The Dirty Apron started off as a cooking school devoted to food novices and hobbyists who wanted to further their skills. Classes are held during weeknights and weekends, and cover a variety of topics. The actual kitchen/lecture hall is absolutely gorgeous - stoves and kitchen carts ready for each student, complete with still-shiny-new utensils waiting to see some action. Where the deli now stands started off as a cooking gadget store, offering the sassy Yaletownite cool doodads to decorate their kitchens, with no pretense of ever needing to use them. I stopped by a few times but always found prices almost double that of Ming Wo, only a 5 minute walk away in Chinatown.
After the Olympics, I heard the news and lauded its conversion to a take-out/deli. I respect the art of the sandwich, and worship the oh-so-few who have mastered it. Now there are racks upon racks of foodie splendour to be found. What I truly appreciate is the balanced product mix: genuine imported goods (pastas, spices, produce, etc); mixed with local products (dairy, fresh sauces, etc) and in-house products (breads, spreads, ice cream, PIE!). It's now become a destination store, complementing the T&T asian supermarket and Nester's in the area.
Fresh produce sits in the foyer, inviting all to enter. I love the way they write the prices on the glass wall - much more effective (and eco-friendly!) than a printed price tags. It's winter so everything is imported, but I would hope the closer we get to spring, we'll start seeing some local specialties in these baskets.
Here's a closer look at the deli case. Pre-made paninis steal the show, and a bevy of antipasti, salumi and cheeses round out the rest. It's a feast for the eyes so watch your drool while staring. To the left is the Subway-style sandwich bar where they keep the contents for the specialty baguettes. Unlike Subway though, you're more likely to find freshly shaved fennel, housemade roasted tomatoes, chipotle aioli and watercress among others. Further left is the hot plate, holding daily specials, ranging from soups to stews to veg. A complete meal for the busy household. A "dinner special" is also offered daily starting at 5 PM. It was schnitzel on one of my visits, alas I was 2 hours too early to order it... me thinks a wee cruel that they advertise it ahead of time. There is a dining area attached to the space with 3 long communal tables so there's room to hang out and dig in if you so desire. I've witnessed many an office meeting happening in there.
A blackboard situated above the deli-case shows the sandwich prices. Choosing is truly heart-wreching and don't be surprised if you find yourself craning your neck and staring for a few minutes. Props for the detailed content descriptions - there will be no surprises when you take a bite. The baguettes are Vietnamese banh-mi style and are assembled on-order. The paninis are pre-made and grilled as you like it.
Before I discovered the wonders of Italian salumi, I loved a good juicy medium-rare roast beef sandwich. I had roast beef sandwiches practically everyday for lunch from 6th to 12th grade. Seriously. Never got tired of it. Needless to say, when I saw DA's rendition, I had to have it. They've gone Argentinean with it, using a kicky herb chimichurri with sweet roasted tomato salsa, and some chorizo just because. A generous handful of arugula tops it all off. I'm not gonna lie - I loved this sandwich.
Fairly ingenious to take a white-bread staple and pop it to another level with some amazing flavour pairings. The bread was grilled just enough that it wouldn't be a gum-cutting ordeal to eat, with the chimichurri softening it up a little. The grill process served to bloom the flavours of each component, and in this case, all the flavours matched up in a harmonious ode to sandwich heaven. I added a side of mixed braising greens, which were splashed with a light and sweet peanut sauce. They were amazing - I could have eaten a pound of the stuff! I'm not sure how they did it, considering it was sitting on a hot table under a heat lamp, but the greens were still a delectable shade of green, with good crunch to each bite. Any lingering traces of bitterness meshed nicely with the sauce, creating a Thai-like flavour balance.
I returned 2 weeks later with high expectations - possibly too high. The previous visit, after all, was practically existential. This time I ordered the chicken baguette. In lieu of arugula, I asked for watercress and added some fennel. The chicken looked like it had been poached in stock flavoured with thyme, then shredded. The fresh and crispy baguette, which was in sore need of salt, was lined with a light-spice not-overbearing chipotle mayo. Roasted tomatoes, anchovy fillets and a handful of parmesan shavings topped it off. With that ingredient list, one would expect this sandwich to be flavour country... but alas, it was doomed to bland-dom.
I tasted the chicken separately and it lacked any discerning seasoning or taste for that matter. The tomatoes really needed a little longer time in the oven, and maybe a prolonged bath in some olive oil. After a bite, I got a quick shot of slightly dry tomato then it dissipated into the ether. The watercress had none of its peppery bite whatsoever, and the fennel tasted like it had been sitting out too long - dry and tasteless. A quick toss in a vinaigrette would have served it well. I added some olive oil, salt and homemade sambal in the hopes of salvaging this, but it was not to be. It essentially became a spicy anchovy with mayo sandwich. A disappointment in every way, but fixable.
Hoping for some redaction on what could've been an off-day, I returned again and aimed squarely at their most popular menu item: the BBQ pulled pork sandwich. Topped with pickled root veg, cilantro and jalapeno - this most closely resembles the banh mi. A good glop of tasty mayo cradles a surprisingly amount of meat. First bite gave me a smile - the slow-roasted shredded meat was very juicy and had hints of fat to really pull it together. Juices slowly dripped from under the bread onto my plate, and I hastily arranged the other sandwich half to catch it all. Unfortunately that's where the good ended.
For something hailed as "BBQ" - there wasn't much going on there. The pork, while tasty and naturally flavoured by its own juices, was crying out for some added punch. There was no BBQ sauce of note, and the pickled veg were a non-factor. I'm not a fan of highly acidic pickled veg, but I do want some flavour poking through. These tasted like they'd been pickled, then rinsed and soaked in water. There were only hints of the sweet-and-sour brine to it, and certainly not enough to complement the pork flavour. The cilantro, like the fennel before, was bland. No scent, no flavour, no nothing. Absolute shame as I love the smell of cilantro. And finally - the jalapeno? If I hadn't read the ingredients, I would've thought they were bland green peppers. There were quite a few slices in there yet, I got zero kick and zero heat.
Sandwiches are priced from $6.99 to $8.99, and are a good size to fill you up. There's a generous filling-to-bread ratio, and at the same price, I'll take one of these over a Subway footlong any day. That being said, there's still some flavour kinks to work out, and until then, I'll be sticking to the hot plate specials and paninis. For desserts, I have yet to try any, but I've heard raves about their pecan pie and homemade Vanilla Bourbon ice cream... possibly in the same bite.
You can find Dirty Apron (and the entire Nico Schuerman empire) on 540 Beatty Street in Vancouver. They're open 9 AM to 8 PM everyday so you can do a quick-lunch, or pick up some dinner and provisions on the way home.
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