There are restaurants that are so treasured, so right, so comfortable and so revered that they deserve the daily line-out-the-door status prior to opening. Vancouver’s breakfast/brunch/lunch only Café Medina is one such restaurant. You can well imagine, then, locals’ horror when it was announced earlier this year that Vancouver’s beloved Moroccan/Belgian/West Coast inspired beautiful start to our day would be ceasing operations on Beatty Street next door to equally lauded sister restaurant Chambar.
This past August, a few blocks over from Chambar, at 780 Richards Street (at Robson) the all new, shiny, enlarged (proper coffee bar!) Café Medina opened, to much anticipation (me included), thankful energy and great relief (me included).
Highly experienced, well known and very well liked chef Jonathan Chovancek has returned to full time kitchen operations after some time devoted to his massively successful Bittered Sling Extracts, which he founded and operates with partner and bartender extraordinaire Lauren Mote. Chovancek would not just return to operate any old kitchen; the lure and excitement of one of Vancouver’s treasured operations was too much to pass by. Indeed, many old favorites still exist on the menu, shouldering new favorites and landmark innovations like mixing coffee with tonic.
When I queued, as always, at 10 minutes to 8am on a nondescript Friday morning, I was dreaming of past skillet and fricassee favorites. I was not disappointed, when ushered to my banquet seat along a lengthy line of windows, I was afforded a view of the airy robin’s blue walls, gleaming mirrors, towering ceilings, open kitchen, bustling baristas and my first glimpse of the mouthwatering menu.
Tagine, with two poached eggs, spiced chicken, Merguez lamb sausage and summer vegetable stew, with chickpeas, olives & preserved lemon with grilled focaccia—check. Oh, wait, what about a comforting Liege waffle with peach and bourbon butterscotch alongside local darling Earnest Cardamom Ice Cream? Ingredients are as local as they come (down to the Canadian heritage grains and free range eggs) but the menu influence is as global as your mind can reach. Regardless of where your hunger directs you, a starter side of Mascarpone and black pepper honey is a must, as is a beautifully pulled cappuccino. With nearly every seat now filled, orders streaming out of the kitchen, music that fills my iPod filling the restaurant and a content smile on my face, I could finally relax, knowing full well that our beloved Café Medina is here to stay, again, and hopefully forevermore.
Follow on Facebook: Medina Cafe
Track on Twitter: @cafemedina
