We were invited by the Earls in Poco to one of its exclusive Chef’s Table evenings. The intention of the evening was to provide an opportunity to meet Head Chef Simon Zanotto, sample a number of their signature dishes, and gain a better understanding of the restaurant chain. I turned this into a triple-date and invited WK+MS and CC+DF to join Mr. and me for dinner.
At a young age of 25, Chef Simon Zanotto is currently the head chef of Earls Port Coquitlam. Since he’s a child, he has learned to love and appreciate food and through his families, he believes that food should be served fresh, simple and be bold in flavour. Simon went to the Pierre Dubrulle Culinary Art Institute, worked with the Glowbal Restaurant Group, completed his Red Seal certification, and has been with Earls for 7 years now. At the Chef’s Table, Chef Simon spent a lot of time with us and his passion for food was definitely shown through the food and our conversations.
Food
Here are the dishes we tried that evening. Chef Simon emphasized his belief in depth of flavours, and it’s clearly demonstrated in the layers of flavour that he developed in each dish.
Los Cabos Chicken Tacos – I liked how the cheese was melted on the tortilla (instead of sprinkled) and the tender chicken was met with the creamy avocado corn salsa and crunchy shredded lettuce. An excessive amount of valentina hot sauce could just kill your taste buds, but this was just the right amount to bring you some heat.
In House Sourdough with Confit Garlic Oil and Fresh Herbs – This was very good! You can taste the subtle sourness in the sourdough, and that herbs infused confit garlic oil added savouriness and a bit of spice, as well as introduced an Asian note to it. The grinding part was fun too! If we didn’t have that many dishes to go through, I think we could finish a few plates of this!
Dynamite Prawn + Mango Roll – Chef Simon made this fresh right at the table. (more…)
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