VanFoodies.com

For those of you that don’t follow Top Chef Canada, Trevor Bird was a contestant on the show, and scored a second place finish in Season 2.

After the show ended filming he opened a new restaurant in Vancouver: Fable. It was at the space where it used to be Refuel. He was also able to recruit Top Chef Contestant Curtis Luk to work with him. In person Trevor is relaxed and laid back, and seems like an all around nice guy.

Welcome!

The concept of Fable is simple: thoughtfully prepared food with outstanding flavour, sourced from local purveyors in an accessible way. Wondering how it got its name? You take the word farm and the word table, mash it together, you’ve got Fable. I’m not kidding, that’s really how he came up with it while he’s competing in Top Chef Canada. As much as I want to make fun of it, I secretly wish I came up with it first.

A bunch of blogger type folks, family, and friends of the restaurant owners were invited to the Grand Opening night. The space isn’t very big and it was filled quickly. However they were smart to get rid of all the tables and chairs in the middle, leaving only a few seats off to the sides.

Crowd

The layout of the place is fun. The open kitchen/bar is located right by the entrance, with a part of it set against the street side window. As you walk by, instead of seeing a bunch of yuppies eating, you will see chefs hustling to prepare a dish. I like it.

Kitchen and Bar

There was plenty of Spanish wine available. As the night went on the guests got louder. It sounds like everyone was having a good time. Tip for any event: give away lots of booze.

I was a bit disappointed at the amount of food. There was just way too many people for the amount of food being passed around. I got to try three out of the four items.

And I must apologize in advance with my spartan description. It was very loud and very hard to listen to what the servers were saying about the food.

Potato Crusted Chicken

Chicken

The potato crust was crispy on the outside, the chicken breast was moist (big props on this part), and everything sat on finely chopped vegetables.

Steak and Potato

Beef

A small piece of grilled beef sat on top of a piece of potato. It was good, but hardly a mouthful. And when it comes to beef, you really need a nice bite to appreciate it.

Mushroom Flatbread

Flat Bread

The bread was great—the perfect amount of chew and salt.  This was easily the best thing I had for the night. The mushrooms and arugula added another layer of texture and flavour to the bread.

Overall the restaurant looks promising. Though it’s hard for me to tell how good a full dish would be with these little bites. Hopefully we will return later on.

If you have had a chance to try it out since the opening, let us know what you think!.

1944 West 4th Ave.
Vancouver