Swallow Tail Super Club – “Underground Restaurant”

Swallow Tail Super Club – “Underground Restaurant”
Somewhere in Vancouver, BC

In the last year or so, a new type of “restaurants” have hit Vancouver silently. How secret? Well, how about it not necessarily registered as a “restaurant” at all? Yes, I am talking about underground restaurants, where cooks (sometime professionals, other times, regular John Doe who are skilled cooks) open their kitchen and, for a “donation”, they will cook a meal for you. It has been feature in local printed media like The Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail. While fellow food bloggers have visited and written about it, I have told them I wasn’t that interested in visiting them (more in a moment). However, in a “you can’t comment about it before you have done it” line of thought, I decided to tag along on an outing organized by Jonathan of Food and Tell. The chosen “underground” restaurant? Swallow Tail Super Club.

Before going on, I can safely say that I have had my fair share of underground kitchens (not restaurants). Back in Panama, in some neighbourhoods (usually poor ones), housemakers would cook dishes in their kitchen and would put their cooked goods just outside in a corner for any passerby to buy from them (thus earning some additional income at home). There were pros and cons about this: food could be dirty cheap but there wasn’t any guarantees at all regarding the quality of the food (not to mention, risks of eating something of dubious source, not to mention contaminated). Some of them made a name by themselves and eventually opened a proper restaurant. Those who prospered meant, of course, what they cooked was good.

That, of course, brings the question of my lack of interest of the local underground restaurants… It is in part a split between the type of cuisine plus some hype of exclusiveness/secrecy plus the reason(s) why these cooks choose to stay “underground”. Why not open a formal restaurant? Why not work professionally in a kitchen? Of course, there are diverse answers depending on the cook, on the food, on other extras provided during the meal, etc. etc. In the end, there is no straight answer but, in the end, for me, there is an overrated factor. The question would now be, would this dinner change my opinion?

As mentioned above, Jonathan organized this event by sending emails to almost all Vancouver food bloggers. However, in the end Mijune (Follow Me Foodie), Sherman, (Sherman’s Food Adventures), Anita (La Petite Foodie), Frank and Joyce (Vanfoodies), Jenny and Ricky (My Secret Eden), Ben and Suanne (Chowtimes), Victoria (Victoria’s Food Secrets) and, of course, Jonathan (Food and Tell). As for the chef/cook of Swallow Tail? Chef Robin. Fortunately, it was a sunny Vancouver day and we started by mingling in the backyard. After everybody arrived, so did our amouse bouche.

Farmhouse BC gruyere & sour apple tart on handmade puff pastry with apple reduction

As an amouse bouche, I thought it was slightly heavy but, otherwise, things started to look good. Despite it was “sour” apples, I didn’t taste that much sourness instead, some level of sweetness came out. The creaminess and taste of cheese worked in an odd way with the pastry and apple.

After the amouse bouche, we were then directed to the dining room which happened to be the basement. According to reports from other underground restaurants, the dining area of Swallow Tail is completely separate from the kitchen. It work both ways – it provides some privacy, but it removes the interaction with the cook/chef. The setup was a bit wacky, as there was some mix and match of chairs, tables and, in some cases, even serving plates. Well, since this is not a regular restaurant… And, then, our first course…

Hand harvested stinging nettle soup with arugala & sweet peas with garden rosemary and BC stout bread cubes (radicchio/cream garnish)

I don’t recall eating nettle so I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, based on my experience with pea soup, I was expecting something on the sweet side. It wasn’t; instead, it had some savoury overtones. Sorry, can’t really explain it any other way as it was, well, somewhat basic. Now, on its own way, it wasn’t that bad; just that it wasn’t spectacular…

Cedar smoked romaine with pecorino/parmesan, portugese olive oil vinegrette (sic) and garlic croutons

Just before course #2 showed up, we were told we should eat this dish immediately. Ha! As if that was going to happen when you need to take pictures before start eating! Anyway, this “salad” if you mind was cedar smoked romaine with pecorino/parmesan, portugese olive oil vinaigrette and garlic croutons. It was interesting in the sense it had a combination of warm and a bit cold at the same time. While that was the intent, it didn’t work because of the time it took us to take the pictures (yes, I know I am being redundant here!). As a result, the temperature ended up being somewhat homogeneous all over. As for the taste, there was actually some lettuce taste and the vinaigrette provided some needed acidity while the cheese something creamy. I quite enjoyed this dish; in fact, I did some damage to the one “extra” serving provided.

Baked live Dungeness crab with Averill Creek BC pinot gris, garlic and crab butter with red pepper and star fruit

When deciding the menu, we went for the 5 course option because we wanted this – dungeness crab. According to the chef Robin, she herself caught some of them herself. What really made some of us really excited was the butter, as it had some of the crab “brains” in it. Some of us helped ourselves by dipping the stout bread. But, back to the crab, I was somewhat confused as for the cooking method, i.e., instead of it being boiled, it was baked. Given that it was baked, I was expecting some caramelization but that didn’t happen. I don’t think I would say it was that different from the boiled/steamed version. But, what I thought was a stroke of genius was the star fruit. Normally I would just eat the crab clean, as in…

OK, I did eat it clean…

Anyway the start fruit provided an interesting taste contrast to the (in this case almost flat tasting) crab. If I had to say, this dish felt below par as, without a heavy dose of the butter and some extra help from the star fruit, it couldn’t stand by itself. I think I prefer the way Chinese cook it… >_<

BC bison tenderloin with red onion jam (braised in noble ridge meritage), creamed parsnips with garden rhubbarb, sauteed leeks with cattails in BC chardonnay, cleavers and chive flowers

When the next dish was announced, I had some high expectations. Yeah, something heavy! I was partially disappointed at the portion size (hey, I am a heavy eater, what can I say!). By itself, the tenderloin was nicely cooked: tender, warm and soft. A larger portion would have done wonders. The red onion jam was an odd addition – given it is supposed to be a savoury dish, the jam provided some unnecessary sweetness. I could have lived without it… The parsnip and leeks were OK but not too excited.

Limbert Mountain Farm, cream Earl Grey

Just when dessert was coming, we were also served tea, in this case, Cream of Earl Grey. I have mentioned previously that, given the options for tea, the top ones would be Daarjeling, followed by Earl Grey. Recently, I have tried Cream of Earl Grey, which in addition to that orange-y taste (thanks to the bergamot oil), it also had some vanilla taste to it. I have a personal liking to it so, from a personal perspective, I can’t say anything negative.

Beer battered crepe blintz with (Limbert Mountain Farm) cream Earl Grey tea creme anglais, apples & huckleberries, Amontillado Sherry reduction(pepper, lemon rind, vanilla bean)

Since I am not that much of a dessert person, I ate this one as is. Unlike the amouse bouche which ended up having some sweetness, despite it was called sour, here the apple was actually had some slight sourness in it. Otherwise, aside from some crispy parts in the crepe, there isn’t much else I can say.

It is needless to say that the conversation I had with nearby bloggers – I ended up seated near Victoria, Mijune, Sherman and Jonathan really made the night. But, as for the food itself… Well, it went both ways. In a way, the food didn’t really wow me. In fact, for the $49 “donation” charge, I can think of better dining options. However, at the same time, the passion which chef Robin cooked was showing during the description of the dishes. In the end, this dinner didn’t really change my thoughts about underground restaurants. However, I can also see why others might like it. The issue would be if you can go through all the trouble to obtain a reservation (assuming it has openings). This ends up being another “gotcha” as to why I would rather skip this type of “establishments”.

And, to close this post, just for comparison sake, please check this post from Mijune who visited a “private” kitchen in Hong Kong… It is quite an interesting read, let me assure you!

Tagged under: Seafood • Vancouver