Vancouver Magazine

At lunch, the three adjoining street-level rooms have a Manhattan buzz (West Georgia, busy with pedestrians, lies just beyond the window). The service is friendly and crisp ("Let me get you a black napkin so you don't get white lint on your pants"). But it's the kitchen, of course, that makes the long-awaited Hawksworth in the refurbished Hotel Georgia the new hot spot. The menu, like chef David Hawksworth himself, is tasteful, quietly confident, and fastidiously turned out. Yellowfin tuna carpaccio ($17)-lifted by a delicate vinaigrette, molded around a mound of charred avocado, diced Asian pear, and cucumber, and topped with tiny grains of crunchy rice-is a marvel of complementary textures. Dungeness crab salad ($18)-with heart of palm, celery, and lemon foam-offers seamlessly layered flavours. Crispy halibut tempura ($21), with black bean yuzu crumbs, endive, cilantro, chili, and miso tartar, exults in Hawksworth's deft touch with West Coast ingredients and Asian influences. The wild card on the seafood-oriented menu (salmon, sturgeon, halibut, scallops, trout) is jungle pork curry-pork cheek, jack fruit, eggplant, basmati, and razor-thin slices of pineapple, a surprisingly light dish that should have the folks at Vij's looking over their shoulder. There's no linen on the table, but the fresh-tied lilies, modern chandeliers, and sparkling, see-through wine room create a casually elegant effect. Who says fine dining is over and done?

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