Diva at The Met

A GuestLife Vancouver
Great Restaurant

That Diva is annually recognized among the city’s very best restaurants by local and international press alike comes as no surprise. Some of the best chefs in the business have helmed Diva’s kitchen including Bocuse d’Or competitors, Culinary Team Canada members, an Iron Chef challenger, and Canadian Chef of the Year culminating in countless culinary awards including Restaurant of the Year.

It’s a tall order to fill as an incoming chef, yet each succeeding chef has remarkably lived up to — even exceeded — the challenge. Executive Chef Ray Henry, together with Executive Pastry Chef Thomas Haas and Restaurant Chef Damon Campbell, are the current superstar chefs at the helm, a team that well complement each other. Of his talented crew, Chef Henry says, “I try to harness their passion. Not only do they make my work simple, it’s an honour to do the job.” West Coast Canadian with French and global influences appear on the menu in appetizers like the ethereal and memorable Lobster Truffle Gnocchi with Lobster Emulsion. “This one will be on the menu as long as guests keep complimenting it and ordering it,” says Henry.

Other hits include Dungeness Crab Salad with poached mango and grapefruit, Roasted Duck Breast and a divine Duo of Lamb. Internationally renowned and award winning Thomas Haas creates marvellous turns at dessert. In fact, his creations have been voted Vancouver’s best last course consecutively for the last five years.

At the heart of downtown Vancouver’s business and shopping district, Diva, one of Vancouver’s most-awarded dining rooms, attracts a wide strata of diners from hotel guests and business regulars to lovers of fine cuisine. From the bar and lounge area at the entry, the dining room unfolds tier-by-tier to three open levels of seating, affording diners views of the impressive Waldorf-style open kitchen. Décor is understated, simultaneously elegant and casual, and attention to quality and detail is evident at every turn: walls are pale wood artfully accented with glass, marble and bronze.

Menus change four times a year with regular updates as fresh seasonal ingredients come to market. Regular winemaker dinners and the daily six-course dinner tasting menus ($75, $35 for wine pairings) keep both the kitchen and the diners themselves on top of the latest in fresh and regional cooking.

For it’s a simple mantra that keeps Diva at the Met at the forefront of Vancouver’s fine dining scene: passion, artistry and inspiration. In every fact of Diva, that mantra is simply met.

Diva at the Met
Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver 645 Howe St.,
Phone: 604-602-7788
www.divamet.com

Menu Highlights

pictured: Thomas Haas Signature Chocolate Bar Crispy chocolate fondant with caramel, chocolate sorbet and “Sparkle” cookie

Appetizers

Diva cured halibut carpaccio

Dungeness crab salad

Braised veal breast

Nova Scotia scallops

Truffle lobster gnocchi

Duo of Quebec foie gras

Ahi tuna tartar and marinated sashimi

Entrées

Queen Charlotte Island halibut
fennel and onion ravioli, olive and pepper tapenade, red pepper emulsion

Wild Pacific Spring Salmon
sweet tomato tart, basil purée, chorizo vinaigrette

Smoked Alaskan Black Cod
preserved lemon and tarragon cod cake, chowder vegetables and broth

Duo of Lamb
lamb loin and braised lamb terrine, du puy lentil cassoulet, glazed cipollini onion, natural jus

Roasted duck breast
confit duck leg crepe, apricot purée, harissa duck jus

Spring pea agnolotti
spring vegetable ragout, confit grape tomatoes, parmesan reggiano foam

Desserts

Apricots, nuts and honey
soufflé glacé with caramelized filberts, orange blossom, warm apricot coulis

Stilton and Rhubarb
caramelized stilton cheesecake, rhubarb port compote

Vanilla, kalamansi and coriander
classic vanilla crème brulée, coriander pineapple, kalamansi sorbet

Caramel, orange and cocoa
caramelized crème chibouste, citrus salad, orange caramel ice cream

Thomas Haas signature chocolate bar
crispy chocolate fondant with caramel, chocolate sorbet and “sparkle” cookie

White chocolate and banana flambé
in a crispy phyllo pastry, white chocolate and passionfruit cream

Best of the Cellar

White Wine

Louis Roederer “Cristal” Champagne 1997

Kistler Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast 2001

Blue Mountain Reserve Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley 2002

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2004

Pascal Jolivet Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley 2003

Joh Jos Prum, Graacher Himmelreich, Spatlese, Mosel 2002

Château Y’Quem, Sauternes 1996

Red Wines

Osoyoos Larose, Okanagan Valley 2002

Edge Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2002

D’Arenburg Dead Arm Shiraz Mclaren Valley 2002

Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2001

Cedar Creek Platinum Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley 2002

Château Angelus, Saint Emillion 1995

Tenuta Guado al Tasso, Bolgheri 2000