XXXV: Allons Au Petit Chavignol!

There are a few Vancouver restaurants that I've had my eye on for quite some time. Au Petit Chavignol was one of them. Located on Hastings in the DTES, you could drive by and never see one of Vancouver's best new restaurants at all. It's something you have to know exists before you notice it. Kind of like the secret entrance to Diagon Alley for you HP fans.

My coworker, who loves cheese to an insane degree, told me about this place around a year ago, but since it's not as convenient as other restaurants I allowed it to drift off my radar. Until last week. When my dad asked me where we should all go for Valentine's Day.

Making sure I reread their most recent recommendation (I tend to only read Metro News' restaurant reviews), I ordered the following items for my parents and I to share:

• Grand Tasting Platter (small) - a selection of cheeses, charcuterie, and accompaniments; verdict: not much stuff for your money but worth sharing between friends once in your life
• Truffled Chicken Liver Terrine: YUM! I don't usually like pâté, but this was oh so good and I'd definitely get it again
• Croque madame - ham, gruyère, and béchamel sandwich with a sunny side up egg; YUM! we all agreed that this was our favourite dish of the night
• Fondue savoyarde; the first time I think I've ever had real fondue. It was good but I would much rather eat the pâté and croque madame.
• Wine selection: Leitz Riesling; YUM!

This is where I interrupt myself with a little observation of something shocking that happened tonight. You think you know someone and then they say something so uncharacteristic that it makes you reevaluate everything. Here it is: we were deciding between three desserts and after a few minutes, my mom suggested we get ALL THREE. 

WHA?! 

Or in Giosy-speak: WHAT THE MILLY LEAF?! (WTML?! for short)

To explain, my mom is not a dessert person, nor is she one to condone over-indulging. Especially when we're not at a Chinese restaurant (hello cost difference). So these were the desserts (all made in house):

• Crème brûlée; to appease my parents -- I am not a crème brûlée person
• A dozen hot chocolate cookies served in a paper bag; YUM!
• Almond cake with chopped quince and whipped cream; also YUM!

We left the restaurant stuffed, our stomachs 90% full of cheese, and happy to have ventured to a new restaurant together (and not have our car broken into).