THE DEETS
The Shop: Two Rivers Specialty Meats 180 Donaghy Ave., North Vancouver 604-990-5288 Tues. to Sat. 10 a.m.- 7 p.m. tworiversmeats.ca
Dry-aged cheeseburger
baffled. The restaurant staff is equally accommodating. With so many points of service, the whole multifunctional operation could easily descend into chaos. Whoever did the training should be saluted because wow, the experience is astonishingly smooth. On the other side of the room, we order lunch, take our number (pierced into a desiccated bone) and mosey on over to bar stools beside the grill. It’s a beast of a rig, spitting fire and smoke from burning and smouldering birch that has been barn-dried in Pemberton for 730 days. By the time our drinks are delivered (Left Field cider and Hester Creek pinot gris on tap), we are salivating into our complimentary tallow-cooked popcorn. The dry-aged cheeseburgers ($13) look so damn good and taste even better. The gently charred patties are built from a freshly ground, whole-shoulder blend of Cache Creek
beef. They’re cooked medium-pink in the centre, but that’s just the start. Almost every element on this masterpiece gets licked by fire—a thick slice of cheddar is melted thoroughly overtop, while house-smoked bacon, tomatoes and brioche buns are toasted on the griddle. Add a smear of stocky aioli, a tangy layer of breadand-butter zucchini pickles and a $5 side of lightly crisped, liberally salted fries (infused with mouthcoating beefy goodness from boiling tallow) and you’re in burger heaven. Deeply flavoured but not too gamey, juicy yet not a slobbery mess, rich and at the same time fresh—this is a seriously strong contender for the best burger in town. Signature steak tartare ($9) is a generous portion of hand-ground petite tender, which might be even more succulent if it were hand-diced instead. Still, mixed with caper
vinaigrette and sharp mustard, and topped with a grating of cured egg yolk (as rich and salty as parmesan), it’s a very tasty dish. Beet slaw with jalapeno dressing is a little too oily and slick. But come on, can you really expect great vegetables from a butcher shop? Well, the rotisserie cauliflower, with its meaty, golden-edged florets draped in spicy green chermoula, is a standout, perhaps because it’s given the slowroasted chicken treatment. For dessert, there are tallow-fried beignets sprinkled with Tiny Tom sugar, and maple-bourbon sundaes if you hit the right day. The specials board always offers meat pie, sausage and steak features, while the kids’ menu includes a smaller burger, all-beef hot dog and lovely charred chicken drumsticks. But where’s the rabbit, or the offal? Two Rivers is a whole-animal butchery that has a huge stash of obscure meats and off-cuts at its disposal. The Shop offers a unique opportunity to broaden diners’ horizons and give us more edible education about the rarities we could actually buy and cook at home. Why not serve roasted pork trotters and tripe casseroles or just plain elk, boar and bison? On the other hand, maybe I should just shut up right now, because that would only make my beloved bunnies even harder to source.
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