Casual dining in Vancouver is a growing trend, says Anya Levykh

On The Coast's Urban Foodie Anya Levykh says the coming holiday season means an onslaught of new restaurants opening over the next few months.

And she says the word this season for the new restaurants is: casual.

"We've talked a lot about the casual trend and that is definitely not letting up anytime soon," Levykh told On The Coast's Gloria Macarenko. "Certainly, more new restaurants are embracing a fairly casual aesthetic and manner. We're not seeing a lot of heavy linen and tableside service these days, but that doesn't mean that higher end restaurants are out."

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Levykh says that in Vancouver, the line between fine and casual is being blurred. An example is former Secret Location chef Jefferson Alvarez's new restaurant, Sur Canada in Kitsilano, opening in January.

"It will focus on progressive South American cuisine, and while Alvarez says it will be casual in concept, knowing the technique he brings to his dishes, I wouldn't call this casual food either," Levykh said.

Another example of how fine diningis still sticking around in the city, Levykh says, is the recently-opened Ancora in the old C Restaurant space on the False Creek waterfront. They focus on seafood with a Peruvian and Japanese bent.

This week's recipe comes from their kitchen.

This week's recipe: Pacific lingcod with "forbidden" rice paella, Peruvian corn, baby squid, broccoli bell pepper and pimenton emulsion

FromAncoraWaterfront Dining andPatio

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 150 g Pacific lingcod fillets
• 4 baby squid tubes
• 4 baby squid tentacles
• 4 jumbo asparagus (cut into 1.5 inch spears on a bias)

For the rice base (can be done a day or two before):

• 2 cups Himalayan black rice
• 1 small white onion
• 2 L chicken or vegetable stock
• Sachet of thyme and bay leaf
• Salt to taste

Prepare rice base by sweating onions and garlic until translucent. Add rice, sachet and enough stock to cover it. Stir every 15 minutes and add stock as it evaporates until rice is cooked al dente. It will take between 45-60 minutes. Reserve.

For the bell pepper vinaigrette:

• 1 each of red, yellow and green pepper, diced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp thyme, chopped
• cup sherry vinegar
• 1 cup EVOO

In a pan at high heat, saut peppers, shallots and garlic. Once cooked through, deglaze with vinegar and remove from heat. Add chopped thyme and olive oil and rectify seasoning with salt and black pepper. Reserve.

For the sauce:

• 250 ml fish stock
• 250 ml white wine
• 50 ml heavy cream
• pound cold and cubed unsalted butter
• pound cold and cubed salted butter
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 lemon, juiced

Reduce fish stock and white wine to 125ml of combined liquid. Once reduced, add heavy cream, bring to boil and reduce heat to low. Emulsify with butter by whisking it in, cube by cube. Finish by adding paprika and rectifying seasoning with salt and lemon juice.

For serving time:

Set oven at 400 Celsius.

To finish paella:

• 4 tbsp diced red wine chorizo
• 3 tbsp minced shallots
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp aji panca paste
• 1 cup Peruvian corn (previously blanched)
• 200 g baby shrimp
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 4 tbsp chopped parsley

In a pan, fry the shallots, garlic, chorizo and Peruvian corn. Add aji panca paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add rice and a splash of stock. Finish by adding baby shrimp, lemon juice and chopped parsley. Check seasoning and adjust if needed.

Once paella is almost done, start cooking your lingcod fillets. To get the perfect sear, make sure the searing side of the fish is patted dry, apply seasoning and make sure you pan is hot to the point you see a bit of smoke coming out. Let the fish sear at medium high heat for 15 seconds and place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish) once the fish comes out, in the same hot pans add squid tubes, tentacles and asparagus, and finish cooking them there.

Plating:

In a round wide 11-inchround plate, place a round ring mold off-centre and fill it with the black rice paella. Then place fish right on top of rice, and pepper vinaigrette on top of fish. Place squid and asparagus spears around the rice as well as the sauce. Garnish with whatever micro greens are on season.

To hear the full story, click on the audio labelled:On The Coast's Urban Foodie says restaurants going casual and that's fine