Andrea Carlson’s autumn tasting menu explores the sweeter side of bitter greens, with sea urchin chocolates and inventive drinks adding to the conversation.
Radicchio for dessert? Andrea Carlson has plenty of ideas. The Burdock & Co radicchio menu, Radiant Radicchios Under a Frost Moon, returns to the Main Street restaurant this autumn, taking chicories well beyond the salad bowl. Running until early December 2026, the $175 tasting menu works its way through sorbets, grilled leaves, jam and an elaborate dessert.
There is news beyond the vegetable patch, too: sea urchin chocolates developed with UniFresco, unusual wine and non-alcoholic pairings, and a change in the kitchen as longtime team member Katy Cheung moves on.
What’s on the Burdock & Co radicchio menu?
Carlson’s longtime growers at Glorious Organics cultivate more than 40 varieties of chicories. Their range gives her plenty to explore, from crisp puntarelle to the deep burgundy leaves of Treviso. These hardy crops also help extend the local growing season into colder weather.
On the restaurant’s posted tasting menu, puntarelle appears with spotted shrimp, celeriac almond milk and a puntarelle-and-quince sorbet. Sugarloaf chicory follows with potato and pine mushroom ragout, fermented potato foam and chicory crisps.
For the Rossa di Treviso course, leaves are filled with prosciutto, onion confit and Kabritt goat cheese, then bundled and grilled. Black garlic soubise brings another layer of savoury flavour.
Dessert is where the idea gets particularly interesting. Rossa di Chioggia features ricotta mousse, plum kernel hazelnut cake, radicchio jam, and radicchio-and-stone-fruit leather. A translucent radicchio-apple veil completes the dish. It is a considerable journey for a vegetable so often relegated to a few leaves in a mixed salad.
Sea urchin, meet chocolate
Carlson has also been exploring unexpected ways to serve sea urchin. Her latest collaboration with BC supplier UniFresco brings uni into dark and white chocolate petits fours, pairing its natural salinity with chocolate’s richness.
In the restaurant’s announcement, Carlson connects the project to the loss of Pacific Northwest kelp forests, where unchecked urchin populations can leave stretches of ocean floor barren.
“It’s an opportunity to do something completely different while bringing attention to a serious environmental issue,” says Carlson. “I love that combination of purpose and creative experimentation.”
Sea urchin also appears in gelato with candied Castelfranco radicchio and almond. For a savoury option, the restaurant has announced sea urchin pasta on its à la carte bar menu, with a sauce of sake, white wine, soy and butter.
Rare grapes, sake and thoughtful alcohol-free pairings
Wine director Maisie Ryan’s pairings offer their own discoveries. The premium selection pairs the sugarloaf chicory and pine mushroom course with 2019 Kidoizumi Deep Green Junmai, a sake made using a high-temperature Yamahai starter method. The restaurant describes a savoury profile with green apple, pear skin, herbs and a saline finish.
For the grilled Treviso, the classic pairing is Cantina Puianello Rosa Matilde, a sparkling rosé from Emilia-Romagna made from the rare Lambrusco Montericco grape. Its red-fruit and herbal character sounds like a promising match for the dish’s salty, creamy and bitter elements.
General manager Mya Brown has developed the non-alcoholic pairings. Her Seedlip Sour combines citrus, wormwood bitters, lime and salted green chilli oil. A housemade Verjus Vermouth brings together Müller-Thurgau verjus, quince, apple, herbs and warm spices.
A new chapter in the kitchen
Burdock’s October 22 announcement also marked Katy Cheung’s departure after seven years working with Carlson. Cheung plans to pursue pop-ups and collaborations internationally, drawing on her modern Cantonese repertoire and the seasonal approach she developed at Burdock.
Meanwhile, Kyumin Kim has been promoted from sous chef to executive sous chef.
The dining room has its own seasonal addition: Gathered, an installation by Anna Lambert of Neve Floral. Local grasses, joined with visible waxed-thread stitching, form flowing shapes that bring autumn’s textures indoors.
Plan your visit
- Menu: Radiant Radicchios Under a Frost Moon, available until early December 2026
- Tasting menu: $175 per person
- Pairings: Classic wine $99; premium wine $140; non-alcoholic $65
- Address: Burdock & Co, 2702 Main Street, Vancouver
- Phone: 604-879-0077
Reservations are encouraged. An à la carte bar menu is available for walk-ins. Visit Burdock & Co for the current menu and reservations; individual dishes may change with availability.
Find more local dining updates in our Restaurant News section.
