Yew Restaurant & Bar – The Four Seasons Vancouver – Olympic Cocktails (VIDEO)

Celebrate the 1 year anniversary for CANADA winning GOLD in men’s and women’s hockey by sipping on one of these!

So how did you like that video?! As you may, or may not know, I just launched the Follow Me Foodie webisodes. If you caught the first webisode it was also shot at YEW Restaurant & Bar, but focused on their Olympic Burger. If you missed it please see here, and to watch the launch for the Follow Me Foodie Quickie series see here. Look at that! You don’t even need a PVR and I can bring you back to the first webisode instantly. How sweet is the internet?! It’s as sweet as you are for following and reading Follow Me Foodie!

Restaurant: YEW Restaurant & Bar
Cuisine: West Coast/Pacific Rim/Eclectic/Seafood
Last visited: February 2, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Downtown)
Address: 791 W Georgia Street
Price Range: $30-50

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a didn’t try enough
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 5
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Casual fine dining
• West Coast/Pacific Northwest cuisine
• Attracts locals & hotel guests
• Open kitchen/bar
• Spacious
• Sexy/sophisticated
• Bar/Lounge area
• Popular for cocktails
• $35 3 course dinners
• 50% off wine Sundays
• Foxy Fridays
• Private dining available
• Daily Breakfast: 7am-11:30am
• Weekend brunch: 11:30am-2:30pm
• Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm
• Daily Dinner: 5pm-10pm

**Recommendations: Olympic cocktails, Reuben Spring Roll, Tuna Tartare, Mango Ravioli, Martini (ice cream) glass for 2, and I guess the Olympic Burger for kicks.

After a tackle of YEW’s ginormous Olympic Burger (see here) I needed something to wash it all down. So what better way to do this than to hit up their Olympic Cocktails! The Olympic Cocktails are available throughout the year at YEW Restaurant & Bar located in The Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver, BC. Good thing it’s all year because it would be a great loss to see them disappear.

I’m just starting to explore cocktails because Vancouver bartenders have really taken the cocktail scene to the next level in the last few years. I find that the art of a cocktail (hence my “painting the picture” bit) is treated just like food nowadays and the creativity behind them have captured my attention immensely.

Cocktails are not really my forté so I won’t rate these drinks since I’m still in the process of developing my palate. However it’s not a far stretch from food and it’s still all about the balance of flavours. I’m more of a wine girl, although I am a light weight in general, but do enjoy my sips here and there.

I’m not lying when I think these drinks deserve gold medals though. My amazing camera crew, who can definitely drink, all thought they were top notch as well. I cheers to them for their incredible talent too! (Justin & Mel from Three Sixty Photo, Steve from SteveTan.net, and Jeff for the photos).

YEW’s Bartender Justin Taylor has designed 3 Olympic inspired cocktails with each drink representing an aspect of Canadian culture. There’s one named Bronze for Montreal, Silver for Calgary, and Gold for Vancouver. They’re strong drinks, but well balanced with lots of attention to detail and an equal focus on the garnish.

Bartender Justin really put new and inventive twists to these cocktails. Was it food? Was it a drink? Maybe a little bit of both. They were almost appetizers alone and the garnishes were incredibly paired. I definitely felt the love in these drinks and they’re well worth it. From the seasonings, infusions and garnishes there’s a lot of labour going into every aspect of them and it was sure showcased in just the first sip.

On the table:

BRONZE

• Montreal 1976 is made with Alberta premium Rye topped off with Cinnamon Brûlé and Granny Smith apple $11
• This is not a girly sour apple martini, nor is it a sweet vanilla apple pie kind of cocktail. This is a guy’s version of apple pie and it’s strong.
• It reminded me of Whiskey mixed with spiced Tequila, which I’m not a fan of either so I’m biased, but if you like a bold, strong and heavily liquored apple pie, then you’ll love this.
• I actually liked it the more I drank it and I do love apple flavoured drinks. The execution of the floating cinnamon creme brulee “cap” for a cocktail would also spark anyone’s interest.
• The sugar crisp brulee retains its shape the whole time. It only starts to dissolve when it hits your lips and the granular sugars and cinnamon spice slowly melt away. The brulee topping gives the drink the sweetness and it requires the apple to break into it initially.
• I appreciated the foamy frothiness on top which lasted for a surprisingly long time.
• It’s sweet from some Maple Syrup, a little spicy, aromatic and great as a dessert or starter drink.
• If you want a “girly” apple cocktail try the Apple Crunch at Mandalay.

SILVER

• Calgary 1988 amps up the traditional Caesar with Chipolte and Smoked Buffalo Jerky infused Vodka, chili pepper, secret spice and YEW bar’s own house made clamato $11
• Did you know the Caesar originally started in Calgary? Yup!
• This is a heavy drink, literally. It’s served in a heavy glass boot.
• This is a very strong Caesar and it definitely has a spicy kick! If I were to order a Caesar I would request “extra spicy”… here, I wouldn’t.
• It was like a liquefied buffalo wing with smoky flavours and a kick of chili. I could still taste the tang from tomato, but it did not hold back on the spice.
• The vodka is actually infused in house with smoked buffalo jerky and it’s quite obvious as it lingers a smoky spice.
• I loved the salty smoky garnish. It was very fresh cured Buffalo jerky which was very lean yet tender and almost like cured meat rather than “dried Jerky”.
• It was all levels of spicy with horseradish, a house made spicy seasoning for the rim, and a variety of chilies throughout the drink.
• I could see it being a bit too spicy for some and I really don’t know what kind of food you would have it with. It would certainly have to be something bold enough to hold up.

GOLD

• Vancouver 2010 showcases one of B.C.’s biggest exports, as well as the new gin distillery on Vancouver Island. The cocktail is made with dill, fresh citrus, egg whites and cucumber infused Gin from Victoria, and a candied smoke salmon garnish $11
• This was my favourite. It’s perhaps the “girliest” one too, how appropriate that it’s called GOLD 😉
• Of course Vancouver has to have smoked salmon. Representing the West Coast!
• It was refreshing, light, but still very strong. I really liked it as a starter drink and it would also play as a good palate cleanser.
• The cucumber flavour was well muddled and infused throughout the drink and it added a freshness.
• The garnish was the highlight and paired perfectly with the drink and the savoury smoked candied salmon with dill actually brought the sweetness out in the cocktail itself.
• It was a very fresh drink and I felt like I was drinking a forest, but it was more pine like than woody.
• It was very well done and even topped with a couple capers which gave it a nice salty bite.

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