Now Open: The Botanist at Fairmont Pacific Rim

Now open at the Fairmont Pacific Rim is Botanist, a restaurant with a culinary concept that showcases the botany of British Columbia.  Located at 1038 Canada Place, the Botanist is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The vibrant restaurant space at Botanist includes a cocktail bar and lab, garden, dining room, and champagne lounge – all inspired by the principals of botany.  I was invited to attend a media preview of this exciting new restaurant.  Here is a recap video of the event:

The space is undoubtedly beautiful featuring a use of various limestone, whitewashed woods and ornate metalwork with accent plants throughout.  There is also an adjacent garden surrounding by a glass wall but filled with greenery, a trellis and more than 50 different types of plant species that include rare fruit bushes, and edible species such as green tea camellia, cardamom and ginger.

On the menu for breakfast, you’ll find a range of simple (granola parfait) to more indulgent dishes (seared sakura pork belly).  For lunch, there is watercress salad, root vegetables, wagyu beef burger, lamb sirloin, spring salmon and more.  Dinner tasting menus are $108 per person.  Those with a sweet tooth can find beetroot cake, candied carrot, and lemon polenta cake on the menu.  At the bar, Botanist offers small bites like fresh oysters, merguez sausage, salmon tartar to accompany their wine, cocktails, champagne and beer programs.  Botanist also makes fresh house-made brioche available to go.

I had a tasting of canape versions of their menu and noticed a general savoury and earthy notes to their dishes.  A few stand-outs were English Pea soup, honey-glazed pork belly, and spring salmon.  As for desserts, the grapefruit, tarragon, black pepper meringue with white chocolate ganache was memorable as it surprised me with a sour taste.

Botanist seems to offer a novel and interesting dining concept to Vancouver’s vibrant dining scene.  I’d be interested in returning in the future for a full dining experience.

For more information, visit botanistrestaurant.com

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