By: Cinda Chavich
Vancouver is a hotspot for foodies, and the 13th annual Eat Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival proved it, as the town was taken over by panel discussions about sustainable food sources, cooking classes and gala dinners this past weekend.
Chefs from across the country hosted collaborative dinners — Susur Lee with sushi master Hidekazu Tojo at Tojo’s, Montreal’s Jérémie Bastien and JC Poirier at new hot spot Ask for Luigi, and former Top Chef Canada competitors Carl Heinrich and Trevor Bird teamed up at Fable Kitchen.
The town was talking about who’s eating what and why. For example, sustainable seafood was the focus of special menus that also leaned heavily on local spring ingredients, especially foraged foods such as nettles, morel mushrooms, cattails and fiddleheads.
Meanwhile, baristas from J.J. Bean offered latte art tutorials and Jackie Ellis of Beaucoup Bakery opened her home to eager home bakers for a hands-on pastry class.
There were plenty of opportunities to rub shoulders with top chefs — Mark McEwan, Anna Olson and Vikram Vij were on the Celebrity Chef Stage at the huge B.C. Place food showcase, while locals such as Ned Bell (Yew), Rob Feenie (Cactus Club, pictured), and Joel Watanabe (Bao Bei) gave Talk & Taste Master Classes presented by Zwilling.
At B.C. Place, hundreds of restaurants, food artisans and exhibitors strutted their stuff, showcasing everything from Vancouver Island Sea Salt to Vista Doro preserves, Pure infused maple syrups and Olive & Ciboulette lobster oil. Restaurants shared “bites from around the world” — spicy tuna cones from Hapa Izakaya and Lebanese noshes from JamJar.
And, competition heated up among top industry players. Pastry queen Anna Olson (pictured) won the Celebrity Chef Throwdown with a savoury dish of seared halibut and shaved asparagus slaw, and Veronica Saye from Toronto’s Food & Liquor was crowned the winner of the inaugural Canadian Speed Rack. The spirited women’s bartending competition raised $5,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
