The BC Wine Institute hosted its fifth annual ChefmeetsGrape festival of British Columbia food and wine on Thursday, September 17, at the Westin Bayshore.
The event was a veritable love-in for locavores, wine lovers and local foodies alike – BC wineries hooked up with top-drawer Vancouver restaurants to create sensational dishes paired with quality vino. This year’s food theme centered upon the OceanWise sustainable seafood program, so guests were treated to amazing appetizers based on delicious wild fish and shellfish such as salmon, sablefish and scallops.
I was in paradise.
You’re probably thinking, Get on with it already and tell us what you ate!
I must confess, I wasn’t able to try everything within the three-hour event, but I did make a valiant effort. (So did my pants, in order to not burst at the seams.)
Favourite Pairings
I have to hand it to all the restaurants that quite literally made culinary magic at this event – you guys are all pros. (Okay, that goes without saying, but…) Squeezed into booths of less than 100 sq. ft. and geared only with small tools and appliances, kitchen blow torches and single-burner butane stoves, each and every crew turned out incredible-looking (and -tasting!) dishes that wouldn’t look the least bit out of place in their actual establishment.
Goldfish Pacific Kitchen: Sandhill 2008 Pinot Gris + Pan seared sablefish
This is what I was spoiled with the moment I entered the Bayshore’s ballroom.
William Tse of Goldfish Pacific Kitchen crafted a sublimely tender and flaky sablefish topped with Thai basil pesto that sat atop a bed of scallions and a crispy miso-flavoured crust. Savoury and nutty, the flavours were a perfect marriage with the round, buttery, ripe apple and pear notes present in Sandhill 2008 Pinot Gris. I could have eaten an entire fillet of this dish.
Joe Fortes: Black Hills 2008 Alibi + Sablefish in creamed King corn, uni and smoked steelhead caviar
Regular creamed corn will never taste the same to me again. This piece of wild sablefish was dressed in an haute couture sauce of creamed corn accented with a Chanterelle mushroom hat, and accessories of uni (sea urchin) and salmon caviar. I actually drooled.
The Alibi, a 80% unoaked Sauvignon Blanc and 20% oaked Semillon blend, was a sweetly balanced, fruity pairing with the sablefish, mostly due to the sweet corn. However, noticing that I detected a hint of oak in the wine, the Black Hills staffer picked me out as a guinea pig to try his alternate wine pairing, Black Hills 2007 Chardonnay. What a treat that was.
Fully oaked as opposed to the Alibi, the Chard proved a more woodsy, creamy, and generally stronger pairing alongside the lovely sablefish and all its accoutrements; the tiny pustules of salmon caviar exploding decadent mini-bursts of salt in your mouth were in complete harmony with the wine.
Regrettably, I have no photos of this dish, nor of the next favourite:
Mosaic Restaurant @ Hyatt Regency Vancouver: Red Rooster 2006 Meritage + Duck confit shepherd’s pie
This was a perfect example of how big, dark reds can accompany more than simply heavy red meats. The lovely, creamy shepherd’s pie with fresh peas and duck confit tasted so rich against the Meritage, which yielded to the gamey duck flavours without any trouble. Luscious, with dark, juicy notes of berries, dried black Mission figs and pipe tobacco, the wine might as well have been made into this shepherd’s pie’s gravy. Mouth-wateringly satisfying.
Other Delectable Dishes When I Had Time to Grab My Camera
La Terrazza: Monster Vineyards 2008 Man Made + Pacific sablefish, Canadian maple glaze, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and figs with toasted Israeli couscous
It was nice to catch up with La Terrazza owner and chef Gennaro Iorio, who spotted me staring curiously at his booth and this sablefish creation, and came over to say hello. This dish was wonderful in that it was one of the only offerings at ChefmeetsGrape that wasn’t loaded with cream, lard, butter or miscellaneous fatty animal derivative. Anyway, it proved to be the perfect pick-me-up for my palate.
Despite having tried quite a few of Gennaro’s creations at various other events where we’ve worked together, I still haven’t had the chance to visit La Terrazza’s actual location in Yaletown. This light and flavourful dish, however, made quite the convincing argument that I should hurry up and book a dinner there soon!
Diva at the Met: Arrowleaf Cellars 2008 Pinot Gris + Pan seared salmon, squid ink risotto with clams, brown butter emulsion
Dino Renaerts’ dish was certainly one of the most filling of the evening. I’m not a huge fan of risotto or squid ink, but both were used here to great effect, and I rather liked the texture of chewy clams embedded within blacker-than-black creamy arborio rice. The amount you see here in the photo is about 2 square inches of salmon and 1 heaping tablespoon of risotto, but even that was enough for me to warrant a break from eating.
Arrowleaf Cellars’ Gris was fittingly rich, toasty and fuller-bodied than most whites, making it an appropriate salmon wine pairing. At a pocketbook-friendly $16, I think this will go down in my books as a reliable, affordable go-to dinnertime white wine.
(Tip: If you can lay your hands on some Arrowleaf Pinot Noir, do it. The reserve label vintage that was bottled a year prior to their “Solstice” re-brand is most excellent.)
ChefmeetsGrape is put on every September by the BC Wine Institute.
Tickets to the 2009 event were $75 each, and guests took home a complimentary Riedel O glass courtesy of Puddifoot, as well as copies of BC Business and Granville magazines.
See you there next year!
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