Are you sure this is the right place?
On a bleak stretch of East Hastings, the metal-grated storefronts are locked up for the night. Save for a lone prostitute standing on the corner, there isn't much traffic or street life around.
We pull up in front of a concrete heritage building with peeling paint in the outer foyer. At least there's plenty of parking to be found.
Strathcona is Vancouver's oldest residential neighbourhood. And for the past several years, it's been gentrifying at a graceful pace.
But for the young couples and families living in all those beautifully renovated Victorian homes, there still aren't many - if any - respectable places to step out for a drink or a decent bite to eat.
Enter Au Petit Chavignol. This unassuming yet sophisticated new wine bar is from the owners of Les Amis du Fromage. Attached to their spacious new flagship cheese emporium, it's bound to be an important agent of culinary change.
Inside, the sunset glows through tall windows, bathing the cozy room in natural light. The aubergine walls are hand painted with a pretty floating chandelier motif and hung with colourful cheese wrappers that have been flattened and framed.
But wait. What's this?
Behind the poured-concrete bar, a black-hoofed leg of pata negra is clamped to a wooden jamonera stand. The fatty shank of three-year-old cured Spanish ham glistens like a beacon to premium charcuterie lovers everywhere. This is a good sign - a very good sign.
We settle into a comfy corner high-top and eagerly devour the menu.
The cheese selection is as serious as one would expect from a maître fromager in the Guilde des Fromagers Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon. Alice Spurrell, who owns the new restaurant with her daughter Allison and son-in-law Joe Chaput, was awarded the prestigious title when all three partners (along with 15 other North American cheese experts) were inducted into the French association at a ceremony held here last month.
The list, divided into cow, goat, sheep and mixed milk cheeses, changes weekly. It leans heavily toward Quebec and France (as it should), but also includes some great finds from Italy (boschetto al tartufo, a creamy young pecorino with pungent shavings of white truffle) and Spain (the boldly veined yet approachably delicate Valdeon blue).
Portions are served at about $4 an ounce and can be ordered individually, in flights or on a tiered grand tasting platter ($30 small, $45 large) that comes with cheese, meats and condiments.
I appreciate the fact that you're not forced to order a minimum number of items, as demanded by some of the more autocratic wine bars in town.
But the more you eat, the better the deal. A tasting of three cheeses is $10; five are $16. If you like what you try, you can buy some to take home.
The wine list is amazing, both in terms of value and diversity. You won't find many of these labels anywhere else by the glass - from the lemony fresh Chant de la Mer Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie ($9.50) to the plummy, rich (almost port-like) Château Bouscassé Madiran ($11.50).
Wines are also available in 2½-ounce tasters. Want to taste something from the bottle list? No problem. All can be opened upon request, with a minimum order of two glasses.
The grand platters come with a small sample of that luscious acorn-fed jamon iberico de bellota, also known as pata negra, which can be bought on its own for $29 for a plate. Go ahead, this buttery delicacy is worth the splurge.
The rest of the charcuterie selection, while not huge, is nicely edited and includes only the best cured meats available locally: La Quercia Rossa heirloom prosciutto ($5.50) from Iowa, for example, or the fig and chestnut salami ($5) from Vancouver's Moccia Italian Meat Market.
It's all sliced tissue-paper thin with a shiny, red, hand-cranked Berkel-style meat slicer behind the bar.
Tonight, the kitchen has also prepared a country-style pork pâté ($8) and a silky chicken-liver terrine (market price) that pairs gorgeously with homemade gewürztraminer jelly.
Yes, Au Petit Chavignol is more than just a wine, meat and cheese bar. The restaurant has a huge, fully operational kitchen that cooks the frozen meals sold in the three Les Amis du Fromage stores and also prepares fresh dishes for the restaurant.
The hot items, which include fondue ($18, $35), croque monsieur ($9.50) and the gooey tartiflette savoyarde casserole ($15) with lardon and melted reblochon, are mostly cheese based. But if you add a salad, frites and a plate of chewy chocolate cookies, you can certainly make a substantial meal from it.
As we lean back to watch our Swiss raclette ($18) bubbling inside a miniature tabletop oven, I realize that it's actually quite easy to order too much.
But even after we finish scraping the final drop of salty toasted cheese over the last slices of crusty bread and soft fingerling potatoes, I'm still bobbing along to the mix of jazzy French chanteuses and eighties new wave on the music playlist.
Is that melody I'm hearing? And lyrics?
How great is this, to find a comfortable boîte off the beaten track that isn't too cool or pretentious?
Au Petit Chavignol is definitely the right place, and not just for Strathcona. It's a worthwhile destination for far-flung foodies as well.
Au Petit Chavignol: 845 East Hastings St., 604-255-4218.
