To help kick off our local spot prawn season, Coal Harbour’s Tableau Bar and Bistro threw a party last night, appropriately titled “Heads or Tails“.
The sampling of spot prawn items that were featured forms part of a summer platter that Chef Marc-André Choquette has created to marry with summer wines, craft beer, and La Strangiato, a signature cocktail prepared using gin, Dubonnet, Amaro Montenegro, lemon, Demerara sugar and soda.
[Tableau’s Chef Marc-André Choquette]
The “goods”, those delightful, juicy, meaty BC spot prawn stars, were dressed to the nines, prepared as corn dogs on a stick, in a terrine, their heads deep fried, as a tartare, in a creamy bisque served cappuccino style, on a skewer seasoned with chili garlic and Niçoise style.
I’m personally a fan of the messy, off the table “whole beast” variety. Tableau chefs came out of the kitchen bearing heaping dishes of poached whole prawns, alongside saffron aioli, cocktail sauce, and lemon.
[Spot Prawn Bisque, with fennel, steamed milk, served cappuccino style]
[Tȇte-à-Tȇte (deep fried spot prawn heads)]
[Spot Prawn Corn Dog on a Stick (with frites)]
While I didn’t sample the cocktail mentioned above (I was in between two wine tastings that day and wanted to stick to that), I did enjoy the spot prawns with Joie Farms’ 2011 Rosé ($10/glass), with a blend of raspberries, candied fruit, and a light, refreshing mouth that married well with the dishes. Also on hand was Joie’s 2010 Muscat ($10), a bit sweet for my palate (though a good match for the prawn corn dogs on a stick), as well as Phillip’s Analogue 78 Kolsch craft beer ($6.75).
[Gougère Spot Prawn Tail Slider]
The platter ($25) features spot prawn head bisque, poached spot prawns, spot prawn tartare cup, spot prawn corn dog on a stick, and a Gougère spot prawn tail slider.
Tableau Bar and Bistro is located at 1181 Melville Street, next to the Loden Hotel in Vancouver. Visit the website for menu information, hours, and events.