Straight and Marrow

Setting a fine example when it comes to minimising food waste, Straight and Marrow are championing nose-to-tail dining that also showcases lesser-known cuts. When done well, it's incomprehensibly delicious.

Chef Chris Lam is the brains behind this sustainable concept in Vancouver, and thanks to his extensive culinary experience as an Executive Sous Chef at award-winning restaurants like Gastown's own Nuba, Lam is the perfect driving force behind this unique project. Together with Manager Marc Dumouchel, they've created an open, welcoming space for diners to feel at ease. An elegant and informal bistro makes for a wonderfully familiar destination to try something brand new.

The menu is based on sharing, encouraging diners to experience innovative dishes together. Seafood gets a decent look-in with delicate dishes like octopus carpaccio alongside a smoked paprika aioli, shrimp toast to dip into a Vadouvan curry, and soft shell crab with crab butter and prosciutto crisps.

What Straight and Marrow does particularly well, as their name suggests, is meat. Using every tasty morsel that each cut has to offer, they're showcasing hitherto unknown dishes like Korean beef heart tartare, chicken oysters with a crispy pork rind crust and lamb belly gently roasted for an irresistible smoky finish and served with anchovy breadcrumbs and root vegetables. And if you thought their philosophy ended at the mains, think again. With desserts composed of fish sauce caramel and chicken liver mousse, you can bet that sustainability runs to the very end of the menu.