PROFILE: L'Orange Club Cafe

L’Orange Club Café
1440 Lonsdale, North Vancouver
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604-986-6272
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A long-time Lonsdale fixture, the Orange Club, a homespun hole-in-the wall, is now under new ownership and more than the name has been tweaked.

According to a friend, L’Orange Club Café’s chef/owner, Jean Pierre Bertaina (born in Franch and trained as a pastry chef), once owned a Mexican restaurant in Edmonton that served outstanding Mexican food. More recently, he’s worked as a chef at North Vancouver’s Le Bistro Chez Michel.

We stopped in when he’d been open a scant couple of months and discovered a 28-item, mostly tapas menu with a few small entrées ($4 to $13), a mix of classic French bistro fare with inventive touches such as a plate of grilled sardines with coconut mango-chutney. This off-the-wall combo begged to be sampled. It totally rocked.

Lovely too was a baked goat cheese and onion tart, topped with melted goat cheese and caramelized onions that was sweetness (the onions) and light (the cheese and pastry). Our tipster recommended the frites, a bottomless heap of shoestring fries strewn with crispy leeks that we barely made a dent in. A lovely cod brandade with truffle oil was garnished with curls of smoked salmon. But … hold the salmon! More brandade please.

On a return visit we test-drove the new and improved wine list that proved to be adventurous, far ranging, full of interesting labels and value priced. Of the 25 labels, almost half are available by the glass and carafe. A tight selection of beer includes Modello from Mexico, Boris from France, and Nova Scotia’s Propeller, to name a few. On this second foray we tried a few of the larger plates like the tender lamb chop and confit duo with goat cheese and tarragon (that we’d already heard raves about), a tender beef filet with morel mushrooms, more frites, plus the must-have sardines that were just as good the second time around. Desserts? Hopefully, we’ll manage that next time.

L’Orange club’s presentation is full of old school virtues in a way that only adds to its charm. Verdict: this is a menu with plenty of appeal that will require repeat visits.

FILED BY: Judith Lane
DATE: October 15, 2006
PHOTOS BY: Delainy Mackie

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ALL THE FACTS

Cuisine: Tapas

Price: $10 - $20

Hours:

Credit Cards:

Opened: Under new ownership as of July, 2006

Owner: Jean Pierre Bertaina

Chef: Jean Pierre Bertaina

Specialties: European classic dishes and some more exotic combinations, all served tapas style.

The Must Try Dish: As strange as it seems, the sardines with coconut mango chutney, and of course, the frites!

Other Features:

Dress: casual

Seats:

Noise level: moderate

Categories: North Vancouver, Neighbourhood Favourites, Tapas, Good Value

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