Low-budget gore film director set to launch high-end Vancouver restaurant

The worst film director on the planet has high hopes of opening the best restaurant in Vancouver, something he swears is not a publicity stunt.

Bauhaus, a modern German restaurant set to launch in Gastown this spring, is the brainchild of Uwe Boll, who once challenged and knocked out five of his most outspoken critics in a highly publicized boxing match.

With characteristic chutzpah, the one-man Blitzkrieg of Bad, whose blood-soaked, B-grade video-game adaptations garnered him a rare Worst Career Achievement award from the Razzies (a qualitative counterpart to the Oscars), has recruited A-list lieutenants for his fine-dining project.

Stefan Hartmann, former owner of the one-Michelin-starred Hartmanns Restaurant in Berlin, is executive chef. General manager Tim Adams comes with sterling pedigree from Londons CH & Co., a contract catering group that serves the British Royal Households.

Vancouver is, uh, different from what Ive done in the past, Mr. Adams says diplomatically. In his most recent position as general manager of Kensington Palace, he once kept an office in the apartments now occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Touring the site at 1 West Cordova St. (previously home to the original Boneta), the trio was decidedly upbeat, almost giddy.

It wont be fancy-pantsy, said Mr. Boll, climbing over a stack of wood flats as a construction worker behind him put his boots to bending a long steel rod. Like the food, it will be clean and classic with a lot of straight lines. Vancouver designer Andrea Greenway is giving the heritage building a Mid-Century modern makeover in wood, marble and brick.

Bauhaus, however, will be very expensive: A three-course la carte dinner will be about $80 to $100 a person, the seven-course chefs menu even pricier. Prestigious wines on the Enomatic preservation dispenser could run up to $50 a glass.

As Mr. Hartmann correctly points out, the proposed prices are still great value when compared to Europe. But the question remains: Is Vancouver ready to pay top dollar for eisbein (pickled ham hock)?

There are a lot of Ferraris and Lamborghinis in Vancouver, Mr. Boll said, shrugging. People have money here. When I talk to business people, they all go to the same few places. We want to be part of that mix. Were not competing with anyone. Were offering something different.

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Low-budget gore film director set to launch high-end Vancouver restaurant