Taste the Innovation at Barbara: A Michelin-Star Experience

Barbara is one of those places you could walk past without a second glance – 14 seats tucked into a 500-square-foot sliver of Chinatown – but inside, it feels like an entire culinary world. Chef Patrick Hennessy runs the show, a Canadian talent who sharpened his knives at Chambar, rose through the ranks at Kissa Tanto, and staged at New York’s Eleven Madison Park before deciding to come home and squeeze fine dining into a room not much larger than some people’s kitchens.

Barbara is named for his mother — her neon-lit signature glowing on the wall makes the space feel less like a temple of haute cuisine and more like an elegant family dinner, if your family cooked at Michelin standards. Ten of the fourteen seats line the bar, where guests watch Hennessy assemble plates in full view, every gesture deliberate, every bite both studied and a little surprising.

The “tasting” menu here consists of three a la carte courses that you select from, generally fish, meat and a vegetarian choice for each course. The chef adds an amuse bouche and a few tasty tidbits in between. We chose to each have a different dish to sample practically everything on offer for the summer season.

Each course was executed with thoughtful precision – the corn tartlet with mascarpone pudding and asiago cheese paired with a tea with a few drops of olive oil, for example. Just a scrumptious little bite.

The first “official” course consisted of marinated mussels with cucumber and steelhead roe and a beef tartare with pickled radish and espelette – a type of chilli pepper cultivated in the Basque region of France. These dishes were colourful and succulent – definitely accomplishing the “teasing appetite” goal.

After enjoying the eggplant chips, served with a green sauce that chef Hennessy joked contained “a little of everything” – cilantro, parsley, lemon, etc. our second course comprised halibut (hispi cabbage, fingerling potatoes, charred scallions, lemon saffron broth) and veal tongue (cipollini onions, jimmy nardello peppers, smoked aged beef fat). I’ll admit I haven’t had any type of tongue dish before. Both of these dishes were flavourful and interesting.

The mains were Arctic Char with hummus, lemon brown butter, pine nuts, mint, dill and pomegranate vin – delightful. The fish was moist and the skin was crispy and salty. Then there was the dry-aged striploin with heirloom tomatoes, fermented peach and smoked choron sauce – also executed perfectly. These two dishes certainly demonstrate why Chef Hennessy’s has a Michelin Star.

One of the curious things I found was that all of the ingredients on this occasion were simple – halibut, char, strip loin, corn, tomatoes, eggplant. There was no Wagyu beef, foie gras, duck, lamb, lobster or prawns. The menu was simple but still packed a flavour wallop!

To accompany our culinary adventure, we chose some cocktails and fresh, crisp white wines. Barbara is noted for its signature cocktails. My pretty pink drink with its frothy top layer boasted Ampersand gin, bella red vermouth, white port, Campari, fermented cherry honey and lemon. Definitely fruit forward but with a balanced sourness. The wine list specializes in little-known varietals from tiny “mom & pop” wineries in the Okanagan. One of the standouts was the L-ST Projects Sauvignon blanc. Après dessert, the Toki Suntory Whisky was sm-o-o-o-o-o-th!

Barbara delivers an experience that feels both refined and refreshingly unpretentious. Course after course showcased Hennessy’s precision and creativity, though the dessert—an earnest sorbet with wine jelly and nougat—didn’t quite reach the same heights as what came before.

The high-top seating may also test the patience of anyone hoping to settle in for a leisurely evening. At just $98 per person for the tasting menu, Barbara is remarkably moderate among Vancouver’s Michelin fine-dining spots — and under four hundred dollars for two of us felt like a true bargain. For intimacy, craft, and a touch of audacity in a space the size of a generous pantry, Barbara earns a solid 9 out of 10.

Barbara proves that fine dining doesn’t need a palace, just a chef with vision and a room small enough to hear every satisfied sigh.

Open Tuesday to Friday from 5:30 pm.

Reservations secured with credit card. Make them well in advance.

Barbara Restaurant.com
305 E Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6A 0J3
barbararestaurant.com

Other restaurants on our Michelin-Starred Journey:

Burdock & Company (Vancouver, BC)

Levadura de Olla (Oaxaca, Mexico)

Okeya Kyujiro (Vancouver, BC)

Lars (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Kissa Tanto (Vancouver, BC)

Wild Honey (London, England)

St Lawrence (Vancouver, BC)

Cranes (Washington, DC)

AnnaLena (Vancouver, BC)

Masayoshi (Vancouver, BC)

Published on Main (Vancouver, BC)

And THESE restaurants don’t have a Michelin Star – but definitely should! (In our opinion.)

Pluvio (Ucluelet, BC)

The Palm Court (London, England)