No Fixed Address: secret location, sumptuous eats

A couple weekends ago I had the pleasure of attending a secret dinner party care of Steve, the chef behind No Fixed Address. Steve is part of a growing trend of "underground" restauranteurs in Vancouver, whose basic premise is to have attendees invited to a secret location with a secret menu to be cooked by a fine dining chef. The locations can be anywhere: an attendees home, or in this case, the chef's own Kitsilano apartment. I had heard about NFA through Teresa of Senses & Style and she referred me to join this "secret society." What were me, Mr. Artist and 2 of our friends in store for?

We were joined that evening by 3 other couples. First thing we noticed was that the other guests had brought wine. Apparently secret dining is BYOB. Oh well, we were there to eat, not drink!

Our first course of the night was this melon soup with melon balls topped with prosciutto. The combination of tangy sweetness and salty flavour tickled all my taste buds pleasantly, though I wish there had been more soup to slurp up.



Next was a satisfying crab cake with a fruity mango and lime sauce. Crab cakes are always a hit, but it wasn't something that made me go "wow" as my mom makes these all the time.



The main course was roasted pork belly on top of a ball of mashed potato, with endive, prosciutto and some other veggie which I can't seem to remember the name of, but which was slightly bitter in taste. The pork belly was deliciously tender and the skin was crispy, if a bit chewy.




After the pork belly came a refreshing light course that was to be mine and Mr. Artist's favourites of the night. It was fresh tuna sashimi on a white pear slice and topped with delicate spring onions. Fresh seafood is so amazing you hardly need to do anything, and the contrast of the tender meat with the crunchy lightness of the pear was amazing. I could have eaten 4 plates of this alone.



Before moving onto the final dessert course, we diners enjoyed a palate cleaning spoonful of candied ginger and a salmon sorbet. This was probably the most technical of the dishes in terms of difficulty, but was my least favourite. I found the sorbet way too sour, but it was definitely palate cleansing. I may have been alone in this opinion though as Mr. Artist seemed to enjoy this one very much.



And finally the desserts! Good things come in threes they say, and that is just what this dessert followed with its sampler trio of desserts. First up was this dark chocolate truffle mousse with raspberry sauce. The sauce was just sweet enough, but the chocolate was a bit too dark for my liking.



The second dessert was a cream puff thing on a lemon custard sauce. This tasted just as it looked: light, fluffy, and sweet. Loved it.



The best for last: this banana, cream and cookie sandwich was a sweet dream come true. Well, maybe not that fantastic, but definitely the best of the bunch.



Overall, our meal was satisfying and tasty. Was it worth the price? Well, maybe in terms of variety and for the uniqueness of the dining concept. As well, we got to meet some very cool people as our fellow diners were full of interesting conversation. In terms of just food and price though, I think I'm more of a greasy spoon, hole in the wall type of gal. However if you are looking for an intimate and adventurous twist to your usual dinner party, or dinner date, then I highly recommend looking into joining the secret dining experience.