Vancouver was this close to having a restaurant that fused American barbecue and classic Indian cuisine, but one light bulb moment set a local chef and restaurateur on a whole new journey. The result: East Van's beautiful and rule-breaking French-Indian bar-restaurant Peya.
Peya is the venture of chef/owner Ashwani Dabas and his business partner, Kevin Day. The pair previously owned and operated Kitsilano's elevated pub-style spot The Ellis, but about three years ago they realized they wanted to open a second restaurant.
"The Ellis was going really well," Dabas tells V.I.A. "The plan was to do a second one, but then we thought, no—that’s boring. Let’s come up with something new."
Fuelled by the prospect of branching out, Dabas and Day dreamed up concepts.
From Indian and barbecue to Indian and French
"The idea was originally American-Indian barbecue—because Kevin is American, I’m Indian, and barbecue is big in both cultures," Dabas explains.
"One day Kevin said, ‘Why don’t we do French Indian?’ I’d studied French cooking, and obviously I’m Indian. I thought, ‘That’s pretty cool—let’s hold on to that.’"
And hold on they did.
The restaurateurs secured a space on East Hastings at Lakewood in a new building. The choices to open in East Van and in a newly-constructed space were deliberate. Dabas says that the age of the building in which The Ellis resides brought financial and logistical challenges, and, moreover, they were keen to knit their business into the fabric of a new-to-them neighbourhood.
Ultimately, as the new-restaurant-in-Vancouver story goes, the build-out faced significant delays, forcing Dabas and Day to take a critical look at whether it was right to run two restaurants.
Dabas realized his focus belonged with Peya: "This place needs more of me. I didn't want to be sailing two ships." They sold The Ellis earlier this year.
Opening in a new building meant design freedom
The plans for Peya had taken shape early. Dabas had studied French cooking extensively, and with his Indian heritage, it made sense to merge the two, so that became the foundation upon which the restaurant was built, while, quite literally the foundation was being built at what became 2101 E Hastings St.
Being in a new build also gave Dabas and Day the ability to design their ideal restaurant. Rather than splitting the space the typical 70/30 per cent dining to kitchen, Peya has a 60/40 split, which Dabas says ensures even more space for the staff to adhere to safety standards and confidently execute a menu that ranges from raw shellfish (fresh-shucked oysters) to whole animal butchery (such as rabbit for multiple preparations).
Meanwhile, in the dining room, Peya is operating using fewer seats than their permit allows in order to create an open, comfortable space.
"We could have had 75 seats, but cut it to 50. We want people to take their time—order 10 dishes, sip their cocktails, enjoy the journey," Dabas explains.
Comfort was top of mind in the design process, best illustrated by Peya's chairs and bar stools, which have wide bases and plush cushioning.
"You can sit for hours and still be comfortable," points out Dabas.
Making a menu: The common ground of "mother sauces"
Of course, there's no restaurant without food, and while Peya's menu is currently about 65 per cent of what Dabas intends it to be once they've settled in a bit more, they are serving up creative and visually arresting plates of fusion fare.
Thanks to an ever-shifting timeline ahead of opening, when a menu planned for winter ingredients had to give way to one suitable for summer...and back to wintry dishes again, Dabas is hard-pressed to recall what the first dish he came up with to illustrate the harmony of French and Indian flavours and techniques.
What he does recall is his culinary training and applying it to his knowledge of Indian food, particularly in his Bachelor's program's emphasis on classic French cuisine, starting with the five "mother sauces."
"Indian cuisine also has its own mother sauces—just richer, more spice-forward. Same structure, different techniques," he explains.
The goal became marrying those two traditions, combining them in ways that felt cohesive, new, and often lighter.
"Travel between India and Paris on one plate"
A dish of steamed mussels defies all expectations when the plate lands with nary a shell in sight. The rust-coloured mollusks are arranged like tiles with a tomato rasam, a traditional soup from India's southern coastal region translated here with a sauce-like thickness. It's deeply fragrant with the rasam's warm and pungent seasonings and notes of the curry-leaf infused broth in which the mussels were cooked. A side order of garlic naan is the perfect vessel for this unlikely but wildly successful marriage of ingredients and techniques.
Dabas succinctly articulates the experience: "It lets you travel between India and Paris on one plate."
Right now, Dabas says he is refining more plant-based dishes inspired by Indian stew staples to round out Peya's menu, which also skews towards rare or exotic proteins that lean more French in style.
The choice to use ingredients like lamb liver or rabbit is not a case of posturing without substance. The food manages to walk the line between being inventive without being indulgent for indulgence's sake or coming off silly. The dishes expertly push the boundaries while also tasting great.
But there's another layer, one tied to both French and Indian cuisines, which is the very Vancouver element of sustainability.
"Every penny counts": Sustainabiity on the menu
Dabas emphasizes that sustainability is core to the operation. They butcher whole animals in-house and use every part—rabbits are broken down into tenderloins for kebabs and the carcasses for stocks—ensuring nothing goes to waste.
"Rabbit isn’t something you see in [Indian] kebabs or biryani—it’s a costly and rare ingredient," Dabas adds. "But if you play it right, it works beautifully."
"Both French and Indian cuisines are rooted in minimizing waste. As a small business, that matters. Every penny counts."
Another savvy business move was bringing on the accomplished Chris Enns to head up the restaurant's beverage program.
The cocktail wizardry of Peya
Enns says he remembers falling in love with what we might call mixology when he was a curious eight-year-old using fridge and pantry staples to concoct virgin Caesars. "Mixing sauces from the fridge, trying different brines—it felt like casting spells," he tells V.I.A.
He's applied a lot of that wizardry to Peya's cocktail and mocktail menu.
“The cocktails are rooted in classics—but we layer them with curiosity. They should be familiar, but with a little twist," Enns explains.
The starting point was the staggering wealth of ingredients used in Indian cooking.
“Fruits, spices, and teas from India give us this incredible palette to work from. It’s like a built-in cheat sheet for flavour," he describes.
Saffron, mango, coconut, ginger, lime, and curry all show up on the drinks list. The "Sassy Lassi" is a play on the popular yogurt drink Mango Lassi, and is made with St-Germain, mezcal, Alphonso mango, passion fruit, yogurt, and nutmeg.
In line with Peya's food, you'll first drink in Enns' cocktails with your eyes, revelling in their artful presentations. Sometimes, what appear to be simple mixtures actually belie incredible skill.
Beatles x 90s pop culture in your glass
Case in point, if you order the "Across the Universe," a simple glass of pinkish liquid is set before you. While you may have already registered that the name is a subtle hat tip to the Beatles' time in India, it might take a moment to see that your cup contains gently swirling glitter that isn't sinking to the bottom.
Enns explains that the milk punch is Peya's playful nod to Orbitz—the '90s drink with floating balls; they use xanthan gum to suspend glitter and give it body.
You might also be tempted to play with your drink if it's the Saffron Sazerac, which features a slanted base of frozen mango puree that slowly melts into the drink, changing its character ever so slightly as it goes. When you've got just a mango floe left, you can ask for a pour of sparkling wine to give you a bonus bellini.
The bar team works with the kitchen to make the most of all their ingredients, turning mango pulp into fruit leather garnishes (used cleverly on an elephant cup pierced with a paper umbrella to mimic a rider) and using curried onions in their take on a Gibson.
Because cutting out alcohol shouldn't mean sacrificing anything, guests will find Peya's mocktails get the full treatment and mirror options on the cocktail list. "Same glass, same garnish, same care," says Enns, adding that anything non-alc will get a single accessory (like a "Monkey in a Barrel" toy) to distinguish it from its boozy counterpart.
“What you serve is important, but how you serve it matters more. If it’s done with care and joy, people feel that," he adds.
Wine and beer round out the beverage program
The beverage program has three pillars, so along with cocktails/mocktails, Enns curated Peya's wine and beer lists. Wines were carefully chosen to pair with the food. Enns suggests a glass of their Alsatian Gewürztraminer for your order of mussels with a side of garlic naan.
Location, in part, informed Peya's beer selection.
“We’re in East Van—Yeast Van—so our beer list had to reflect that," says Enns. Brews include ones from Powell Street, Strange Fellows, and Container. Cobra Lager, from India, is an ideal match for food.
And their neighbours are making great collaborators. “We’re proud of where we are and who we share the space with," Enns says of businesses like Central Coffee and Innocent Ice Cream, who have some featured ingredients on Peya's drinks list.
Being interwoven in the community is a big part of what drew Dabas and Day to East Vancouver for Peya, and Dabas says he is enjoying getting to know the locals who call the area home. He's also excited for the many multi-unit developments in the area to be completed, so Peya can become a neighbourhood staple for a drink, snack, or relaxed meal.
Patio, tasting menu to come; happy hour on now
There's already a lot in the works to grow Peya's offerings, with Dabas finishing out the a la carte menu and prepping a multi-course tasting menu. They're also planning to add a front patio to make the most of Vancouver's warm season.
Recently, Peya launched its "Aperitif Hour" (Happy Hour) menu, for which Enns created eight new easygoing cocktails and Dabas a menu of fun share plates, like Masala Gourgeres (French cheese puffs with masala spices with a raw mango marmalade) or Rabbit Liver Mousse (another application of the rabbits they bring in), or a half-dozen fresh oysters. All the food is priced at $12 and there are beer and wine specials, too, available from 3 to 5 p.m. daily.
Sharing a meal and drinks is the heart of Peya; the airy dining room, the cushiony seats, the many ways you can mix-and-match the menu all reflect what hospitality means to the team.
With bites and sips that will take you to Paris by way of India's flavourful regions, Peya stands out among its Vancouver restaurant peers, and Dabas hopes you'll come in, pull up a chair, and stay a while. There's no rush, make yourself at home.
"You need time to enjoy it. You need time to taste those cocktails, which Chris worked on day and night," says Dabas. "Every single thing has been created with a story behind it. We want people to see that journey."
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