Thomas Haas

Thomas Haas
Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver

When restaurateurs name their businesses, I always wonder what is behind the name. For example, if you hear Popeye’s, to those who have watched the comics, the first reaction would be a sailor and, as a result, seafood. However, that is as far from the truth, it is actually a fried chicken chain and the name is from a character name Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle. (However, it seems they licenced Popeye the Sailor to use it as mascot for some time).

When restaurateurs name their business after themselves, I wonder if they know what they are doing. No, it is not about being selfish or egotist. Rather the risk they take if something happens to their business. For example, chef Rob Feenie with the defunct Feenie’s. So, when Thomas Haas named his shop after himself, I would believe he knows what he is doing… With that in mind, I visited his chocolate shop.

The shop inside – facing the stands

Although I really wished, I could not take other pictures of the shop. No, not that they did not want me to do so (I asked and the cashier was more than OK). Rather because the shop was busy! Since I try not to take pictures of other patrons, that meant I gave up right away. Sorry! This, however, brings a funny “issue”. To quote Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come“. Huh? Well, Thomas Haas is located in the middle of nowhere. OK, not literally but considering it is more of a commercial park (Northshore Auto Mall is next to it), and, even in a weekend (in my case, Thanksgiving weekend), it was packed full!

As for their menu, they have pastries, some sandwiches, drinks (coffee, tea, et al) and, of course, chocolates. Since it was so packed, I chose to order to go. First, some pieces of chocolate ($1/piece, I think…):

Yup, that’s 79% dark chocolate, I wished they had 83% but, alas, they were out.

I did not have these right away, as I was more interested in the piece of pastry I got to go. Oh, on that note, the small booklet ther has all the chocolate pieces in their menu.

Yes, I am teasing you! Despite I ordered only *one* piece of pastry, it was really well packed in this “box”. OK, enough teasing, here is what I got:

Since it was Thanksgiving, I had to order their special, in this case, Pumpkin Pie with Apple Caramel ($5.75). OK, Pumpkin Pie for sure, don’t remember the caramel part, though. Anyway, here is the close-up of the pie:

So, how was it? It was really good! The pumpkin filling was not overly sweet nor too pumpkin-y, that is, not too overpowering. The cream at the top had a really soft texture, again, not too sweet. The slices of apple… Ah, still slightly crunchy. And, finally, the crust… It was flaky yet not too buttery. In other words, as a whole, it was balanced.

Close-up after a bite.

Overall, I really like this place… If it wasn’t because of its location, I might drop by more often. Oddly, that is a good thing! Being so good, if I have it too often, it might end up being average in the long run. I will definetely have to go back!