Bar Talk: A Q&A with L’Abattoir’s Andrew Forsyth

 Vancouver’s Gastown has no shortage of restaurants nestled within its cobblestone streets. But one that continues to shine brightly is L'Abattoir, a French-ish restaurant in a revived brick-and-beam warehouse space that formerly housed Vancouver’s first jail. On order: baked Pacific oysters brushed in garlic butter and truffle, duck foie gras terrines with rhubarb, and precise plates of steak Diane paired with broccoli and bone marrow.  These hyper-precise dishes—combined with careful wines curated by Head Sommelier Andrew Forsyth—have planted the restaurant firmly on the country’s top restaurants list.

On his off days, Forsyth is exploring the city’s food scene—digging into Peruvian ceviche, rowdy izakayas, or lauded Chinese-Italian dishes. Oh, and he’s drinking Champagne. Very good Champagne.

Here’s Forsyth’s guide to drinking and dining on the west coast.

L'Abattoir was my first position at a chef-owned restaurant and working there has given me a very different perspective on the relationship between wine and food. Curating options for the wine list, pairings, and by-the-glass pours means having an in-depth understanding of our chef, Lee Cooper, and how he sees ingredients coming together. Essentially, the wine has to go with the food which means that there are some grapes, styles and regions that have a much bigger footprint on the list than others.

I'm also very passionate about supporting responsible farming—not necessarily all of the paperwork (and expenses) that comes with organic certifications, but I love to support the growers and winemakers who are making environmentally-friendly decisions. I see a lot of this in the Okanagan Valley and it’s one of the reasons that I love the local wineries that I have been lucky enough to work with over the last few years.