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Beyond Restaurant + Lounge Opening Gala
Address: 1015 Burrard St (map)
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Enter The Beyond
Beyond Restaurant + Lounge Opening Gala

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Editor
Monday, September 25th, 2006

Beyond Restaurant and Lounge in the Century-Plaza Hotel officially celebrated its opening this past Tuesday in great style. The media, as well as many other prominent Vancouverites were invited to this gala event marking the restaurant’s opening, which officially occurred over a month ago. It was indeed a lavish and largely enjoyable evening, perhaps the perfect move for a restaurant that was recently praised by the Globe and Mail for its edibles, but not for its tourist-heavy clientele. I have to believe that, at least in the short-run, the event has branded Beyond as a hot-spot in the minds of many Vancouverites.

The décor at Beyond is marked by an abundance of geometric shapes, both two and three dimensional. Cubic and spherical shaped fixtures pepper the room, while backlit rectangular shapes adorn several walls. Yet for all this stark modernity, the lounge areas, one featuring a fireplace, are surprisingly comfy. This juxtaposition works. The same concept was unfortunately employed with the music selection without the same effect. Dissociative shifts from top 40 music, to Christmas music, to Frank Sinatra marked the evening’s symphonic offerings, making it quite difficult for the party to sustain a coherent mood. I do hope the gala’s soundtrack is not also used during regular operation of the restaurant and lounge, as such a strategy designed at pleasing everyone may end up pleasing no one.

The gala’s fare, however, was almost universally positive. If the refreshments served at the party translate well to the dinner plate, I can definitely understand the Globe and Mail’s praise. Four cheese macaroni and cheese with chorizo was a highlight, the homespun comfort of mac ‘n cheese with the spicy seductiveness of the chorizo being an inspired combination. Well-seasoned miniburgers defied their collective moniker, although small in circumference, their towering height and thickness make two or three quite appetite sating. Other highlights included a seafood tower (the tower was carved from ice) full of fresh offerings, as well as a nice pea risotto.

Beverages, oddly enough, spoke more of long lost July than mid-September. They were highlighted by an excellent minty mojito and a refreshing watermelon champagne cocktail.

The event as a whole was well attended, and quite enjoyable. No expense was spared, as was obvious by white-clad performers serving as human art throughout the gala. My hat’s off to owners Lorrie Lisogar, Sergio Cocchia and Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, as well as the staff behind the event – it was a wonderful way to celebrate a restaurant’s opening.