Brie, Bouillabaisse & Beyond @ Vancouver’s Alouette Bistro

The skylark—”alouette” in French—has flown from Quebec to Vancouver. Nestled within the Executive Hotel Le Soleil, Alouette Bistro occupies the space once held by Copper Chimney, transforming the Indian restaurant’s bones into a slice of provincial France that feels both authentic and refreshingly contemporary.

The dining room retains Copper Chimney’s dramatic high ceilings but trades Indian opulence for French countryside charm. Bird-patterned wallpaper (a nod to the restaurant’s namesake) and greenery soften the space, while upstairs, window tables offer prime people-watching. A private dining area hidden away upstairs has its patio—a welcome surprise in a downtown hotel restaurant. The design balances old-world French touches with cleaner, more contemporary elements that feel right at home in Vancouver.

My wife and I arrived on a balmy recent Saturday spring evening. The restaurant was comfortably busy—neither empty nor overcrowded—striking a pleasant balance. Our server, Wanita, greeted us promptly and remained attentive throughout our meal without being intrusive.

Spirited starters

We started with cocktails that showcased the restaurant’s approach to French-inspired cuisine with contemporary twists. The St. Tropez Margarita combined Cazadores Blanco, Cointreau, cucumber, lime, jalapeño, and lavender—an interesting variation on the classic that worked surprisingly well. The Flamingo Noir mixed Grey Goose, Cointreau, Gonzales Nutty Sherry, pineapple, lime, and mulberry, creating a complex but balanced drink that avoided excessive sweetness.

For appetizers, we chose the Baked Brie and Bistro Salad. The brie arrived heated correctly, topped with walnuts, bacon, and maple syrup. While the combination wasn’t revolutionary, it was well-executed, with the salty bacon offsetting the sweet maple syrup and the toasted baguette providing necessary textural contrast. The salad combined butter lettuce, arugula, chèvre, and almonds in a herb vinaigrette—simple but satisfying. The vinaigrette allowed the peppery arugula and creamy goat cheese to complement each other.

Seafood showcase

Our main courses reflected the kitchen’s strengths. The bouillabaisse was generously portioned, featuring sablefish, crab, scallop, shrimp, mussels, and clams in a fennel, celeriac, and tomato broth scented with saffron. The seafood was uniformly well-cooked and the broth had depth without overwhelming the delicate flavours of the shellfish. The accompanying rouille and sourdough rounds completed the traditional presentation, though purists might note that the fish selection leaned toward Pacific rather than Mediterranean varieties.

The seared halibut was equally impressive. The fish was cooked correctly—crisp outside and moist within—and complemented by a seasonal medley of potato, English peas, leek, and tomato. The white anchovy vierge sauce added a welcome brightness and salinity that lifted the dish beyond the typical fish-and-vegetables formula seen on many Vancouver menus.

Sweet finale

Watching our crêpes prepared tableside was the evening’s highlight. Wanita set white wine, peach preserves and butter ablaze before bathing thin crêpes in the sauce, finishing with orange vanilla crumble and caramel ice cream. Not revolutionary, but that wasn’t the point—it was about theatre and tradition. This old-school showmanship felt special in a city where desserts silently emerge from kitchens.

The Decadent Hot Chocolate offered a rich blend of dark and milk chocolates served with cocoa nibs, house-made biscotti, a macaron, and tonka bean-flavoured chantilly cream. The presentation was attractive, though its richness proved somewhat overwhelming by this point in the meal. Nonetheless, the quality of each component demonstrated attention to detail, particularly the delicately flavoured macaron that provided a light contrast to the denseness of the chocolate.

We paired our food with glasses of French Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. The wine list is predominantly French but also showcases a variety of reds, whites, and sparkling wines from around the world, all reasonably priced for a hotel restaurant. Beyond wine, the bar program features signature creations and well-executed classics from their talented mixologists.

Paris on the Pacific

With appetizers from $15-26 and mains between $36-59, Alouette sits comfortably in Vancouver’s upper-middle dining tier. The restaurant smartly fills a gap in the local scene, where French cuisine often feels too casual or excessively formal. While Copper Chimney drew diners with elevated Indian fare, Alouette’s pivot to French classics with regional adaptations feels calculated but effective. Chef Tran doesn’t reinvent the wheel with dishes like Duck Cassoulet and Steak Frites, but he does incorporate enough Pacific Northwest elements to avoid feeling like a Parisian transplant. —Mark Sissons