Everything comes up rich and sweet at this cafe, especially the hot chocolate

Mia Stainsby
Sun

At Koko Chocolate Creations on Denman, Alex and Angie Maman create pastries, hot chocolate and other delights. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun

Step inside. You’ll see a faux machine pumping molten chocolate and snaking it in a chocolate pipeline up and across the ceiling, curving down behind the counter.

It isn’t quite what you’d expect in an artisanal chocolate cafe. But then Koko Chocolate Creations isn’t quite the kind of place Alex Maman is used to working. He trained under Paul Bocuse (the Bocuse d’Or, the most prestigious international cooking competition was named to honour him) and has cooked under the Troisgros brothers and Georges Blanc (more French culinary nobility). Then he went to Israel and was named one of the top three chefs in the country. So, what’s he doing on Denman Street, serving up hot chocolate?

Well, marrying a Vancouverite while both were working in Australia would be the short answer. His wife, Cordon Bleu-trained Angie Maman, learned the art of making chocolate and they decided to open up a high-quality shop serving first-rate hot chocolates, Angie-baked pastries, desserts as well as her hand-made chocolates. And for those who need it, there’s coffee with a kick, too.

When I visited, the hot chocolate was served in sweet, egg-shaped mugs but apparently they didn’t hold up to the rough and tumble of cafe life. They’ve switched to mugs. Hot chocolate is all about quality of chocolate here, it’s top-notch Callebaut and Valrhona chocolates. It’s made with an espresso machine and a cup costs $4.50.

“It’s basically a cappuccino of chocolate and milk,” Alex says. The French vanilla hot chocolate I had was more chocolate latté than cappucino. It’s not the thick, chocolate syrupy hot chocolates I’ve had, say, at Thomas Haas, but it’s good.

You can get the traditional or be more adventurous with the Italian, Mexican, Turkish mocha, Scandinavian, French vanilla, classic American or Canadian Beavertail hot chocolates. The latter, he says, contains whipped cream and maple syrup.

Desserts include molten chocolate cake, chocolate fondu, brownies, cookies, waffles, white chocolate cheesecake, and ‘More Than S’mores‘ (S’mores with hazelnut praline and warm dark chocolate sauce). I tried the monkey bread and its a lovely piece of work, sitting over drizzles of milk chocolate. Angie’s chocolate bon bon flavours change from week to week, but the week I phoned, they had coconut curry, caramel, lemon mint, peanut butter crunch, raspberry, chili habanero, strawberry balsamic and chocolate ganache fillings. I tried a few and noted their fresh, natural flavours.

I know you might have gorged on chocolates last week on Valentine’s, but some of us don’t know when to stop, do we?

Koko is open daily to 10 p.m.

Monday to Thursday, and to 11 p.m. weekends.

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KOKO CHOCOLATE CREATIONS

1118 Denman St., 604-669-1887

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

The restaurant at the foot of Lonsdale has a list of 24 Belgian beers as well as an all-B.C. wine list

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Diners chat at the District Restaurant in North Vancouver. Photograph by : Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun

Not one, not two, but three places have recently sprung up on the commercial blur of Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver.

First there was Deuce, with its tapas-style menu in a downtowny space; then Okra, offering a modern presentation of Chinese/Malaysian cuisine.

The latest I visited is The District, which had so little hype I expected it to be forgettable and a waste of my precious time. It’s been quietly operating at the foot of Lonsdale since July.

I was pleasantly surprised at the positive vibes, the honest, really well-priced and tasty food and attentive no-attitude service.

My visits went swimmingly well with one hitch — something that’s a symptom of its success. It gets incredibly noisy in the small, narrow space when the restaurant gets slammed as it did on one of our visits. Turning down the fairly loud music when voices are ricocheting around would have helped. And definitely, it ought not be non-stop drum and base.

But, you know, despite my displeasure in too-noisy places, I’d go back. I know my husband would, in a heartbeat. He was over the top with happiness when he saw the 24-long Belgian beer list. He was thrilled with the Gulden Draak and raved about the Piraat. I sampled and thought with beers like that everywhere, we’d be a beer belly city. (There is an all-B.C. wine list as well.)

The restaurant bills itself as a Belgian-style brasserie, somewhat like Stella’s on Commercial Drive, but I won’t say ‘Chambar‘ in the same breath because that’s a whole other level. As brasserie means brewery in French, the food is meant to be simple and robust.

So, yes, there are two mussel dishes on the menu, and steak and frites as well as “patat frites” for the Belgian influence. On the brunch menu, there’s Belgian waffles. But really, that’s the extent of it. You’ll also find Szechuan style spicy green beans, chicken satay, chicken breast stuffed with apple and Guinness cheddar, a chicken and beef pot pie.

Owner Paul Mon-kau says there are regulars who eat there three times a week. He had targeted a 25 to 40 years crowd but patrons tend to be in the 35 to 60 (another reason to lose the drum and base). He’s thrilled as that is an age group that’s picky about where they eat. Main are $13 to $24, the latter for the winningest dish, the steak frites. The steak is made even more enjoyable if eaten with one of the fabulous beers. Nice frites, juicy, flavourful tenderloin. (District’s meat is purchased at Olympia Meats on Lonsdale, a halaal butcher.)

A venison stew, braised in red wine was tender and flavourful, and accompanied by a fresh-baked mini-loaf of bread. The mussels in a Russell cream ale with charred tomatoes, chorizo, was fine but not brilliant. It came with a generous serving of frites, of which I ate every last morsel. But really, if the restaurant’s pegged on “Belgian-style,” the mussels should be glisteningly plump and a big hit. Stuffed chicken breast with apple and Guinness cheddar wasn’t a strong dish with muddle flavours and a too-dry risotto.

Of the appetizers tried, the portobello tart looked ready for a magazine shot with a lovely pastry crust and a whole portobello in the centre, atop goat cheese with a side of arugula salad; Gascony spring roll with a duck confit and a side salad worked. Shrimp and crab cakes needed a little perk, a little more flavour but a sprawling pea shoot salad compensated. The spicy green beans were nicely season and overflowed the plate but were a little chewy.

Desserts disappointed. A “chocolate souffle” turned out to be a previously baked molten chocolate cake with flavourless ice cream; the dessert waffle had the texture of a rewarmed leftover.

I know I’m ending on negative notes but all things considered — the service, the dishes that worked, the great beers, the good atmosphere at certain decibles, I like the place.

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THE DISTRICT

Overall: 3 1/2

Food: 3 1/2

Ambience: 3 1/2

Service: 3 1/2

Price: $/$$

13 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver.

778-338-4938.

www.districtsocial.com. Open for lunch, brunch dinner, 7 days a week.

Closed 3 to 5 p.m.

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008