Creative chef wins fans

JEANIE KEOGH

A savory mélange of ethnic influences from the Mediterranean, Gaia Bistro promises a lovely dining experience prepared by soft-spoken owner and chef Eran Rozen, who recently brought his 20-year dream to open a restaurant to fruition.

Flanked between Adonia Tea House and the Fish CafΘ on 41st Avenue at East Boulevard, in the heart of Kerrisdale, the unassuming Gaia lives up to its name in its simple décor, pleasant ambiance and reasonably priced peasant fare. It is comfort food that truly feels like a home-cooked meal.

Since first cooking for his own bar mitzvah guests, Rozen has had a love affair with food, testing his culinary mettle as a cook at several Vancouver kitchens and attending the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. He decided the time was right to open his own spot, when he and his wife and business partner, Na'ama, chanced upon this location.

Esthetically, the counter service and self-serve drinks fridge gives the impression that it is more of a lunchtime spot. However, the dinner menu stands alone and makes for a great family outing (there is a small kids corner), a unique, casual first-date spot or a sensually rewarding dinner for one.

The perfect meal opener is a pitcher of water flavored with lemon, mint and rosewater or orange-blossom, which is both refreshing and cleans the palette before the first bite. Rozen shouldn't hesitate to scrap Coke Zero and bottled water from the menu, as they are inferior alternatives to his homemade delights.

A sampling of teasing tasters: tabouleh with the punchy crunch of pomegranate, smooth and well-roasted babaganoush served with warmed whole wheat pita, Greek salad with generous chunks of feta, if the tomatoes seem a bit pulpy. The chicken ragout was cooked to near perfection: the meat fell off the bone and the carrots dissolved.

Rozen gets creative with his alternating menu, traveling to the farmer's market in Richmond to source organic vegetables and buying up seasonal and specialty items to use in a variety of dishes. Most admirable in his approach is his fine-tuning of the menu; he lets himself be guided by taste buds of his loyal regulars – what he calls "the process of learning the customers."

Get in while the getting is good – as one of the only Mediterranean restaurants in the area, it is sure to have a waiting list in the coming months.

In honor of Rosh Hashanah last month, Rozen experimented with pomegranates.

"Shawarma is marinated with pomegranate juice and a little bit of wine; fresh herbs and our sandwiches are also marinated with pomegranate. So for me, if it's in season, I am using them everywhere. In about one month from now we won't have pomegranate – it is so good, so healthy," he said.

The brick red and dijon walls are decorated with striking photographs taken by Rozen in his career as a photographer – a Bedouin woman making labneh and two shots capturing the bustle of the shuk (market) in Jerusalem – set the down-to-earth tone that Rozen is intent on creating.

"That's why we chose the name Gaia. She was the goddess of earth, the Mother Earth, that's what we want to give the customers the feeling that they come into a family business, it's a nice, cozy place and the food is like that. You feel like you're coming home," he said.

The future of Gaia could be a thriving community gathering place: an art gallery featuring Middle Eastern foodscapes, live music that accompanies the dining and spills out onto the sidewalk to those seated at the wrought iron tables and chairs. Rozen's plan for winter is to delve into rich hearty ragouts and slow-cooked casseroles, and to concoct a window-steaming warm punch. He served a deceptively sweet Turkish tea whose only ingredients are apples and a cinnamon stick.

The item that keeps people coming back is the imam bayildi, a dish presented to a 16th-century Turkish imam (community leader) that was so amazing, it caused him to faint (bayildi). The dish is pan-seared eggplant stuffed with roasted vegetables and raisins with a Turkish yogurt sauce.

Rozen has also focused on providing a variety of gluten-free meals, including a polenta dish filled with goat cheese, arugula, pear and honey and a pan-seared pani filled with basil, feta cheese and fire roasted peppers.

Visit gaiabistro.ca for more information.

Jeanie Keogh is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.

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