Ocean Wise turns 5!
1 Comment
Degan Beley
January 29, 2010
Most people would want to sit back and relax after working tirelessly for years, but not so for Ocean Wise. Upon reaching their 5th anniversary they pulled out all the stops and threw a party that included many members of the media and several Ocean Wise restaurants.
Ocean Wise is a Vancouver Aquarium conservation program that identifies sustainable seafood choices for restaurants and suppliers and makes it easy for diners and consumers to make ethical choices. Just look for the Ocean Wise icon on menus. They’ve been at it for 5 years without any funding (the Vancouver Aquarium is footing the bill) and have gotten almost 300 partners onto the program in that time. This year they also achieved national reach accross Canada.
Our dinearound started at the aquarium where we raised a glass to all that they’ve accomplished before being whisked away to surprise dinner destinations dependent on the colour of pre-assigned ribbons.
Like a bus full of kids on a field trip we shouted out possibilities each time the bus turned a corner: “Nook! L’Altro Buca!” as we spun through the West End, then “Grouse Mountain!” as we headed over the Lion’s Gate bridge. When we stopped in front of the Edge Bistro (3135 Edgemont Blvd.) in Edgemont Village, we all discovered a delightful locale new to all of us.
The Edge
At the Edge we had plump BC mussels in a coconut curry broth followed by a decadent pecan-encrusted salmon stuffed with shrimp and Dungeness crab. Chef Robert Clark of C Restaurant was dining with our group and explained that BC mussels have a much higher meat-to-shell ratio than PEI mussels – a helpful fact we lamented as we became more and more full over the course of the evening. We washed these dishes down with a Pacific Breeze chardonnay from New Westminister and their smoky, spicy Killer Cab then it was back on the bus to head to stop #2.
Hotel Vancouver
We were more familiar with this property but no less surprised when the bus pulled up in front of the Hotel Vancouver. Here we were seated at the back bar of Griffins and served gorgeously plated bites starting with the beet-cured salmon crêpe pictured above, paired with the fresh apple Nk’Mip Riesling. Next was a mini niçoise salad with quail egg, caviar, green bean, tuna sashimi and olive tapenade. Paired with the Quail’s Gate gewürztraminer, this dish was fresh and clever and perfectly executed.
As for hot dishes, there was a smoked sablefish with crisp pancetta and greens accompanied by a Hugues le Juste pinot noir and a seared Arctic char on apple beignet with Granville Island Lager foam and apple-sherry vinegar reduction.
A custom cocktail from the bar, “The Torch” (red pepper, grapefruit, and ruby vodka) finished it all off nicely.
C Restaurant
But no, we weren’t done yet: there was still the finale at C Restaurant. As Chef Robert Clark didn’t like the idea of being the first guests to the party, we nipped into Nu for a cocktail from the carousel bar.
At C, we had another taste of Ocean Wise seafood in the form of a huge Baynes Sound (Denman Island) scallop and Denman Island herring with various forms of pea shoots. The wine for this dish was a beautiful 1998 Selbach-Oster, Reisling, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr that was just the right acidity to balance the oil of the fish.
And then finally – finally! – it was time for dessert – Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese and Vanilla Mousse with stone fruit preserved and spiced liquid marshmallow. It was a not overly sweet dessert which allowed for a pairing of not one but two dessert wines; Forbidden Fruit’s “iced apple dessert wine” and Vista d’oro’s delicious fortified port style wine with walnut brandy. It was a sweet end to an entirely sweet evening.
Finishing up there was time to thank our gracious hosts and congratulate them again on making Ocean Wise what it is today. We also had an opportunity to compare notes with the other buses and their dining experiences. In addition to the restaurants listed here, Aria, Burrard Bridge Marine Bar and Grill, the District, Fraiche, Revel Room, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, Tapenade Bistro, and Zen participated. It was great to see the range of restaurants with sustainable Ocean Wise choices available, from high end hotels to casual neighbourhood spots. Check out the complete list of restaurants and partners and show your support.
Categories: Downtown, Events, False Creek, Food, North Vancouver, Restaurants, Wine
Introducing Tinier Bites
13 Comments Karen HamiltonJanuary 19, 2010
She is why you haven’t heard from me in a while.
Our little bundle of joy came into the world at 5:32pm on Friday, January 15th. Now that we’re back from a weekend stay at the hospital after a complicated labour, we are in the throes of new parent bliss as she entertains us, strains us, and keeps us on our toes.
Being a human food factory is more exhausting than being a human incubator, so you will likely not hear directly from me in the next 6-10 weeks as I recover from surgery and focus on my daughter. However, I’m confident that Degan and Bruce will have plenty of content to keep you busy, since Bruce just got back from Argentina and Antarctica and Degan’s been out and about at the events that Team Tiny Bites gets wind of.
If you actually do want to hear about mommyhood and such, visit Flickr for photos and Twitter as @karenhamilton. I may also post from time to time on my personal blog.
Hope your new year has started as memorably as ours has!
Categories: Food, Miscellany
Bruce eats New York: from cheesecake to yogurt and everything in between
4 Comments Bruce NguyenJanuary 5, 2010
This is the third post in a three-part travel series called Bruce eats New York, where Tiny Bites contributor Bruce Nguyen chronicles his ‘New York virgin’ dining experiences during the summer of 2009.
New York is home to some of the most upscale restaurants in the world but it can also be done on a budget. After all, the foods that bear the city’s name include the bagel, the pizza, and the cheesecake. Speaking of which, let me first state that the advertised “World’s largest cheesecake” really wasn’t all that large.
Below is a selection of tasting notes from the rest of the trip.
Ippudo
Ramen – very tender slices of pork. Noodles were well textured and not overdone. The decadence of eating ramen with what is more ladle than a spoon has to be experienced. Still, it was the pork belly cutlets which really shone. And that’s saying a lot.
Friends appreciated the ramen here more than at that at Momofuku Noodle Bar.
Ippudo
65 4th Avenue | East Village, New York
(212) 388-0088
Cafe Fiorello
Cafe Fiorello was recommended by the same trusted hotel concierge that recommended Ippudo, so our a group of twelve met there with promises of some of the best pizza in town.
Meal post-mortem: preference still leans towards properly prepared Chicago style deep dish pizza. Maybe I just need to try a non-white-tablecloth pizzeria. Their sangria, however, is pretty amazing. Can’t put my finger on what made it stand out…cinnamon and something else that I couldn’t identify.
Cafe Fiorello
1900 Broadway | Upper West Side, New York
(212) 595-5330
Pinkberry
Pinkberry, where the frozen yogurt craze first gained popularity. The plain yogurt itself didn’t have that slightly sour tang I’ve become accustomed to. The toppings I tried (blackberries, mochi, coconut, manga) were all fresh tasting with the mochi winning much praise.
Yes, I realize the picture below is not what I just described above. Blame my horrible photography patience when food is involved.
Pinkberry
330 W 58th St | Columbus Circle, New York
(212) 397-0412
Katz’s Deli
My experience with deli meats are of the cold cut variety. It may have been the glitz of being in New York with some of my closest friends combined with the lack of sleep, but that late-night pastrami seemed like tender cuts of heaven served between two slices of bread.
Katz’s Deli
205 E Houston St | Lower East Side, New York
(212) 254-2246
And there you have it: my effort to eat my way though a weekend in the Big Apple. Throughout this series, I’ve made mention of the eateries that were memorable. The full photo gallery below contains pictures from lesser pit stops, including the not-so-large-world’s-largest-cheesecake.
Categories: Food, Restaurants, Travel, USA
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