Review: No visit is the same at Bar Tartare

Restaurants face a challenge each day — how do you keep customers returning?

Sure, maybe they’ve got a few regulars, people on a first name basis with the restaurant team. The popular places will always have returning customers, eager to show it off to friends and family. 

But naturally, we want diversity, freshness, an experience you haven’t had before. That has to be balanced with a restaurant’s brand, their approach to food and drink, and what makes them, well, them. Menus constantly change, but some dishes always remain. You can dilute what makes a place great, but it needs some connection to history. Otherwise what is a restaurant? 

All this to say, there’s an inherent tension within every restaurant, the past and present, the new and old, regulars and first-timers, that plays out in each restaurant’s menu

But what if you threw all that out the window? What if each week had an entirely different menu, an entirely different chef, and a whole new type of food? Is the restaurant still the restaurant? 

It’s a question I pondered as I left Bar Tartare. Located at 54 Alexander St., Bar Tartare is different from any other restaurant I’ve been to. The popular wine bar hosts a rotating selection of chefs each week, that changes day to day. 

• Know another restaurant that does this? Let me know!

Nothing is the same. One day it’s the team from Aiyaohno Cafe (which I wrote about previously here), out-of-towners like chef Lucas Johnson from Stage in Victoria, or when I visited, the chef team from La Mano, a fresh pasta pop-up and online store.

You’ll recognize the space if you know the area. In the morning and afternoon, it’s The Birds & The Beets, a sandwich and cafe spot that’s a popular lunch destination. 

Unlike The Birds & The Beets entranceway, Bar Tartare’s is in the back of the restaurant, along Alexander Street. Dark, moody, and boisterous, as you enter it felt both intimate and communal, likely due to the well-spaced tables throughout the venue, and lack of walls in the main area.

The space was loud, but not overwhelming. It has an energy, screaming for everyone to know that the night is still young, life is worth enjoying and Vancouver, despite all contradictory evidence sometimes, can be a fun city.

The front is full of tables. Off to the left is the wine bar, a fridge stocked full of natural wines, with a team ready to guide you through their different bottles. The back hosts a larger space that services bigger parties, as well as intimate two-person tables, everything dimly lit by candles. 

What stood out to me immediately was the warmth and friendliness of the Bar Tartare team. I’m a zebra in a city, a fish out of water — completely out of my depth — when it comes to wine (it’s something I plan on working on in the coming years). But after a quick chat and an explanation of what I like, their capable team supplied me with exquisite wines throughout the evening. 

I was told that the space serves as a communal place for chefs, an opportunity to experiment outside their established restaurant, and a way station for those passing through to get their hands dirty, in a flexible but small space. Almost like a blank canvas waiting for an artist.

How do you judge the food at a place where everything changes constantly? Can you hold one meal against an entire place, when the entire restaurant changes all the time? Should I be judging it on the wine alone? 

There’s no right answer. I’m not a wine reviewer. Food is what I do. All I can do is share my experience. 

We opted for the try everything for $48. It began with Eggy Toast, a bright orange egg yolk globe, spicy and cured in honey and lemon, atop a crispy crustini. Sticky sweet, congealed together, a melange of sweet and salty, it was the egg yolk of my dreams.

Bianco Bolognese was the other standout. Bright green kale tagliatelle pasta, with a white bolognese ragu and mountain of finely grated parmigiano, it all folded together perfectly. There was a hint of spice, something not normally found in a bolognese sauce. Horseradish? No, I was informed the chef added mustard oil to the dish. It was a welcome addition. 

I dreaded the dessert. Panna cotta, while increasingly popular, feels like a dessert for chefs out of ideas, a too-simple staple that is overly used to substitute for the lack of creativity. 

One of the more creative dishes was the Pappa al Pomodoro, bright pink tomatoe and sourdough agnolotti paired with a sesame and parmigiano frico, and a light butter sauce. Frico is a Northern Italian food, a thin cheese crisp. Sharp, distinct and powerfully cheesy, my only complaint was there weren’t more.

Dubbed Golden Gaytime, the vanilla panna cotta was topped with toffee reduction, biscuit crumble and bitter chocolate. It was a combination that made me rethink my dislike for the simple dessert. Sometimes simple isn’t bad. 

• If this is what the team at La Mano serves, you’d be wise to order up some pasta from their store.

The meal was excellent. The wine, memorable. The experience, a delight. But if I went again next week, there would be no white bolognese or heaping mound of parmigiano. 

Bar Tartare is an ephemeral experience that can almost leave you slightly sad. That meal you so desperately want your friends to try won’t be there next time. It’s a fleeting experience, unreplicable, that in the age of social media, is unshareble. 

But that constant change, I believe, is the sign of a place confident in who they are and what they offer. Restaurants are, at their core, a space for a chef to bring their creative vision to reality. What’s better than opening it up to different approaches?

That feeling you’ll get sitting down, trying the food, that lingering taste as you return home, it’s what we come to love about restaurants. Good food, great conversation, memorable drinks, 

Bar Tartare has it all. The menu may change, but the lively atmosphere, the excellent wine list and the friendly team stays the same. Bar Tartare offers that restaurant experience, regardless of the meal, that will have you coming back again. 

Noise Level: It’s spacious enough to hear each other. 

Recommended: Wine. Get the wine. And if they offer a tasting menu, order it. 

Drinks: This is a wine bar. Ask them for advice and they’ll guide you through different bottles. 

Price: $$, moderately priced for Downtown Vancouver. 

Tip: Check their Instagram account for the latest chefs visiting, their website tends to be a bit delayed with updates. 

Other details: A great venue for booking groups of people. It’s a popular spot, but we got a  table quickly. Reservations only for groups of 8+.

Similar restaurants:

• Bar Gobo — never been, but my friends swear by their wine.