable; in late October last year, Bacchus was among the over three dozen Vancouver restaurants recognized by the MIchelin Guide in the "Recommended" category. With the holidays and Dine Out Vancouver behind them, the chef is now tasked with getting the popular high-end restaurant's menus refreshed again for spring.
It's a position Feenie tells me enjoys being in, though. He lights up when talking about how he engineers the red wine brown butter Bearnaise sauce that accompanies a velvety sous-vide cooked piece of local Steelhead or his "traditionalist" fondness for Fraser Valley duck with orange sauce that he riffs on with his lively addition of lime and lemon.
Then there's his love for the East Coast-sourced scallops to go alongside the plump, creamy ricotta and mascarpone-filled ravioli that sits in a golden pool of black truffle speckled beurre blanc. And of course, it's perfectly Feenie to have a ravioli on the Bacchus menu; you have him to thank for the fan favourite Butternut Squash Ravioli at Cactus Club. The thing is: It works. I'd order that ravioli with scallop and truffle beurre blanc again and again.
Crafting a hotel restaurant menu comes with its challenges, but Bacchus certainly has in Feenie a consulting chef that knows a thing or two about making food that a wide swath of diners find incredibly satisfying. During our casual course-by-course conversation, he shared that the expectation is that he hit certain notes, but otherwise was given real creative reign.
Though Bacchus is a stepping stone on what it seems impossible to not call the celebrated's chef's comeback path, Feenie says he's quite happy to be helping out co-owner and managing director of Wedgewood Hotel & Spa Elpie Marinakis. For guests, that joy is indeed evident on the plate.
Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge is located at 845 Hornby St in Downtown Vancouver, inside the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa.
