[Photo via Robyn Hanson] One of the most anticipated openings in Vancouver's restaurant calendar finally swings open its doors for service today. Say hello and a big welcome to the neighbourhood to Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar from Alex Chen and team. A quick reminder why we're so excited about this; Chen used to be on chef duties at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto and Chicago, as well as the Beverly Hills Hotel in California. He represented Canada at the Bocuse d'Or culinary competition in 2013 and placed ninth.
His team is an all-star crew, cherry-picked from the best restaurants in town and beyond; his chef de cuisine, Roger Ma used to work for Daniel Boulud in New York, pastry chef Jason Pitschke, worked at Cioppino's and most recently at the Bearfoot Bistro. In the front of house, GM Steve Edwards (UVA, Cibo, Bearfoot and Araxi) plus West's legendary maître d' Brian Hopkins.
Add to that the talent of Justin Taylor - ex YEW on bar and a wine programme managed by ex-Burdock & Co's Lisa Haley and you'll see that the separate parts are great all by themselves - now just imagine what they will be like working together. As Hopkins said, speaking at a media preview last week, "We intend on accomplishing some wonderful things here." We look forward to that.
Boulevard will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. daily. However, chef Alex Chen's breakfast menu will launch in the fall, along with weekend brunch, until then, the breakfast menu will be handled by Sutton Place.
· All Previous Boulevard Coverage [EVAN]
· Boulevard [Official Site]
· Boulevard [Twitter]