At Cask Whisky Bar, chef William Lew makes food that's meant to shine with spirit
The name of the izakaya-style lounge in Richmond belies its strong focus on culinary arts
Cask Whisky Bar. Photo by Leila Kwok
CASK WHISKY VAULT, as its name makes clear, is a destination for aficionados of the spirit and those seeking to learn and taste more. The lounge in Richmond’s Versante Hotel stocks well over 500 bottles from all over the world, from Rock Town Four Grain Sour Mash Arkansas Bourbon, Aberfeldy Limited Release 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, and Chugoku Jozo Togouchi 15 Year to France’s Armorik Classic Breton Single Malt, India’s Amrut Fusion Single Malt, and Korea’s Hwayo X.Premium Rice Whisky.
Along with single malts, blends, and bourbons, there are whisky flights (which explore different labels, cask types, and aging methods) and whisky-based cocktails.
Sultry under subdued lighting, the lounge’s decor is a nod to 1920s art-deco-era Shanghai fused with a contemporary Asian aesthetic, with woods, velvet walls, emerald green leather loveseats, and a 30-foot bar. And yet “whisky vault” doesn’t give a full picture of what Cask is all about. The izakaya-style setting is whisky-focused, obviously, but it’s food-forward, too, with a robata grill and a menu that features several snacks and small dishes (like robata-grilled Hokkaido scallops, nori-dusted calamari, and ARC Iberico ham with koji-fermented pickles and whiskey-compressed melon) plus a few larger ones (such as venison striploin basted in wasabi-honey butter and crusted with sansho pepper, accompanied by robata asparagus and speckled chestnut mushroom). Items can be ordered a la carte or as a multicourse meal with whisky pairings. There’s nothing else like it in the province.
Heading the culinary side of things is Versante Hotel executive chef William Lew, who also helms the property’s other restaurants: Bruno and Ooh La Cha, with more in various stages of opening. Lew’s CV includes roles at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Pacific Rim, and Nootka Marine Adventures, which operates floating luxury lodges. His position as executive chef of Ocean Wise instilled a deep understanding of sustainability and of #cookingforconservation, not to mention a love for kelp, a restorative species.
Lew brings that accumulated knowledge to the kitchen at Cask, as well as a lifelong artistic flair; he is a former orchestral violinist. From age five to midway through university, Lew trained at Vancouver Academy of Music and played in its orchestra and string orchestra and was a member of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed more musicals than he can remember. For a while, he played guitar and dreamed of being a rock star. Lew’s musical background informs his work as a culinary artist.
“If you don’t know how to groove with a band, how are you supposed to make music?” Lew says in a phone interview with Stir. “When you play in an orchestra, of course it’s all about teamwork, but you’re also your own artist. A chef calls the line, but everyone responds. You have this structure, yet you have the artistry behind it, and each person on the team is an artist.”
William Lew.
Lew’s love of cooking goes way back to childhood; his grandfather was among the first cooks in Vancouver’s Chinatown, he says, and he remembers spending time with him in the restaurant on weekends. It wasn’t until he was studying animal biology at UBC, however, that he considered going into the business himself. Seeking part-time work during school, he put on a suit and walked into Glowbal with his lean resume. An intimidating executive chef asked him what he was doing there, without any experience.
“I’m just putting myself forward,” Lew said.
“When can you start?” the chef asked.
“Right now.”
And he was shown the “dish pit”, still wearing his suit, finishing his impromptu shift at 4 in the morning. “My culinary life flashed before my eyes that day,” Lew recalls. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
Lew completed his science degree, but it was an art history class that stands out for him in relation to his culinary career. A question on a final exam asked about the significance of a certain piece of art.
“Significance is the most meaningful word I got out of university,” Lew says. “I realized that it’s not just about a pretty picture or seeing something with a lot of technique….Those images had way deeper meaning. So that’s what I think about when I’m creating the next dish. You don't have to change the world, but if you can create a memory for someone, you can find significance in what you do.”
Cask Whisky Bar. Photo by Leila Kwok
At Cask, the aim is for the food and whisky not simply to complement each other but to shine together. Consider silken whisky-smoked sablefish with ginger-mushroom dashi (poured into the bowl at the table) paired with the slightly sweet White Oak Askashi from Japan. Wagyu and beef-tongue skewers—hit with a smoky umami from being cooked over the robata’s high heat—call for Bruichladdich’s fragrant, fruity Classic Laddie. The Arran 10 Year Single Malt Scotch hits the right citrusy note to go with a crudo of aged shima aji (Japanese striped jack), light and buttery, with pickled beets, white soy cream, white fungus, and scallion oil.
That crudo is adorned with tiny purple shiso flowers; other edible petals that dot various dishes include violas, marigolds, and bachelor buttons, all from a local grower; then there are organic microgreens, including the most beautiful kinome leaves, which resemble teeny ferns and pack a one-two punch of mintiness and heat.
A three-course tasting menu, with options like green-tea soba salad, crispy truffle potato “Okonomiyaki” (a savoury Japanese pancake), and whisky chocolate cake, is akin to a Dine Out Vancouver Festival deal at $59; its optional whisky pairing is $49, with one-ounce each of Arran 10 Year, Ardbeg OA, and Kaiyo “the Single” 7 year. While a few selections on the whisky menu run hundreds of dollars, single ounce pours start at $9.
“Whisky is already such an artform, and learning about it not just taste-wise but historically and culturally takes time,” Lew says. “You’re literally surrounded by walls of whisky here. The space is designed so you can try so many different things, and it’s like that for the food, too—to share bites here and there.”
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