Au Petit Chavignol

Having lived in Switzerland for 3 years, I've developed a love for cheese. Although I wouldn't say that I learnt to appreciate all kinds of cheese, but I definitely crave for good cheese all the time. So when I learnt about Au Petit Chavignol, I went there with my family right away.

Au Petit Chavignol is a small restaurant, opened by the owner of Les Amis du Formage, one of the best cheese shops in Vancouver with a wide variety of stock, and a few others. Seating is at a first come first serve basis, so I usually either go very early on weekends or I choose to go on weeknights instead to avoid long waiting time.

When going to this restaurant, I recommend cutting straight to the point and ordering nice cheese dishes. It does not make sense to me to go to a wine and cheese shop and order French Fries, say. Same thing with beverages, order wine. If non-alcoholic beverage is preferred, they also have some sparkling juices that are very nice. My family's favorite is the sparkling pear juice.

If you're a first-timer to Au Petit Chavignol, I suggest ordering a Grand Tasting Plater. There will be a selection of cheeses, charcuterie and accompaniments. I usually ask them to include their terrine of the day in there too, since it's usually excellent. I like it that they ask for your preferences for cheeses, so you can tell them what you like or dislike. I always ask them to exclude blue cheeses and hard cheeses, because we didn't like them. The servers there are very nice, and the selections the chefs make are usually excellent. A small plater is about $30 and a large plater is $45.

My favorite thing on the menu is the Cheese Fondue. They have the Savoyard Blend of three different Swiss cheese, which I forgot the names of all of them. And I must say, I've been searching for good fondue out of Switzerland and this is it!!! It's just as good as the best cheese fondues I've had in Switzerland, where the dish (if you can call it dish) is invented. I've been recommending this restaurant to everyone I know that loves cheese mainly because of how good their fondue is. I mean, the other stuff are great too, but the fondue!! You're missing out if you don't come here if you like Cheese Fondue.

They also have the Raclette available. I would recommend it if you're either craving for it or would like to try it out just for the experience. Unfortunately, because they do not have the actual device to heat up the whole half round of raclette cheese, they use a small raclette grill that you use yourself, and that just didn't quite compare with the real thing. I've yet to find a place outside of Switzerland that serves Raclette the way it's supposed to be served. But nonetheless, Au Petit Chavignol's Raclette is not bad when compared to other restaurants, even in Switzerland, using the same type of small raclette grill.

Since the restaurant features wine and cheese, they, obviously, have an extensive wine list. But again, I wasn't able to comment much on the wine other than their open white wine, which I randomly picked out of the list was of very good quality.

The only thing that I really complain about Au Petit Chavignol is their location. Since they are on East Hastings St., I don't feel particularly safe going there at night for dinner. But they usually have lost of parking space on the streets just outside of the restaurant, so I try to park as close as possible. But other than that, Au Petit Chavignol is a restaurant not to be missed by cheese lovers. Especially those who appreciates cheese fondue.

Au Petit Chavignol 843 East Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.255.4218