Avec welcomes you to their bistro. They are open after-hours all week and are easily accessible by public transit but also by bicycle. Come visit them in a location acknowledged as lively.
French restaurants don’t always come with white tablecloths, rich creamy dishes and lavish bills. The former owners of popular Petite restaurant, Kirk Shaw and Jackie Cooke, serve lighter French cuisine with international influences in a contemporary setting at Avec Bistro.
“We love French food and French wine and the whole romantic notion of sitting in a bistro in Paris,” says Jackie. “But we wanted to provide a little bit of that French experience at a more reasonable price point.” Kirk says Avec is meant to be an “everyday, accessible experience” where you can drop in for an easy après-work meal. But its exceptional wine and champagne lists paired with the creative flair of executive chef Dilan Draper's food are anything but everyday. Dilan just won an episode of Chopped Canada — a culinary competition on Food Network in which contestants create a three-course meal using mystery ingredients.
Like any French bistro worth its salt, Avec offers a taste of foie gras in the form of an appetizer prepared with the torchon method and served with mission figs and preserved apricots. For further indulgence, the menu also features truffle eggs, house-made frites with truffle aioli and a duck confit entree with crispy potatoes.
A French-inspired bistro co-owned by a trained sommelier. In warm weather, Avec features a pleasant patio that’s perfect for kicking back on with a glass of something pink. The restaurant’s wine list features both a still and a sparkling rosé, which pair well with its contemporary bistro-style dishes.
A Beltline French bistro, Avec’s scientifique eats include a beef and sous vide egg yolk appetizer. Cooked vacuum-sealed in a warm-water bath, the delicately creamy yolk is paired with thin, crisp potato waffle. Its gas of a main course delivers a laughably delicious N2O-whipped béarnaise knockout with flatiron steak and frites.