Updated: 4th July 2012; This restaurant had closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

The one meal I had always looked forward to each week is Friday dinner with Suanne. It is not that you don’t already know that if you had been following this blog.

The one place we had always wanted to go to is DB Bistro Moderne. Frankly, we held back from going there because it is not exactly cheap and requires a special occasion to justify it … until now.

DB Bistro Moderne is located on West Broadway. It is just next door to its more illustrious sister restaurant, Lumiere. Just a few doors away is a place called Moderne Burger. DB Bistro Moderne and Moderne Burgers are two totally different and unrelated restaurants. Just thought we point out the obvious.

Before DB Bistro Moderne came to being, this was Feenie’s which we blogged about oh, so long ago. It is a long story and so I won’t go into that. Needless to say, it is stuff that one could creatively write a story about Feenie’s rise to fame (and fall). Did you know I worked with Rob Feenie before? A few years ago, I was the Project Manager for the launch of a range of high end home appliance in Canada. We had Rob Feenie do a demo and invited the media and public. Gosh, I still can’t believe the bucks the company paid for a 1 hour appearance.

Enough of Feenie … today DB Bistro Moderne is inspired by another great chef, Daniel Boulud of New York.

I had no idea. We had assumed that DB Bistro Moderne a lot like Feenie’s. We were wrong. This is certainly more upscale than Feenie’s ever was.

As usual, Suanne and I went very early at 5:30PM. That was the time that DB Bistro Moderne opens for dinner. We were the first one there. So it is kind of misleading seeing a lot of empty tables above. The place was absolutely filled by 6PM.

With dim lights and soft music, the ambiance was beautiful and it was perfect for a dinner date. The place is very dim for picture taking but who other than us takes pictures in dinner, right? Wrong! When we were there we could see TWO other tables taking pictures of their food too. Gosh, I have a feeling that this is getting so common that restaurants is so used to this nowadays.

As expected, service was excellent … and very French-y. Too French-y for us. We were surprised by some Amuse-bouche. As much as we tried to understand what it is called, we couldn’t understand, despite asking twice. Rather than end up looking stupid, we decided not to get the server say it a third time. Some Frenchy name. All we got was that it is some kind of cured fish. There you go. But nice touch!

Our server told us that their special of the day is Prime Ribs. Well, it was not just called Prime Ribs but a very longish description that really captivated us. It is one of those sharing plates. You know, big big portions for two people that many restaurants are doing these days. Our server was doing such a great job in describing that I was having half a mind already of ordering that. Then she said “This is $40 …”. Oh … interesting … now we are talking.

And she added “… per person”. Hmmm … on second thought maybe we’ll get the burger instead.

Le Bread came next. Pardon my French but this is what I call Le Bread de la Excellente. Very good, very nice.

There is even three different types and served with butter. The first is cheesy and crusty. The second was herb-y and soft. The third was regular baguette.

We gobbled that down rather quick. The server came and asked if we wanted more. “Of course” we said. We had more.

Two things was on my mind before I came. It was “foie gras” and “burger”. I was quite set on getting that. We finally decided get between the two of us a selection from the prix fixe menu ($35) … and a burger and … a foie gras appetizer.

Foie Gras. I said I can’t remember if I had this before. Suanne said I had and I had forgotten. Whatever right? If I can’t remember, I might as well not had foie gras before. Well, at least not as big as this.

I think they call this Torchon. Twenty one bucks. This was not on the menu and we were told this is the special of the day. The foie gras is made in a pate with a fig in the center … and …

… served with fig puree and 2 very crispy toast. Two very, very toasty crispy toast. Four would have been perfect’er.

Smoooooth … is how we say the foie gras is. Now I can say I had tried foie gras before … that is until I forget again.

Très joli mais vingt-et-un bucks … courtesy of Google Translate.

The above is called the country duck terrine. It is the appy part of the $35 Prix Fixe menu.

With onion compote, whole grain mustard, home made pickles scattered all over the plate, we debated how to deal with this. They even had sea salt and pepper placed in the corners of the plate that we almost missed because it was dim and that there was just a small portion on the side.

This is IT.

This is what I always wanted to try. I call this the twenty-eight bucks burger. They call this the New York’s Original DB Burger.

I don’t think I had ever tried a more expensive burger in my life. For twenty eight bucks it had to be perfect. It WASN’T!!!

Well, let me explain … (more…)

Frank, my boss, came over to Vancouver a few weeks ago. The last time he flew in 5 months ago, we were wondering if he was coming to serve termination notices. That was because he did not state what his mission was. This time he came with a pre-announced agenda — he was here to conduct final interviews for more Project Managers. So no fears of losing our jobs anytime soon because all the projects is going to keep us busy for sometime. Good!

The last time Frank came, I brought him to Burgers Etc on Hastings. He absolutely loved that. He is not into fancy adventuresome Asian food which is a shame. I would have brought him to some memorable places. So I played safe and went to …

… Les Faux Bourgeois. It’s so hard to spell that Bourgeois word, not to mention pronouncing it!

I think it is pronounced as lay-foo bow-zu-ar … something like that.

And I think it is French for The Fake Middle Class.

For a French restaurant, Les Faux Bourgeois is located in an unlikeliest of places. For directions, I would say that it is at the intersection of Kingsway and Fraser but technically it is on 15th and Fraser. The place has a rustic feel with original structural details. This creates a certain charm which makes Les Faux different from other French Bistros.

Les Faux Bourgeois is perpetually booked solid. I used to make reservation on a Monday for a Friday and they would tell me they do not have tables anymore. I was lucky that day. It was a Thursday when I called at noon and they told me that’s the last table they have for the day. If you think of walking in, I don’t think its a good idea.

There was three of us. Gage joined us. He is not too much of an adventrous eater from what I see. He always has this big bowl of salad which he mix in the office.

We called a few drinks hoping to just relax after a few hectic days. And then we had to be told by our waiter that we have to leave by 7PM. He said that was the condition that they told us when they took my reservation. I did not recall being told that. We made no fuss over this but I thought I should let you know. I think they want to turn the tables fast.

I had the Corona. It is a Mexican beer, nothing French about it. What is this thing about the wedge of lemon on Coronas anyway? Is it a branding kind of thing for Corona? I don’t see this done for any other pale lagers. Is there a story behind this?

The bread came. It was absolutely marvelous. It is especially so when you see this … (more…)