This versatile spot in Gastown has seating options for all tastes
Linda Bates
Sun
Chill Winston sous chef Todd Baiden displays the Tomato Avocado Salad while co-owner Jordan Stewart tends the bar. Photograph by : Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun
A new Gastown lounge called Chill Winston: Would I be cool enough for this place? Maybe my hipness “best by” date expired too long ago?
Not to worry. This large, handsome restaurant, with its huge patio, welcomes patrons of all ages and levels of sophistication. When we visited there were white-haired couples off a cruise ship, gaggles of fashionable young downtown office workers, assorted black-garbed artistic-looking types and a multi-generational birthday party. We all had one thing in common, though. We all appeared to be having fun.
This space, across from the Gassy Jack statue on Maple Tree Square, has had one major makeover. For a long time the home of the Greek Characters restaurant and the R.J. Clarke cigar store, it’s now sleek and gleaming without sacrificing the character of the old building.
Chef and co-owner John Jesten, who was most recently a sous chef at La Rua in Whistler, said he had a vision of a place not quite a restaurant, not a bar and not a nightclub — a true lounge where people could gather for drinks and food. He also wanted an open space rather than a long, narrow one.
The result, with its dark leather furniture and exposed brick walls, is inviting and spacious. And there are seating options for all tastes — the large, still leafy patio; conventional tables and chairs; comfy easy chairs with cocktail tables; or, for the curious, seats at the bar that abuts the central, gleaming, stainless-steel open kitchen.
This is a place to come for a drink or a snack or a full meal. Start with one of their house cocktails, like the The Believer or Cover Girl and move on to the food. Most orders are tapas-style and meant to be shared. What might be verging on the too-cute (menu sections include Light Snacks, A Little More, Get Your Protein, etc.) seems to work here. The menu is an eclectic mix — “Whatever I like to cook,” says Jesten — with everything from salads to tuna sashimi to pizza, bok choy, lamb rack and beef ribs.
Especially notable was the calamari, not deep-fried in the usual way, but tender and pan-seared with garlic and oven-roasted tomatoes. The Alaskan scallops, also pan-seared, but these with with a fennel and butter sauce, were also exceptional. And the bok choy — yummy. I’m normally not a fan of fusion food, but the spicy chorizo works well with the Chinese greens.
The anchovies with truffled green beans dish was my one disappointment. The strong fish flavour, which I enjoy, was overpowered by a vinegary sauce.
A daily special of tender, juicy B.C. mussels in a bourbon cream sauce was a bargain at $13 a pound, and a trio of beef tenderloin medallions was set off nicely with a bit of Stilton cheese.
Desserts (we tried a rich chocolate “financier” cake and bread pudding) were as successful as the tapas dishes and also, like the tapas, not terribly generous in portion size.
With all these delicious little bits and pieces to try, it’s easy to run up quite a tab before you know it. The smaller dishes, scallops, crab cakes, etc. are in the $7 to $10 range and the larger mains $12 to $20. (There are also sandwiches available for $7.50.)
A real highlight of our visits here was the excellent service. For a place that’s been open only three months, they’ve really hit the ground running. The servers, in addition to being pleasant and always there when you needed them, were exceptionally knowledgeable about the menu ingredients and the wine list.
A word about the washroom. It (yes, singular) is unique. A dozen or so little cubicle-sized rooms that say either Man or Woman surround a large circular sink. Not exactly co-ed, but close.
And the name? Yes, what the heck does Chill Winston mean? Jesten says it’s from the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. They needed a name, and one of the partners suggested it. In lieu of a better suggestion, it stuck. (The Internet’s Urban Dictionary says it also means a big strong joint or blunt, but you won’t be ordering one of those here.)
CHILL WINSTON
Overall: Rating 4
Food: Rating 3 1/2
Ambience: Rating 4 1/2
Service: Rating 4
Price: $$/$$$
3 Alexander St., 604-288-9575, www.chillwinston.ca. Open noon to 1 a.m. daily except Tuesday; closed Tuesday. Opening for brunch soon.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006