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Be at the Docks in Vancouver for the First Haul of BC Spot Prawns

By Joyce Chua, Vancouver Foodie Tours Sweet, delicate, light and delicious, British Columbia’s spot prawns are highly coveted by chefs and foodies from around the world. With their unique taste and spotted markings, fresh spot prawns, bred and harvested off the coast of British Columbia, are one of the most sustainable seafood choices on the market. On May 15, 2022, foodies and seafood lovers will gather together to greet the fishing boats and indulge in the season’s harvest. While the festival may be a one-day event, anyone is welcome to partake in the daily spot prawn spectacle at Fisherman’s Wharf. Just two minutes from Granville Island, anyone can walk down to the dock, chat with the fishermen, and buy a few pounds of live spot prawns caught just hours prior. The experience is so nonchalant, but that’s exactly the thrill. The exchange from fisherman to foodie is strikingly simple. Peter,…

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Chef Stories

Meet Chef Shallaw Kadir of Fishworks on Vancouver’s North Shore

By Gail Johnson North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood has seen massive growth and development lately, but when Shallaw Kadir opened Fishworks (91 Lonsdale) eleven years ago, he was an outlier: there was no other seafood restaurant in the community anchored by the SeaBus terminal and Lonsdale Quay. Focusing on sustainable, locally sourced ingredients, Fishworks has been earning accolades ever since, and Kadir still thrives in the heat of the kitchen. (In fact, he wears shorts year-round, even on the most miserable of days, his apron over top.) Here, he dishes on life as a North Shore chef. Due to COVID-19, Fishworks’ dining room is currently closed, but you can sample some of their best dishes, along with some wine, though their take-out service. How did you get your start in the restaurant biz? I moved to Vancouver in 1999 from Eastern Turkey as a teen. My first job in my…

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Seafood

Innovative Seafood Hotspots and Hidden Gems in Vancouver

By Brittany Tiplady Although it’s available year-round, spring and summer just feels like the right time to enjoy all of the fresh seafood that BC has to offer. Sure, you can grab a bowl of mussels or a platter of oysters just about anywhere, but where in Metro Vancouver can one go to try BC seafood prepared and served with innovation and uniqueness in mind? We sat down with Jenice Yu, proprietor of Fresh Ideas Start Here, seafood expert, foodie and fish purveyor to get the inside scoop. Let’s eat! Coquille 181 Carrall Street, Vancouver Coquille is the brand-new kid on the block, that’s already making quite the impression. When ordering, check out the spaghetti with clams, basil and uni butter, and the roasted lingcod or the extravagant seafood platter. “Coquille has a different approach to West Coast seafood. They are very innovative; Coquille uses a lingcod collar, which actually…

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Chef Stories

Family Fishmonger and Sustainable Seafood Powerhouse Jenice Yu Keeps it Fresh

By Brittany Tiplady Jenice Yu is a force. You may have seen her live on a CTV or CBC segment, or maybe you’ve followed one of her delightful seasonal recipes on BC Living, MONTECRISTO Magazine, or Western Living. Or, maybe, you’ve stopped into one of her fish shops, Fresh Ideas Start Here (f.i.s.h.), for some fresh seafood and a poke bowl to-go. Yu is a savvy business woman, an Ocean Wise advocate, seafood expert, a recipe developer and one of the most beloved entrepreneurs in Metro Vancouver. Her accolades are many. She’s been lauded as ‘Supplier of the Year’ by Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, just a few years after opening her first f.i.s.h. location, and is recognized province-wide for her knowledge and passion for sustainable seafood. At a young age, Yu and her family immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong. The fish processing business became a family business, paving the…

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Festivals & Events

May 2017 marks 11 Years of Vancouver’s BC Spot Prawn Festival

By Joyce Chua of Vancouver Foodie Tours This Year’s BC Spot Prawn Festival is coming up on May 13th, and it’s your chance to try these little local sea creatures that are coveted around the world for their delicate flavour, plump nature, and eye-catching “spotted” markings. 2017 marks the 11th annual Spot Prawn Festival, which will include a spot prawn gala, spot prawn cooking classes and the famous spot prawn boil. Festival founder, seafood entrepreneur and Ocean Wise advocate, Chef Rob Clark, reflects on over a decade that’s gone by. How it began: Starting the Spot Prawn Festival When Chef Robert Clark started the Spot Prawn Festival, he was the chef at C Restaurant – a fine dining establishment that until it’s closure in 2014, was known for its impressive seafood menu. The search for sustainable seafood and spot prawns sprouted out of necessity, as Chef Robert wanted to serve…

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Seafood

Video: Sustainable Seafood Systems on Canada’s West Coast

Delicious, ocean-fresh seafood tastes better when you know it is being caught with ethical, sustainable methods that will keep local waters bountiful for generations to come. Canada’s West Coast offers fish, crab, oysters and more caught fresh from the rivers and the ocean in our backyard. Featured in this video: Charlie Don’t Surf, The Vancouver Aquarium, Wild Rice, Steveston Seafood House

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Street Food

Vancouver’s Kaboom Box Food Truck Serves Up Ethical Ocean Wise Fare

By Joyce Chua, Vancouver Foodie Tours Long gone are the days of food carts peddling only hotdogs and pretzels – in Vancouver food trucks showcase multicultural menus and gourmet ingredients. Take Kaboom Box, for example which is a staple in the heart of downtown. Locals swarm Kaboom Box on the daily, hungry for hot smoked salmon sandwiches, Pacific cod fish and chips, and gulf island oyster po’boys. It’s an obvious case for seriously delicious coastal food. What may come as a surprise to first-timers, is that Kaboom Box is dedicated to certified Ocean Wise seafood and sustainably produced meat. Their greens are organic, and all items are sourced locally, whenever possible. The notes are subtle, and it takes a keen eye to spot the Ocean Wise sticker on the side of the truck. But perhaps that’s the greatest allure of Kaboom is that they’re hardly self-righteous – quality ingredients are…

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Canadian/American

Pier 7 Restaurant + Bar

By Vancouver’s North Shore Tourism Diners at Pier 7 Restaurant + Bar enjoy what has to be one of the most spectacular views of any restaurant on the North Shore. Located in Lower Lonsdale’s historic Victory Shipyards, the restaurant overlooks Burrard Inlet and the glittering towers downtown Vancouver. The heated patio is the perfect spot for enjoying a glass of wine while soaking up the evening sun and the dining room is warm, cozy, and perfect for savouring any of the memorable dishes on Executive Chef Matthew Phillip’s menu. The Pier 7 menu is seafood focused and emphasizes boat-to-table choices as well as seasonal, local fare. An Ocean Wise partner, they includes tasty sustainable seafood offerings including grilled west coast salmon and fresh-shucked oysters. Be sure to head down on a Thursday for “the boil,” an impressive seafood feast that includes Dungeness crab, snow crab, prawns, mussels, clams, grilled corn…

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