Just one culinary experience chef creates with a global flair for flavours
Shannon Kwantes
Sun
Seahorse Grill owners John and Francina Kavanagh serve up a maple sesame glazed wild salmon salad with goat cheese fritter at their Crescent Beach restaurant. Photograph by : Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun
The Seahorse Grill in Crescent Beach is a good place to catch an early taste of summer, as well as some creative bistro flavours.
The restaurant, opened two years ago by John and Francina Kavanagh, almost blends into the background of the residential area where it’s located. Inside, the older-style wooden furniture and seafoam blue walls accented by local artists’ artwork creates a comfortable, homey ambience. A small bar that is open to the kitchen creates a social atmosphere that encourages conversation with the chef.
During our visit, John chatted with a local as he prepared his creations. Later, he made his way around the dining room, conversing with guests to see how their meals were.
“It’s a lifestyle, and we enjoy it,” says John, who previously owned Wolfie’s restaurant in White Rock.
The personal touch of the owners is evident both in the decor and the menu. Francina’s decorating inspirations include a fireplace she tiled with a Moroccan flair. John has worked as a chef in the Netherlands and Australia, and incorporates some of the flavours of those countries into his menu.
“I wanted to take all my travels and culinary experiences and combine them into a creative menu to suit many tastes,” he says.
My dinner companion and I started with the taro root chips and guacamole ($5.50). Taro root, like potatoes, is common in many Asian countries. The chips are similar to potato chips with less salt, and John makes them from scratch and sells them at a White Rock market.
Next we had the goat cheese roasted garlic, pesto, crostinis with infused oils ($8.95). The crostinis were creamy and rich, very satisfying, and the oils added a hint of spice but not too much.
Mussels and beer were popular in the area of Holland where John worked as a chef, so he added a variety of mussel dishes to the menu. We chose the mussels in light curry cream, with mango and smoked feta ($14). The crock came heaping with mussels and laced with carrots and leek in a delicious curry broth. The mussels were very tender. We loved the broth so much we took spoonfuls after the mussels were finished.
Our main dish was the curried mango chicken fussili with feta and vegetables ($16.95). This full-bodied main dish had a slightly different curry flavour, a little sweeter-tasting, and the chicken was sliced thinly over the fussili.
The desserts were labelled on the menu as “guilt-free,” but were hardly that. Perhaps John was referring to the prices, which were very reasonable. We opted for the homemade lemon tart with lemon sorbet ($3.95). The tart was flaky and light, with a bright and creamy lemon filling tart and sweet sorbet. It all melted in our mouths — a refreshing ending to our evening full of flavour and spice.
The restaurant has 44 seats indoors, and 16 on the patio.
“Fresh, Real, and Unscripted” states the Seahorse Grill’s business card — one marketing slogan I can vouch for.
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SEAHORSE GRILL
12147 Sullivan St., Crescent Beach, Surrey
604-542-6211, www.seahorsegrill.com
Open six days a week, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007