Published On Main – South Main

Well, well, well – it’s been a while since we’ve gone out somewhere new in Vancouver.

I’ve been away quite a bit to Toronto in the past two and a half months, so my partner and I have been doing a lot more home cooking and spending time together – we’ve barely ordered anything in, to boot.

Recently, one of my partner’s colleagues wanted to get together for dinner, so a date of October 29 for a table of three was confirmed at Published On Main.

The Mount Pleasant/South Main neighbourhoods have a lot of food to offer.

We’d been to Anh and Chi, as well as The Acorn in the South Main/Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood. You can find my review of Anh and Chi here – however, I didn’t get a review of the The Acorn in because … I hate to say it … I don’t really remember a lot of what we had, and they have a new menu quite often, so I couldn’t go back and refresh my memory from the menu on the website; I just remember the dishes at The Acorn to be hit and miss. What was good at The Acorn was really good – and what wasn’t, was just okay.

Published On Main was a horse of a different colour.

Great atmosphere – truly nice people working there – and excellent grub and drinks.

Our reservation was for a bit later than what you’d think to be normal in Vancouver … 8:30 p.m. … but the place was still packed when we arrived. The only thing that I didn’t appreciate, and I’ll call this out early so that I don’t distort the great experience that we had, was that we were told we should get our order in soon as they were getting ready to shut down the kitchen.

Look, if you’re going to take people in for a dinner reservation at 8:30 p.m., then don’t ask me to get my order in because you’re about the close down the kitchen. You’ve got a killer selection on the menu, and it’s going to take a bit of time for folks to get their bearings and figure out what they might like to have.

And I understand – the hospitality industry, like many other industries, is being hit with staffing shortages, and I can empathize, but then don’t take people in at 8:30 p.m. for a dinner reservation.

Okay, I’ve bitched and complained, now on to the good stuff.

The menu. It’s simply 22 items. No appetizers. No mains. No salad section. You choose two to three items per person to share at the table.

We choose 10 plus the special, which was mushrooms (looked like king oysters) in a dashi broth. So, we went a bit overboard.

Additionally, their online menu set-up is fantastic. You click on the item, it expands to show a photo of the dish and detailed explanation of the ingredients. They even did that with their cocktail selection.

We decided to start the evening with a round of drinks. Our guest had the Laurel Bay cocktail, which comes with Espolon blanco tequila, Cointreau, green Chartreuse, Absinthe, bay leaf juice, and lime & roasted dandelion bitters. My partner had the sparkling chardonnay from Bella Vineyards in Naramata Bench (which is toward the bottom of Lake Okanagan), and I had my favourite cocktail, which is a stiff gin martini, whisper of vermouth, and four olives. I had the Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin in place of Hendricks, as they were out of my usual. No complaints from anyone, so it was clear that their pre-dinner drinks game was on point.

The wine list was fantastic, with a wide range of pricing (from $85 to $360), and a by-the-glass list that is affordable and varied. We decided on St. Innocent Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley. It was a fantastic Pinot Noir from one of my favourite regions, and I’ll be certain to visit St. Innocent when I’m brave enough to drive down to Oregon!

On to the food. It was excellent.

We tasted the following items (well, I didn’t taste any of the meat stuff, but there was very little of that on our table):

Mushroom Special served in a dashi broth
Bee Pollen Milk Buns
Aebleskiver (crispy Danish pastry stuffed with sautéed herbs)
Wagyu Carpaccio
Brussel Sprouts
Burrata
Chicory
Side Stripe Prawns
Winter Squash
Zaklan Thumbelina (Carrots, believe it or not)
Duck

Everything that came to the table was superbly delicious, however, the one complaint that was unanimous, was that the Brussel Sprouts were too salty – it might have been the pecan paste upon which it was served.

For me, the highlights were the Aebelskiver, Burrata, Chicory, Winter Squash, and the Carrots.

I’ve never had anything like the Aebelskiver before. It’s described as a Danish donut on the menu, but it was more like a puff pastry with delicious sautéed herbs inside, sitting on top of a green herb emulsion (basically, a thick, herby dressing).

The Burrata was served with a tasty stick of focaccia and a compote of grapes. It went down so well.

The Chicoria was like I’ve never had it before; it looked like a nest (perhaps fried) with a ryeso dressing, which is a type of miso made from rye, and topped with a Gouda from Noord (in the Netherlands), which looks a lot like Beemster (my favourite type of Gouda).

The Winter Squash was earthy, and a little sweet, which had a fungus butter, candied pumpkin seeds, and currants. A wonderful combination of flavours.

Lastly, the Carrots (Zaklan Thumbelina).

So, I’ve noticed that in the cool, hip restaurants in town, you’ll find items in the menu that you’re not quite sure what they are. What I’ve come to find is that they are varietals of certain vegetables and the name of the farm; stuff that people make fun about in tv shows or in the movies.

But, I’ve got to tell you, Zaklan Thumbelina deserves all the credit of it’s name.

Per our friends at Wikipedia, Thumbelina Carrots are a mini carrot that looks like a golf ball. Deep orange in colour, with a sweet flavour and is mildly herbaceous.

Zaklan is the farm from which these Thumbelina Carrots were delivered.

The manner in which it was served at Published, takes the cake – with a cashew/cilantro sauce and a coffee, cumin condiment. Stellar.

I received word that both the carpaccio and the duck were excellent.

The desserts were also next level.

We had the Chocolate, which consisted of Valrhona manjari chocolate panna cotta with peanut butter semifreddo, and banana sorbet – all flavours complimented each other well.

Second, we tried the Creamsicle, which was comprised of vanilla ice cream with mandarin granita and milk meringue – this came across as very smooth and unassuming, which is pretty well the opposite of the creamsicle you had when you were a kid, with it’s tart and tangy flavour profile.

Lastly, we had the Sorrel ice cream, served with stewed plums, and a tonka bean crumble. The tonka bean has a very aromatic presence, with flavours described as a complex mix of vanilla, almond, clove, cinnamon, and amaretto.

It was aces all around for the food and drink experience at Published On Main. I’m assuming that they change their menu seasonally – as their website states that they fall “into our local habitat for influences … with a focus on local and sustainable … supporting local farm and producers. Highlighting the best of what we can find for each season …”

Check out the photos (below) of the space from their architect/designer’s website, as well as lovely menu item photos from the Published On Main website. The only photo of mine is that of the St. Innocent Pinot Noir.

Return: Yes – great and inventive food – excellent drinks – good service

Rating: 8.5/10