VANCOUVER — This January, executive chef Frank Pabst’s will be hosting his annual Unsung Heroes festival at Blue Water Cafe a month early in an effort to precede the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Long a champion of sustainably sourced seafood, chef Pabst’s month-long initiative spotlights lesser-known coastal species from responsibly managed fisheries.
But this year, the festival’s sixth, will see some innovative twists. “Chef Pabst laid down a challenge,” said wine director Andrea Vescovi, “to pair our merroir with our terroir. So we’sve matched the Unsung Heroes with a selection of exciting wines that highlight lesser-known varietals and wineries and some labels [that are] just harder to find.”
Alongside Blue Water Cafe’s regular raw bar and à la carte selections, chef Pabst will offer a selection of small plates featuring Unsung favourites — Humboldt squid, octopus, periwinkles and jellyfish, to name a few — many of which are found within the pages of his new cookbook, Blue Water Cafe Seafood, just named the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards’ Best Seafood and Fish Book in Canada.