Food & Drink: Grays brightens up both menu, bar

Accompanying it was a gorgeous golden beet and citrus salad — a vivid ring of roasted golden beets, cara cara oranges and crimson blood oranges lightly bathed in a goat cheese vinaigrette topped with shaved fennel and green sprigs of fennel fronds studded with toasted pepitas. The food tasted as fresh and delicious as it looked.
Charpentier, like many of his contemporaries, focuses on sourcing local and seasonal ingredients. The most local and seasonal ingredients on the menu come from the hotel’s rooftop garden. This chef plans to expand with some help from his mother, an avid and talented gardener. He receives fresh produce daily from Pacific Coast Fruit and looks forward to foraging at the Vancouver Farmers Market this spring and summer.

Several years ago, Hilton Worldwide required that all of its hotels use only cage-free eggs and crate-free pork. Charpentier plans to extend these rules to all proteins. “Just like the sourcing of fresh, local produce, fresh, local proteins taste better. I feel better serving something that I know had a decent life.”

Menu changes will reflect the diversity of the kitchen staff. Currently, there are four cooks from India. Charpentier explained, “Let’s use these other cultures populating the kitchen.” In the works is a version of the popular Bombay street food called vada pav, nicknamed the Bombay Burger, a deep fried potato dumpling in a bun sliced in the middle and served with chutney.

The new menu will have gluten-free options and more plant-based dishes. A pork chop and possibly half a roasted chicken (roasted in a pan with vegetables that soak up the juices for the chicken while cooking) may find their way to your table. Beer pairings are on the horizon.

Not only is the bar larger, but Lead Bartender Steve Weaver is a mad scientist and a tinkerer. He’s interested in creating fresh, seasonal cocktails that you won’t get anywhere else. On my visit, he was experimenting with a vegan foam made from aquafaba (leftover liquid from a can of chickpeas). This foam had the consistency of whipped egg whites but with a cleaner flavor and without the unpleasant sulfur smell of egg whites. He spooned this foam on top of a drink made with Crater Lake Vodka, St. Germain, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup.
“High-end dining is trying to be more casual. Pubs are trying to make food you wouldn’t find at a pub,” opined Charpentier. His goal is to reach this sweet spot of elegant but approachable.

According to McLeod, the Hilton plans to make some changes to the patio before spring. I regret not spending time sipping cocktails and eating small bites out there last summer. Like everyone else, I acted as if the days would be long and sunny forever. I won’t make that mistake this year.

Rachel Pinsky can be reached at couveeats@gmail.com. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @couveeats.