Published on Main

Here we are at Published on Main...  for the 8th time.  You might be wondering why I keep coming back to the place right?  Is it because it is has a Michelin Star?  Believe it or not, that has nothing to do with my decision to come here.  I've been enjoying the intricately-prepared and beautifully-plated dishes since they opened - all on my own dime.  It is because the food is inventive, creative and just different.  I've never had a bad meal here and I don't expect that to change.

This time around, we were a bit disappointed to see that they have temporarily removed the Chips & Dip from the menu (something to do with not being able to source the right potatoes).  So we added the Chicken Fried Maitake with garlic scape ranch as a replacement.  This is a favourite of mine and although the dip isn't exactly the same as the chips & dip, it has some similar elements without the smoked fish.  As for the mushrooms, they were buttery and light with an equally light seasoned flour with some cornmeal.  These ate much lighter than they appeared with a super crispy exterior.

One dish that they have had on the menu since the beginning is the Aebleskiver filled with stewed herbs and pine nuts.  These donuts were fluffy, yet still slightly dense at the same time.  It was a desired form of density where it added texture without being heavy.  The outside was slightly crispy.  Inside, the herbs were tender and flavourful.  What brought this all together was the herb emulsion underneath.  So creamy and subtle, but bright.

The previous 2 dishes were actually added midway through the meal since I really wanted to eat them.  We actually started with the cured Scallop with oyster cream, smoked crème fraîche, sea asparagus and summer herbs.  This was a very delicate and dish with buttery soft scallops that were intensely sweet.  The cream and crème fraîche were subtle enough to let the scallop be at the forefront.  Definitely a background smokiness and brininess, but ever so slight.

Progressing to another light and refreshing dish, we had the Dungeness Crab topped with lettuce root, and buckwheat.  It sat in a herbal tisane.  The ample amount of crab meat was fluffy and a bit bouncy.  It was sweet and briny while complimented mildly by the herb paste underneath and also the tisane.  The thinly-sliced lettuce root was bright and provided just the smallest of texture to the plate.  However, with a bit of buckwheat, this provided some unexpected crunch. 

Onto something more robust, we went with the Wagyu Carpaccio topped with sorrel, shiso, fudgy yolk, garum, crispy shallots and garlic.  As with any raw Wagyu, this wasn't exactly melt-in-my-mouth tender.  Rather, it was buttery with some chew.  The reason for this is the amount of fat.  When not cooked down, it can tend to be a bit chewy.  However, the meat itself was flavourful due to the fat and it was further amped by the garum.  There was restraint with this as it can be overwhelming salty and pungent.  Loved the silky yolk as it provided some great mouth feel.  Some background bitterness and tang was provided by the shiso and sorrel.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal was the Summer Squash atop pepita mole and topped with pepita cream and pepita & sungold macha.  The halved zucchini were cooked masterfully where it was firm, yet still completely cooked-through and tender.  Absolutely loved the seed mole where it was nutty, earthy and lightly sweet.  The macha was the star of the show here where it was mildly spicy with a smoky nuttiness.  Loved the sungold tomatoes as they had pops of sweetness.

Heading to the heavier items, we had the Chargrilled Octopus with smoked castelvetrano, chorizo vinaigrette, crispy potatoes and shaved radish.  Loved the texture with the tentacle as it was soft yet while retaining a bite and chew.  The end of the tentacle was a bit crispy and nicely charred.  Impactful with a touch of spice, the chorizo vinaigrette sported bits of meaty sausage while being nicely acidic.  The smoked olive puree was smooth, mild and of course smoky.  Adding some texture, the crispy potatoes went well with the vinaigrette.

One of the featured dishes for the night was the Summer Beans in a Maggi emulsion.  Charred and cooked perfectly, the beans were still a bit crunchy and plenty vibrant.  I could get the smoky char with some of the beans.  As for the emulsion, I was a little on the fence about it.  On one hand, I love Maggi sauce.  I practically grew up with it (love it on eggs!).  However, the creaminess of the emulsion made this dish too heavy in my opinion.  I did enjoy the umaminess though.

With our choice of fish, we went for the Roasted Manitoba Pickerel with artichokes, radish, elderflower sauce and verjus.  This was an excellent dish with the pickerel sporting uniformly crispy skin that was well-seasoned.  The fish itself was flaky and moist.  Oh that elderflower butter sauce was lightly creamy, fruity and floral.  The acidity was provided by the verjus in a balanced manner.  It complimented the buttery sauce well.

We had one last savoury dish in the BC Fire Morel Gnocchi.  Bathed in a lightly creamy truffle sauce, the gnocchi were nicely seared.  Hence, there was caramelization and also a faint smokiness.  The texture was on point being pillowy soft but not airy.  Naturally, with a good amount of morels, there was definitely earthiness and nuttiness.  However, all of this was lightened up a bit with some lemon notes.  We also found some kelp, shallots and chives in the mix.

Onto dessert, we tried one of the newer options in Le Disco.  This featured discs sitting in cassis sorbet and black currant leaf oil.  I really liked the sorbet as it was almost creamy.  I found it melty and full-of-depth.  It was only lightly sweet, but with a strong currant flavour.  The oil was thick and rich while tasting like its colour.  I found it green-tasting and rather strong.  Now about those discs...  I am on the fence with them as the texture of dark one (was that black sesame?) was pasty.  The green (matcha?) was a bit better with some grittiness while the pink (strawberry yogurt?) was creamier with some iciness.  Did I like the discs?  Not really, but I did enjoy the rest of the dessert.

However, the ol' standby, Hay, was right there to end the meal perfectly.  This classic dessert (at Published) consisted of aerated hay custard with green apple and chamomile granita.  Airy, fluffy and a bit nutty, the semi-sweet custard was brought to life with the tangy sweetness of the apple granita.  Each scoop of this encouraged us to keep eating it.  We did and that didn't take long to finish!  In fact, we gobbled up everything that was put in front of us because it was delicious and eye-catching.  This is nothing new for us and that is what keeps us coming back.  I can guarantee that it won't be long until I'm back again!

The Good:
- Creative, delicious dishes
- The plating
- The service

The Bad:
- Well things aren't cheap, but worth it IMO