December 2005
Jamie Maw - Vancouver Magazine

Rainy Day Friends
Old Dog. New Tricks.

Shortly before he died last spring, Jean-Claude Ramond sold The Smoking Dog to Jean Seguin and Judith Andrews. Over the summer, the restaurant continued to pull in some of its regulars for chef Pascal Georges’s bistro cooking. Georges has toiled anonymously at The Dog for three years. For me, though—a regular since the day the little bistro opened, and a friend of Ramond’s for 30 years—it was hard to go back. Something was missing, and I could put my finger on it. Of course it was the short shadow and feisty bonhomie of the little giant, who was a draw all on his own.

But restaurants (and landlords) can’t stop to grieve too long. And smartly, Seguin, Andrews and Georges have reshaped the Dog’s menu, adding a number of smaller plates and less expensive mains (including a very good hamburger with frites at $13) that will appeal to the neighbours. You’ll also find a smart new list of cocktails and highballs, including that winter favourite of professional scotch drinkers, a noggin of the Famous Grouse for the resounding thump of $5.95. Now that’s downright friendly.

The wine list, which used to be resolutely French, with some of the lower-priced entries hard and closed, has been lengthened. Around the bar one night, many couples were sharing bottles of B.C. and Cascadian wines, with flights down to South America. The wine pricing has been relaxed as well, and the beer taps flow cold.

Other plats du jour make The Smoking Dog more accessible: pan-seared lamb chops ($10) are served with poached anjou pears and fresh thyme; paté maison ($10) come with greens, cornichons and olives; and classic escargots de bourgogne ($10) are garlicky and retro-luxe, reminiscent of a time when Kressman’s screw-top, in the handy 1.5 litre format, fuelled Gastown nights.

Never one to let a cheap pun skate by unannounced, you might imagine my delight when I spotted “The Smoking Dog” ($12), a spiced Oyama lamb sausage with Dijon, encased in fresh pastry and served with escarole and bacon sauerkraut. Delicious. As was a steak sandwich ($15), which, with a Grouse or two, counts as a neat Tuesday dinner.

Equally smartly though, the new owners have had the good sense to leave alone The Dog’s signature pepper steak frites. At $30 it’s now the most expensive thing on the menu at a place that—a Grouser on the next stool was heard to remark—has a new leash on life.