I’ve tried many forms of butter storage, such as the French butter dishes where the butter suspends in water, and I’ve got several covered butter dishes, but none so tidy as my most recent find. So far, they offer a dark and mylk chocolate bar, with or without trail mix (pumpkin seeds, almonds, raisins, dried cranberries). Rice mylk stands in for dairy in a version of milk chocolate because it has a creamy mouth feel and lets the chocolate flavour shine. They are made in a separate area of the factory kitchen, and each batch is tested to ensure there is no cross-contamination.
jpgī.C.-based Purdys Chocolatier has just introduced chocolate bars for vegans. SIDE DISHES Vegan chocolate bars, from Purdys. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. “I have a lot of the (Persian) spices kicking around in the kitchen,” he says. I don’t want to call it elevated this or that - my approach is to make things that classically go together, and then tweak.” Tweaks involve nods to the large Persian community in North Van. Because of my time in California, it’s like New American food. “I’m always about classic flavours with my own twist. Yes, there are a couple of burgers, but also some sharing plates and mains such as a half-chicken with biscuits baked to order, not-so-basic steak and potatoes, seafood, and something for vegetarians. The Gull leans toward comfort food, and during the pandemic Vyner kept the menu somewhat lean, but there’s a nice selection of dishes. Tapping, on the other hand, worked the bar at Blue Water Cafe before returning to his roots in North Van and managing Il Castello pizzeria, now Farina a Legna. “Literally, we had the same exact dinner, right between two seatings,” he says in wonderment. He was impressed with staff dinners plucked from the prix-fixe menus for guests. At the latter, where Alice Waters begat the farm-to-table, ingredient-driven way of cooking, he upped the art of not messing too much with dishes. Vyner previously worked as a chef at B.C.’s exclusive Baldface Lodge and Sonora Resort, and did short stages at restaurants such as One Market, Ink and Chez Panisse in California. Well, it appears there is more to The Gull than glorious burgers. The Gull’s burgers popped up on my radar during the pandemic lockdown when they were delivered to patrons at nearby craft brewery patios via online orders. They just happened to be at the right pivotal moments in their lives. He recruited chef Colin Vyner, who he has known for 25 years. Phil Tapping, the son of the original owner, renovated, rebranded and resuscitated the ailing business.
In 2018, the rust was removed and the pub-style operation transformed into The Gull Bar and Kitchen. North Vancouverites no doubt know of The Rusty Gull in the Brewery District - the British-style pub that opened in 1983. When: Lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday