Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

A GuestLife Vancouver
Great Restaurant

Spot a celebrity or just be treated like one. The welcome each guest receives at Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House is special indeed. Friendly, flawless, professional. And it only gets better from here.

But first a little about Vancouver’s beloved Turn of the Century Hero, Joe Fortes, a bartender by trade and the city’s first lifeguard. When Joe died in 1923, a monument was erected in his honour and reads,“Little children loved him.”

Step inside this classically styled American seafood brasserie, a DIRONA award winner, and you’re in a bustling oyster bar with balcony tables that overlook the activity below. A scenic landscaped, covered, heated roof garden, one of the city’s hidden pleasures, offers al fresco dining year round. Fresh herbs picked daily flavour menu selections.

A craft beer or glass of wine from the awardwinning wine list (11 Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence, 10-time winner of the Vancouver International Wine Festival) begs an accompaniment of fresh-shucked oysters — 300,000 were served last year (35 kinds) — or a Vancouver original, Joe’s 3-Tier Seafood Tower on Ice piled high with prawns, scallops, oysters, lobster and more.

Appetites whetted, it’s on to the entrées. Just caught fish (100 species last year) is grilled to perfection: Salmon, halibut, tuna and Florida striped bass may be among the 15 daily selections. Try Joe’s signature Cioppino, 28-day aged, hand-cut steaks or double-cut pork chop. Chef Scott Pratico prides himself on the restaurant’s Pacific Northwest regional focus. Saturday and Sunday brunches evoke a weekend holiday feel. Champagne, fresh-squeezed orange juice, iced teas, smoked salmon eggs benedict and cinnamon waffles tempt.

This past year has seen founding partner Bud Kanke, a 33-year veteran of Vancouver’s restaurant scene and recipient of Vancouver magazine’s Lifetime Culinary Achievement Award, “pass the fishing rod” to the next generation, managing partner Darren Gates and personality-plus maitre d’/partner Frenchy Gagné who are committed to Joe’s tradition of fine food and “enlightened hospitality” and delivering it to their peers. The partners attribute the restaurant’s success to staying abreast of culinary currents. “We don’t set trends. We read the market and find a balance for Joe’s diners.”

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
777 Thurlow Street at Robson
604-669-1940

Menu Highlights

pictured: “Joe’s Surf and Turf for Two” featuring Lobster Thermidor & Fillet Mignon and Jumbo Prawn Cocktail with Fresh Horseradish Sauce

Appetizers

Vancouver’s Best Oyster Bar

3-Tier Seafood Tower on Ice

Classic Cobb Salad with Chicken

All-American Dungeness Crab Cakes

West Coast Clam Chowder

Jumbo Prawn Cocktail

Alberta Beef Carpaccio

Entrées

Joe’s specialty is fresh grilled fish
with more than 15 kinds available daily

Cedar Plank Wild Sockeye Salmon

Joe’s Cioppino

Market Fresh Live Atlantic Lobster and Local Crab

Ahi Tuna Steak

20 oz Delmonico Ribeye Steak

Slow Roasted Prime Rib

Broiled AAA Beef Tenderloin
with Leek and Stilton Crust

Quebec Veal Chop

Double Cut Pork Chop

Desserts

Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brulée

Belgian Chocolate Tiramisu

Mile High Banana Chocolate Coconut Pie

Home-made Okanagan Apple Pie

Seven Layer Lemon Pound Cake

Selection of Local and Imported Premium Cheeses

Best of the Cellar

White Wines

Sonoma Cutrer “Russian River Ranches,” California 2000

Shafer “Red Shoulder Ranch” Chardonnay, California 1998

Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, California 2000

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand 2001

Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc, BC 2000

Red Wines

Beringer Knight’s Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, California 1998

Leonetti Merlot, Washington 2000

Heitz Cellars Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California 1997

Burrowing Owl Merlot, BC

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California 1999