“Dark hard wood floors and a royal blue and gold colour palette recall Lyonnais cuisine with touches of West coast flair. The one year old restaurant declares it is a bistro from the tufted leather seats all the way down to the daily specials written on black chalkboard. Gazing at he open shutter style windows, it’s easy to imagine that you are dining in France. Executive chef Marc-André Choquette formerly of umière and Sooke Harbour House defines his cooking philosophy here as, “seasonal, we use local West Coast ingredients. We try to do everything from the ground up. Every day we force ourselves to come up with something different.” For dinner, I try the ‘mushrooms on brioche toast’: velvety and lush wild mushrooms are made even more decadent with the addition of chili, garlic, Madeira, cream and padano cheese. My foie gras terrine is unctuous. All of the buttery silken textures melt away all too soon. Continuing with seasonal ingredients, I finish my meal with the rhubarb cake with house made ice cream. Tableau is effortless, streamlined French bistro fare, perfected. A simple breakfast is also available (try the delicious house made pastries).”
Tableau Bistro Bar
1181 Melville Street
tableaubarbistro.com
Read more from our article on British Columbia in the Fall 2012 issue of City Style and Living magazine.
