West Restaurant Hosts Hendrick’s Spirited Dinner for Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver

Mixologist David Wolowidnyk and culinary wunderkind Quang Dang created a stunning five-course, cocktail-paired meal featuring Hendrick’s gin for the Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver Spirited Dinner Series

The brilliance of West restaurant’s bar manager David Wolowidnyk and executive chef Quang Dang combined is a pretty remarkable thing to behold, and they went wild on the creativity scale when developing the menu for the Hendrick’s Spirited Dinner they hosted as part of Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver.

Tales of the Cocktail is an annual celebration of cocktails, cuisine and culture held in New Orleans, and this July it’s celebrating its 10th anniversary. Bartenders, educators, distillers, distributors and enthusiasts from all over the world head to The Big Easy every summer for seminars, dinners, competitions, tasting rooms, and some pretty epic parties.

From February 12 to 15, Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver continued the party, kicking it off with the Hollywood North Official Opening Party at the absolutely stunning Spanish Ballroom in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia with a 1930s-Hollywood-glamour-themed event featuring lots of delicious cocktails from Hendrick’s gin, Glenfiddich whiskey, Sailor Jerry rum, Tullamore Dew whiskey, Grant’s whiskey and Gibson’s Finest whiskey, and tasty canapes prepared by the hotel’s head chef Ken Nakano.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim hosted seminars and tasting rooms, 23 of Vancouver’s finest bars featured signature cocktails and nightly bar crawls, and a number of special events took place throughout including the Spirited Dinner Series at eight incredible restaurants and venues around town.

West Restaurant’s David Wolowidnyk and Quang Dang Create Dazzling Food and Cocktail Pairings

West, like the other Top Table Group locations – Araxi, CinCin, Blue Water Cafe and Thierry – prides itself on its relationships with local producers and, now led by new executive chef Dang, serves ingredient-driven, contemporary regional cuisine.

Dang created an exclusive menu for the Hendrick’s Spirited Dinner to complement Wolowidnyk’s seriously crafty cocktails which highlighted each of Hendrick’s five key botanical ingredients: cucumber, citrus, coriander, juniper and rose.

During the reception guests sipped “Fancy Nancy” cocktails, a combination of Hendrick’s gin and strawberry beer, which Wolowidnyk originally created for his wife’s bachelorette party, and nibbled to-die-for canapes like the truffled parsnip bread pudding with bacon jam, AAA beef tartar tacos and carrot slaw, and mini pulled trout sandwiches with zucchini pickles.

Once guests – including Tales of the Cocktail founder Ann Tuennerman, her husband and Tales of the Cocktail chief operations officer Paul, and Hendrick’s global brand ambassador Charlotte Voisey – were seated at the sold-out event, each course was preceded by a themed centerpiece, from a bowl of charred citrus and a flaming pan of coriander to a Hendrick’s bottle stuffed with a juniper branch and heavily scented rose petals strewn across the tables.

First Course: Cucumber

Food: Charred Vancouver Island octopus, Hendrick’s compressed cucumbers, togarashi and salsa verde
Drink: Hendrick’s gin, BC elderflower and lychee tea

Second Course: Citrus

Food: Citrus-rubbed arctic char, lemon-lime crème fraiche, dill glazed Helmer potatoes and grapefruit marmalade
Drink: Hendrick’s gin, Buddha’s hand citrus and yellow beet

Third Course: Coriander

Food: Farmcrest “butter chicken” croquette, crispy chickpeas, ginger chutney and coriander yogurt
Drink: Hendrick’s gin and Fino sherry

Fourth Course: Juniper

Food: Peace Country elk, Pemberton beet “linguine,” caramelized parsnips and juniper scented jus
Drink: Hendrick’s gin, mountain berry tea and cocoa

Fifth Course: Rose

Food: Hendrick’s cranberry parfait with rose meringue, cranberry rose broth and filo crisp
Drink: Hendrick’s gin, grapefruit peel and Aperol

Each course was so different, so imaginative, and incredibly scrumptious. Naming my favourite dish is a tough call but I think it would have to be the Peace Country elk with Pemberton beet “linguine”, caramelized parsnips and juniper scented jus. The meat was fall-apart tender and the accompaniments were especially flavourful.

Each round of cocktails was served in a different glass; the velvety-red gin, mountain berry tea and cocoa cocktail was served in a wine glass, while the bright gin, grapefruit peel and Aperol cocktail was served in mismatched teacups that guests were invited to take home. My favourite cocktail was the surprisingly wonderful “Beet-nyk 2” with gin, Buddha’s hand citrus and yellow beet. Beet in a cocktail? Absolutely!

You’ll have to wait another year for Tales of the Cocktail to return to Vancouver, but in the meantime, head to the Tales of the Cocktail website to check out details for the upcoming 10th anniversary festival in New Orleans.

For more information on West’s exceptional food and beverage menus and special events, visit their website.