Two Chefs & a Table

*Restaurant is now closed*

While driving down Alexander after brunch at the Alibi Room, RBC noticed a small quaint restaurant with a nice wall of wine bottles. Right then and there, we knew this was to be our next dining destination for the following Sunday. You see, there seems to be a trend towards brunch after Sunday morning hockey. Seems logical. However, for some reason or another, we are drawn to areas around the Downtown Eastside. First it was Acme, then Deacon's Corner followed by the Alibi Room. Now we have Two Chefs & a Table. Located in the unlikeliest of locations or should I say somewhat shadiest of locations, Two Chefs brings some class to an otherwise forgotten neighbourhood.

With the two chefs, Karl Gregg and Al Bosomworth, who have worked at Red Door and Feenie's respectively, bring finely crafted food at a reasonable price. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, RBC and I made the short jaunt over from Brit for brunch. For some reason or another, we were denied a window seat. A subsequent party of 2 got the table we originally wanted... Anyways, looking over the small; yet focused menu, something caught our attention - a Bacon Bloody Mary! Hey, I'm not a big drinker; but I had to try this. Turns out I really shouldn't have. Chalk this up to personal taste. Salty, oily and short on punch, this bloody mary was not my cup of booze. On the other hand, my breakfast choice was absolutely fantastic! The Monsieur Andres Brunch is a take on the classic Croque Monsieur. In this version, there is a selection of chacuterie meats and cheese within grilled sour dough. On top is an over-easy egg and Parmesan Hollandaise. With all components cooked to perfection from the crisp sour dough to the runny egg yolk, every bite was delicious. Served on the side were cooked-from-raw breakfast potatoes. The result were starchy pieces of well-seasoned bites. Very good.

RBC opted for the Smoked Salmon Benedict once again (like the Alibi Room). Both poached eggs were perfectly executed. Fluffy whites and runny free-range yolk atop barely cooked spinach, house-cured smoked salmon, mustard cream cheese and house-made English muffins. I took a sample of the smoked salmon. I found the flavours intense and the texture soft. He was very happy with the Benedict and declared it to be much superior than the one from the Alibi Room. And it was less expensive too. Being that we just played hockey, we decided to share the Homemade Apple Pancakes to make sure we satisfied our appetites. Simply presented as a 3-stack, these pancakes were somewhat fluffly inside while crisp on the outside. A nice contrast of textures for sure. Caramelized apples bits were strewn throughout providing a sweet surprise. These were very good pancakes indeed. If brunch is any indication of the type of food served here, I am already planning my visit for dinner. It seems RBC had the same idea and wondered if we could make it a table for 4. Sounds good to me, maybe we can get a window seat next time.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Carefully crafted food
- Quaint little place

The Bad:
- Dodgy neighbourhood
- Place is extremely small, small parties only