IT'S that time of year again: when everyone's thoughts turn to charity and good will toward all.
Oh right . . . no it isn't. In fact, this is the time of year when organizations like the Greater Vancouver Food Bank find their supply of food for those in need is starting to run dry.
"Our shelves between now and the end of summer really start to empty out," said Doug Aason, director of Community Investment for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. He was speaking last week, before the Real Canadian Superstore Celebrity Chef Challenge, a competition between local chefs to encourage Vancouver citizens to donate the most needed, nutritious, non-perishable items during the Extra Helping National Spring Food Drive in support of local families.
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society feeds, on average, 26,000 clients per week. Of that, 30 per cent are children and 17 per cent are senior citizens.
I was lucky enough to serve as a judge at the challenge, which was a 30minute cooking competition between Jean-Francis Quaglia, chef and owner of Provence Restaurants, and Dino Renaerts, executive chef of the soon-to-open Pier 7 Restaurant and Bar (located at the foot of Lonsdale).
I won't pretend otherwise. When the "mystery ingredients" that the chefs had to use in their dishes were revealed, I was questioning my luck. The aim was to whip up a nutritious, easy-to-prepare and delicious meal with five of the most needed food items as identified by The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Those five items are: a canned protein, in this case, chicken; canned corn, canned pear halves, canned tomatoes and chick peas.
Though we on the judging panel - which also included Aason, Breakfast TV's Dawn Chubai and food writer Claudia Kwan - collectively raised our eyebrows at the mystery items, Quaglia and Renaerts were unruffled and quickly got down to work, marinating chicken, toasting bread and warming tomatoes and chickpeas.
The end result? Amazing! Renaerts' simple potato salad, chicken and pear sandwich and warm chickpea salad took top prize, while Quaglia's Asian-inspired plate, with soymarinated chicken and citrusy chilled chickpea and corn salad was right behind.
A $500 donation on behalf of the participating chefs and judges was made to The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society to kick off Loblaw's fund-and foodraising efforts for the Extra Helping food drive.
...
On Monday, the local restaurant community gathered at a boisterous party to celebrate the winners of Vancouver Magazine's annual Restaurant Awards.
In the Best North Shore category, West Vancouver's Fraiche restaurant took the gold award. Silver went to La Regalade, and bronze to Zen Japanese Restaurant.
Honourable Mentions went to Gusto Di Quattro and The Observatory.
The biggest awards of the day went Hawksworth restaurant which won Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Best New, Best Upscale, Sommelier of the Year and Best New Design.
For a full list of winners, visit vanmag.com.
