Be sure to try the gnocchi — it’s love at first bite and the dish that got Irish chef Andrew Kelly the job
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Violeté
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Where: 1380 Commercial Dr., Vancouver
When: Lunch, dinner, daily
Info:violetekitchen.com
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“It’s what got our chef the job,” our server says, reverently placing the gnocchi on the table. With gnocchi, teeth are the judge, and ohhh, it was love at first bite as they immersed themselves in softness.
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“It’s absolutely 100 per cent true,” says Reuben Major, an owner of the newly opened Violeté. “We’d narrowed the (chef) candidates down and asked them to interpret our brand with a dish. He was the first and I said, ‘I don’t know if we need to interview anyone else.’ It was a standout. We hired him for his skill but also, character.”
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“Him” refers to Andrew Kelly, fresh from Dublin with a young Colin Farrell vibe. It was a quick verdict for a hire but the jury wasn’t wrong. Kelly is technically solid and his food is interesting, offering dishes high and low, casting a broad net. He brings Michelin experience to the share plates and fires up pizzas in a forno — inherited with the space, a former Famosa Pizza — for everybody food.
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West Coast Table
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And who knows, character might have been forged during a three-month stage at Noma, which has recently been roundly called out for the abusive and exploitative treatment of staff and stagiaires. But Kelly values the incredible work ethic and respect for ingredients he gained there.
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“Of course, everyone should be treated with respect, but we also chose to work in the best restaurant in the world, which gives such great opportunities globally for chefs,” he says. (Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson, of the one-Michelin Published on Main was at Noma at the same time.) Kelly has otherwise worked in several one-Michelin-star kitchens in Dublin.
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Other Van Urban Hospitality Group operations — Belgard Kitchen, Vancouver Urban Winery event space, Havana, and The Flamingo Room — are known for casual, familiar food, but Violeté steps it up.
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Belgard, the first of the group, was hatched by Reuben Major in 2014 after 18 years at Earls restaurants as a chef and director of culinary and bar development. Violeté, he says, is a “Europlay” on his daughter’s middle name, Violet. And Europe does play another role. Italy and Spain are his favourite food countries, and they shape the menu. “I love the lifestyle and dining style, especially in Italy,” he says.
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Business partner Andrew Hounslow is the corporate chef but Violeté is Kelly’s domain. His food is elevated for Commercial Drive but the vibe is casual and neighbourhoody, kind of like that gnocchi. It’s tossed with pecorino sauce, grilled asparagus, crispy guanciale, and fried lacinato kale, with the veg subject to seasonal change.
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I started, though, with bites of Italy and Spain — a rustic house sourdough bun with carbonara butter, crispy guanciale and pecorino and a typical tapas dish of Spanish olives skewers with anchovy and pickled guindilla peppers.
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Radish showed it can be brilliant. It was served with hazelnut romesco dip, parsley oil and toasted hazelnuts.
