When dining in Yaletown, privacy is not a big sales hook. This fashionable wedge of Vancouver's old warehouse district - with its upscale boutiques, airy lofts and trendy scenesters - is a fishbowl of a neighbourhood designed for ogling.
Enter Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, the new ultimate place to see and be seen. Unless, of course, you are a food critic trying to sneak in incognito. Thanks to a helpful mole, who informed me that photos of the city's restaurant reviewers were posted in the coatroom, I had time to don a quick disguise before visiting last Friday.
The dowdy schoolteacher makeover seemed to do the trick. We received no special treatment at the door. In fact, we were turned away. Although Goldfish reserves nearly half of its 140 seats for walk-ins, the restaurant, lounge and garden patio were already full.
The wait, we were told, would be at least 90 minutes. But if we wanted to leave our cell number and go grab a drink elsewhere, the receptionist would call us when a table was free.
Since we had time to spare (and backup reservations for Sunday), we strolled across the street to Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar for an aperitif - or a few. Lo and behold, Goldfish rang 25 minutes later. Our table was ready and waiting.
To me, it seems awfully silly for a new restaurant to send customers away with little hope of getting in. (We weren't really expecting a call.) Yet we weren't the only ones willing to come back - the couple who later sat next to us had the same experience. So what does that say about us? Or the buzz Goldfish has created?
In a city with 20-odd new restaurants opening this summer, it takes something special to make a splash. And Goldfish didn't emerge from a bubble. Owner Bud Kanke, whose list of winners over the years includes Mulvaney's, The Cannery, The Fish House in Stanley Park and the ever-popular Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House, knows a thing or two about swimming with sharks.
In Vancouver, as elsewhere, the big fish are attracted to rooms that glimmer. And Goldfish certainly shimmers. With $3-million to play with, designer Juli Hodgson has transformed the space, formerly home to Umberto Menghi's handsome but dark Circolo restaurant, into a bright and whimsical modern showroom.
The street-side lounge, with its high ceilings, whitewashed walls and pretty Missoni-print Philippe Starck Mademoiselle chairs, practically begs you to wander in and join the action at the bustling "wave" bar made of rare Canadian marble with pale blue veining. (Note the large number of wealthy and recognizable property developers.)
Saunter through the dining room, a long open space with a row of mother-of-pearl chandeliers sparkling overhead, and notice the deep, party-sized booths with perforated white screens and a veiled wall that changes colour through the evening.
Toward the back, a snazzy 40-foot Sonja Schneider mural hugs a wall next to custom-made bamboo dining tables with lazy Susans for sharing, where a large group of talent agents and actors are kicking up their heels.
Head straight through the glass doors and onto the heated garden patio with slinky high canopies and low-slung white sofas, where a group of beautiful young girls are doing tequila shooters.
The clatter and laughter is awfully loud, but it only seems to add to the ambience. This is a room that makes you feel as if you have arrived.
Where? In that murky gap between Canada's West Coast and Asia that so many Vancouver restaurants try to navigate, with unsteady results.
The cocktail list lands swimmingly, with an enticing array of fusion flavours - Kiss of the Orient (Alizé red, lychee juice and champagne), for example, or Pearl (pearl sake, spiced rum and fresh pear puree). The wine list is extensive, with a large selection of reasonably priced bubbles and rare West Coast vintages. The premium sake and specialty beer choices are plentiful.
The food menu, alas, is a bit of a pan-Asian muddle. Executive chef William Tse, formerly of Joe Fortes, features a huge array of seafood, from seared scallops with mango salsa ($15) to wok-tossed chili crab ($59, enough for 2 or 3).
Our server, however, confesses that she isn't a seafood fan and steers us toward meat. The wok-seared beef with sweet soy and onion ($15) is delicious, she assures. As is the grilled pork chop with tamarind apple chutney ($23).
We start with duck spring rolls ($14) that are crisp and sprightly, as they're packed with fresh mint (which unfortunately wilts to a barely discernible flavour under the powerful chili sauce presented for dipping).
Pan-roasted halibut ($26) is beautifully crisped and served with a snappy side of sautéed pea leaf. But the pineapple-coconut sauce is too delicate for my taste buds, partly because I've already dived into the richly scented sweet potato and pork curry with fresh turmeric and caramel sauce ($16) and a smoky side of bacon-fried rice ($8).
Overall, the flavours are really heavy. Incongruously so, considering the room is so light and airy. Perhaps we chose wrong. Maybe the menu needs more time to settle.
I wouldn't necessarily go back for the food. But I certainly would for the room and the mood.
And, to be honest, isn't that why everyone's really here?
Goldfish Pacific Kitchen,
1118 Mainland St.; 604-689-8318
Alexandra Gill