Travels
Jamie Maw's Gourmet Vancouver
By Jamie Maw
Gremolata recently caught up with Vancouver Magazine Food Editor Jamie Maw to ask him a series of questions about why his home town is getting so much attention for the food and wine press:
Gremolata: Vancouver is hot right now. How come?
Jamie Maw: I suppose you’re in good company, at least in thinking that Vancouver has become one of the continent’s premier culinary destination. Certainly the international culinary media—long in advance of the impending Olympics—have also figured that out.
Or as James Chatto of Toronto Life said in the Globe a few weeks ago about the differences that describe the three major dining cities in Canada: ‘“I’m not surprised at the vibrancy of the Vancouver restaurant scene,” he says, “There’s an eager, concentrated population and a thriving sense of civic pride that stops just short of the smugness of Montréal and the nail-biting angst of Toronto.”’
One overarching reason might be its citizens’ absolute obsession with food and restaurants. Proof of this fact is that Vancouverites spend much more in restaurants per capita than Torontonians, and drink about a third more wine overall. And for additional proof, one has simply to look at the difference in traffic on such culinary websites as eGullet, where the Vancouver forum is by far the busiest in the country—with activity triple that of Toronto and double that of Montréal.
I happen to agree with James’s take on the difference between the cities: Vancouver doesn’t take itself quite as seriously, and the relaxed feeling that flows from its restaurants allows for accessibility and a real sense of adventure: more about a sense of taste than one of occasion. It’s a very condensed, liveable city. Perhaps the ethic goes more like this: If you’re talking too much about the food, you’re dining with the wrong people.
Short answer: Just as Vancouver is a confluence of many cultures, so too is its rapidly merging culinary DNA, driven by these factors:
1. A strong economy for the past 12 years
2. Culinary diversity, profusion and competition through strong immigration
3. Less expensive restaurant prices (non-expense account town) than Toronto
4. Relaxed liquor service laws
5. A strongly identifiable regional cuisine based upon . . .
6. Outstanding local ingredients, a longer growing season and the Pacific Ocean
7. An explosion of small-production specialist farms, ranches, cheese-makers etc.
8. More than 100 wineries
9. Collaboration between chefs
10. Media attention
Allow me to highlight a few of these elements, the confluence of which has forced a vibrant dining landscape throughout the city, and the outlying areas of lower Vancouver Island, Whistler, and the Okanogan Wine Country.
Diversity, Profusion and Competition through Strong Immigration
Following the city’s unusually successful World’s Fair in 1986, Vancouver attracted a new wave of immigration, especially from Hong Kong (in anticipation of the political turnover of that city in 1997), and more recently from other Asian countries, especially Korea. Vancouver has long had a large Indo-Canadian population. Much of the immigration of the past 20 years has been relatively wealthy, in part due to the qualifications required by the Business Immigration Program, and in part due to rapidly escalating real estate values. Today, almost 40 per cent of the population is Asian and restaurants have followed the shifting demographic; as just one bellwether there are 340 Japanese restaurants in the city proper with many serving accessible izakaya or ramen menus.
Expo 86 had another effect: the intensive planning of core villages within the city that densified development, infrastructure and then population. Yaletown is a prime example. Located just minutes from the city’s financial core, Yaletown is a combination of renovated warehouses and slender residential point towers. Today, there are almost 100 restaurants located in a 15 minute walking radius. The same is true in Kitsilano, South Granville, the West End, downtown and, increasingly, Coal Harbour.
Vancouver also learned from the urban planning mistakes of its older siblings and has benefited from disallowing freeway systems to penetrate the city’s core, thereby avoiding the urban and suburban sprawl of many older cities. For the restaurant industry that has meant a dense live/work audience right upstairs and as a result, an extraordinarily rich and diverse culinary opportunities relative to the size of the market.
A Strongly Identifiable Regional Cuisine, Small Plates and Liquor Service Relaxation
Vancouver enjoys a strongly identifiable regional cuisine; Toronto does not. If fusion belonged to the ‘90s, now the diner sees merged menus: many Asian spices and techniques meld seamlessly with European ones. Take Umami, a Yaletown restaurant with a Japanese name operated by a Japanese-Canadian serving an Italian- and Japanese-influenced small plates menu (small plates menus, as a by-product of Asian influences, made their North American debut in Vancouver in 1996, long before anywhere else in North America).
Here’s a sample from Umami, (with by-the-glass pairings) that demonstrates a typical ‘Merger & Acquisition’ menu:
Albacore tuna spring rolls $10
Cooked rare and wrapped with Nori and shisho leaves with a thin light tempura batter coating. Accompanied by a wasabi-soy dip and balsamic red wine drizzle on the plate. Perfect pair witha glass of Blue Mountian Brut (B.C.'s best bubble) for $9 a glass. Note the local albacore (superior to Hawaiian ahi) and wine.
2nd course: Dungeness Crab Rolls $10
Two sticks of phyllo-wrapped crab accompanied by a wasabi mayo and soy dip and avocado and tomato salad. Paired with a couple of glasses of Yaluma Viognier $9.
3rd course: Braised eel and foie gras $15
In North American terms "surf and turf" or as they say in Spain " Montana y Mer" a combination of Quebec organic foie gras with West coast eel on a bed of poached daikon with fresh dashi broth. Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz (Australia) and Township 7 Merlot (BC)
4th course:Cheese plate 3 choices for $9 or 5 for $14.
St. Andre (pungent Brie-like), Manchego, and local Poplar Grove Tiger Blue (mild creamy blue) paired up with the Lustau Amontillado Sherry $6 and local Adora Estate late harvest wine (Viognier, chenin blanc, Gewurztraminer, and pinot blanc).
Vancouver’s regional cuisine can be seen nightly in many other pioneering restaurants such as Lumiere, West C, Raincity Grill and Bishop’s.
Liquor Laws, Accessibility and Expense Accounts
Two years ago, the provincial government relaxed liquor service laws in BC restaurants so that consumers could order a drink without having ‘intention to eat’. This bolstered higher margin liquor revenues and improved profitability and staying power.
As mentioned, Vancouverites drink considerably more wine than Torontonians and also spend significantly more in restaurants per capita, albeit at lower prices. That’s due to extraordinary competition and the fact that Vancouver is not an expenses-account city.
Collaboration
When Toronto Life’s James Chatto recently visited Vancouver we dined together a number of times. As well as noting the extraordinary concentration of restaurants and our more casual approach to them (ie. fine dining without tablecloths), he was also impressed by the sense of collaboration and ingredient-sourcing between chefs. In Toronto, he noted, it’s “dog-eat-dog.”
This is further underscored by the Chefs’ Table Society of BC, a collaborative of almost 100 chefs dedicated to the aggressive sourcing of regional, sustainable ingredients. The Chefs’ Table Society recently published Vancouver Cooks, the bestselling cookbook whose profits reward emerging apprentice chefs with locums in leading kitchens in Vancouver and Europe.
Media Attention
If one were to only read American culinary glossies, one would still think that San Francisco or even Los Angeles were still dominant West Coast dining destinations. But that tide of opinion has undergone a massive sea change: Not only is Vancouver 30% less expensive than those cities (and about 20% less than Toronto), it’s better. That has slowly sunk into the middlebrow American readership and more sophisticated culinary tourists. Now, and in anticipation of the Olympics (much like Sydney, when its dining scene was ‘discovered’), culinary editors and journalists are finding their next new destination. Once here, it’s hard to get rid of them.
Gremolata: If a hungry couple from Ontario arrived on your doorstep with a weekend to eat the best of Vancouver, where would you send them?
Jamie Maw: Ah, the Sophie’s Choice question. Well, to experience just a shade of the diversity, regionality and profusion noted above, I’d recommend something like this:
Friday:
1. Lunch: Cioppino’s Enoteca for rotisserie chicken, puréed potatoes and spring vegetables from Pino Posteraro’s rotisserie, taken on his Yaletown patio with a noggin of Quail’s Gate Reserve Pinot Noir.
2. Friday night starters: Tojo’s, to see the ‘Elvis of Sushi’ up close and personal for the best cut fish in Canada.
3. Dinner: West Restaurant for David Hawksworth’s by turns incandescent then subtle cooking—his uni or spring pea soups, followed by milk-fed guinea fowl with roadside porcini.
Saturday:
1. Dim Sum at Sun Sui Wah. A seven pound king crab, the body served in black bean sauce, the legs in garlic sauce, should suffice.
2. Lunch: Hot and sour soup, garlic baby squid (you’ll never eat wedding ring calamari again) and Chinese broccoli at Phnom Penh.
3. Walkabout Afternoon Snack: Oyster Po’ Boy or cod and chips at Go Fish! At Fisherman’s Wharf.
4. Dinner: Lumière Tasting Bar: Extraordinary value with a dozen plates priced at $14: Rob Feenie’s red kuri squash and mascarpone raviolis are petit morts in your shorts.
5. Afterwards: Chambar—the Belgian and Congolese treat that goes late. Top up with the moules frites or lamb tagine just around midnight. Or Parkside, where Andrey Durbach also goes late with a top-drawer card and industry crowd.
Sunday:
1. Breakfast at Provence Marinaside: fish soup or more traditional croissants and
shirred eggs with homemade preserves—overlooking a marina on False Creek.
2. Lunch: Forest fire ramen at Kintaro.
3. Dinner starters: Tableside-flamed mackerel at Hapa Izakaya.
4. Dinner: On the patio at C Restaurant, the country’s best seafood restaurant which happily also looks out over its most muscular scenery—where the mountains crash into the broad Pacific.
Gremolata: In terms of TV fame and the international reputation of Lumière, Rob Feenie is probably Canada’s only true celebrity chef. What do you think of his cooking?
Jamie Maw: I cooked just this week with Rob for my fiancées birthday dinner in the Okanagan. Eighteen of us sat under the apple blossoms overlooking the lake. On the whole I would have to say that Rob made a very good sous chef and that if he continues to apply himself then I predict a bright future.
But seriously, Rob didn’t find the top and the Canadian notion of celebrity because he’s telegenic. His reputation is founded in extraordinary technique honed at Au Crocodile in Strasbourg (three Michelin macarons) and countless locums in Europe and Canada. I’ve watched him cook under extreme pressure in many forums: at Relais Chateau/Gourmands events in the States and Europe and other exhibitions and competitions. He’s definitely the genuine article.
So my short answer would have to be that I like his cooking very much indeed.
But it goes far beyond that, for his celebrity has benefited Vancouver and Canada enormously, most recently when he gave Morimoto a sound drubbing on Iron chef America. He has drawn a lot of attention—media and otherwise—here that has floated all the boats higher. He also gives back a tremendous amount to the local culinary community.
That being said, he is fiercely passionate, driven and occasionally opinionated—but his pure energy alone separates him from the herd.
Gremolata: I imagine one of the advantages of living in Vancouver is access to fresh seafood. Do you take advantage?
Jamie Maw: Damn right I do. Halibut is running right now, then we’ll be moving into spring and sockeye season. Some of the cold river salmon will be coming down from the north in a week or so.
One of the real pleasures of living in Vancouver is the extraordinary selection of seafood and at very reasonable prices: fresh wild salmon this week are in the $6 to $9 per pound range, about 25% that of New York City. Serving farmed salmon is the equivalent of being a leper in the 13th century.
Of the 82 species of indigenous fish in our coastal fishery, many are superior to imported product. Sablefish (lightly smoked or not) has long since replaced Chilean sea bass; local albacore has replaced ahi (an inferior fish foisted on North American diners for far too long).
Best of all, former ‘garbage catch’ fish such as sardines and mackerel are widely available. Local octopus, uni, and squid are excellent as well.
But the big issues regarding seafood have to do with the environmental catastrophes of salmon farming and the impact of sea lice and pollution on our wild stock. I would not eat at a restaurant that serves farmed product, endangered species such as blue fin, or commercially extinct species such as orange roughy or Chilean sea bass. Sustainability is a huge issue here.
As you mention the word ‘fresh’ in your question, I should address the issue of fresh versus frozen. Although I buy a lot of fresh seafood, that’s because I know that it’s less than 36 hours out of the ocean and has been well managed in transit. But quite often FAS (frozen at sea) product, thawed very slowly in the refrigerator, is actually better conditioned than ‘fresh’ because it hits the flash-freezer immediately after being caught. The best examples of the high quality of FAS can be found in the city’s excellent Japanese restaurants that predominately use frozen finfish.
Gremolata: On the topic of ingredients, what about produce? What’s in season now?
Jamie Maw: The asparagus season is just ending, although I grilled several kilos of the chubby fellows this week in the Wine Country with some Okanagan spring lamb and blue cheese-scalloped potatoes. The cheese was from Naramata’s Poplar Grove—it’s called Tiger Blue. In fact the entire dinner was local, come to think of it, especially the wines—from Mission Hill, La Frenz, Poplar Grove, Blue Mountain, Cedar Creek and Quail’s Gate.
But now the season begins in full. In the Wine Country, which is desert rimming the 100-mile long Okanagan Lake, and where the temperatures ran to 30 degrees this week, the stone and tree fruits will just have to wait—right now it’s all about early greens and herbs. Up the street, Milan at Stoney Paradise Tomatoes will begin to deliver his Russian blacks, tiger-stripes and other heirlooms, and the local organic farms that ring us will begin to chime in too.
Then the coastal valleys will announce their stuff—the Fraser, Cowichan and Pemberton valleys are rich agricultural producers to Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler. Giddy-up!
Gremolata: In Ontario we know about Sooke Harbour House and David Woods’ goat cheeses, but what else is going on outside of Vancouver?
Jamie Maw: An explosion in the major agricultural valleys and cities. I would counsel you to follow the money: rapidly rising real estate values, the boomer proclivity for second homes, and restaurant demand for small-lot, specification-grown organics have combined to fuel an extraordinary expansion in native products and the restaurants that promote them.
So let me carve the lower province into several digestible areas—here’s a brief tasting menu of local heroes:
The Okanagan Wine Country
There are many winery restaurants. The best are at Mission Hill (chef Michael Allemeier is a zealous forager and farm deal-maker, right down to the boar cheeks he sources from North Okanagan Game Meats.) Quail’s Gate, Burrowing Owl and Cedar Creek also have superior dining rooms, each with lovely valley and lake views.
Independents include Fresco, where Rod Butters determinedly cooks local, and Bouchons and La Boulangerie deliver quality French. Vintopolis and the Waterside are terrific wine bars, specializing in local bottles.
Victoria
Brasserie L’Ecole, Café Brio, The Globe, Deep Cove Chalet, and Paprika are very good and reasonably priced. There are a lot of smaller wineries and cheese producers on the Island now, and six months of the year the produce is extraordinary. Dock 503 in Sidney is also worth a visit for stellar seafood.
The Brentwood Bay Lodge is a logical headquarters; GM Matthew Opferkuch’s restaurant and wine list have quickly won advocates.
Tofino
The wild west coast of Vancouver Island is rough and disturbingly beautiful—the wind carves the arbutus and fir trees into mystical shapes and the winter ‘Storm Season’ (brilliant inverted marketing) is celebrated by German tourists. Excellent food at the Wickaninnish Inn from Andrew Springett, and at the Middle Beach Lodges, while SoBo garnered strong reviews in EnRoute magazine and elsewhere for its killer fish tacos.
Whistler
The Pemberton Valley (especially Jordan Sturdy’s North Arm Farm) drives spring and summer menus. There are dozens of excellent dining rooms, but beware—Whistler is more expensive than Vancouver. Best bets: Araxi, Rim Rock, Fifty Two 80 at the Four Seasons, Bearfoot Bistro Wine Bar, Aprés and La Rua are all sound choices, with many featuring raw bars.
Gremolata: Central Canadians carry a stereotype of Vancouverites as being super-health nuts, too busy windsurfing and snow boarding to stay up past 9pm. Shatter our preconceptions and tell us where to eat late in the city.
Jamie Maw: Of course you’re absolutely right—out here the hills are alive with the sound of muesli.
But your remark is also funny because our stereotype of Toronto is ‘New York-but-managed-by-the Swiss’ –-i.e. a city that wears its undershorts a little tight.
But don’t hate us for being beautiful. The truth is that culinarily, Vancouver has much more in common with Seattle and San Francisco than with Winnipeg or Toronto. It’s all about the ingredients, right?
Of the many places to dine late, our favourites would include Umami, Parkside, Bin 941 or 942, Chambar, Lift or the plethora of noodle shops that play sop to the earlier-invoked Heineken Manouevre.
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