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Canada’s Best New Restaurants 20071 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | CBNR Mission Statement & Index | Home 
Photo by Margaret Mulligan 03. SALT TASTING ROOM 45 Blood Alley, Vancouver, 604-633-1912, salttastingroom.com It takes guts to open a restaurant without a kitchen on a street known as Blood Alley and then decorate it like a prison cafeteria. Salt has guts in spades, and not just in the sausage. Somehow the brick walls and cement floor create a sense of coziness. The crowd of tattooed hipsters, yummy mommies and the occasional hobo add colour, as does the playlist: Expect to hear Peter Bjorn and John and Sparklehorse. Grilled sandwiches and soup are available, but mostly, this is how it works: The back wall is a large blackboard with the day’s selection of meats, cheeses and condiments listed in neat handwriting. Choose three items from each category. That’s it. If that’s too daunting, the staff will pick for you. It might be something as pure as local honeycomb or tree-ripened apricots or charcuterie from the magnificent Oyama Sausage Company or the legendary Salumi (founded by Mario Batali’s dad). An international selection of ripe cheese is balanced with local offerings. There’s a list of some 50 wines ranging from bubbles to dessert along with cane cola and birch beer, which pair surprisingly well with this style of eating. Salt may be refined, but it still rocks. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | CBNR Mission Statement & Index | Home |
