New FEAST! Vancouver celebrates gathering over food and drink
Culinary fest features collaborative dinners, masterclasses, cocktails, a grand tasting, and more with chefs from across Canada
Hawksworth.
FEAST! Vancouver takes place April 11 to 15 at various venues
FEAST! VANCOUVER IS launching with a lineup of top chefs from across Canada, including the city’s own Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson of Michelin-starred Published on Main; Shira Blustein and Devon Latte of Michelin-recommended vegetarian restaurant The Acorn; and David Hawksworth of Michelin-recommended Hawksworth and Nightingale; among many other names.
The new food-and-drink-festival grew out of a local trio’s wish to celebrate not only food and drink but also the return to gathering, with a portion of tickets sales benefitting the BC Cancer Foundation.
“FEAST! Vancouver is a passion project by three women who share a vision of bringing our communities closer through food and events,” co-founder Melody Yip tells Stir. “Vancouver has always been a place with a big appetite for exploring cuisines, but it has been difficult to do so in recent times due to the pandemic. The polarizing opinions and nature of the pandemic have impacted our communities, and we feel inspired by seeing the celebrations in our industry making a return to physical connections.
“Our goal with FEAST! Vancouver is to celebrate the wonderful diverse talents our city has to offer, all in one place,” Yip says. “We believe that the universal love language of food is a powerful way to bring our communities closer together.”
The Acorn. Photo by Sean David
Les Dames D’Escoffier (BC Chapter) is a FEAST! Vancouver partner, with chef Erin Vickars, Douce Diner’s Dawn Doucette, and The Preservatory’s and Preservatory Toast Bar’s Lee Murphy dishing at their table. Other participating culinary artists include Vancouver’s Eleanor Waterfall, Cadeaux Bakery; Betty Hung, Beaucoup Bakery; Bobby Milheron, Maxine’s Cafe and Bar; Claudia Tse, tea sommelier at TeaKan; James Heras, Seven Seas Fish Market; Kevin Ao, Bon Moment Bake Shop; Masa Shiroki, Artisan SakeMaker; Matthew Blais, Vancouver Fish Company; Buy BC Chef Ambassador Ned Bell (who recently returned to Vancouver following three years at Naramata Inn, where he’s a minority partner); and independent chef Quang Dang. From Toronto are GIA’s Francesco Spinelli and The Vale’s Jonathan Gushue; then there are Juston Leboe of Banff Hospitality and Mandel Hitzer from Winnipeg’s Deer + Almond.
The signature event is FEAST! Tasting at Performance Works on Granville Island on April 15, with canapes, desserts, wine, cider and cocktails.
Published on Main. Photo by Sarah Annand
Collaborative dinners happen April 12 and 13, with match-ups being: The Acorn and Toronto’s Gia Restaurant; Hawksworth and Toronto’s forthcoming The Vale; Maxine’s with chefs Ned Bell and Justin Leboe; Published on Main and Winnipeg’s Deer + Almond; and Vancouver Fish Company and Quang Dang.
Cadeaux Bakery.
Hands-on culinary expert classes include on April 11 and 12 include the ultimate baking kitchen party with Cadeaux Bakery; how to master the poke bowl with sake pairings by 7 Seas and Artisan SakeMaker; home hacks for seafood with Vancouver Fish Company; and a specialty tea-and-food-pairing workshop featuring Bon Moment and TeaKan.
FEAST! Ready-to-Drink Cocktail Show on April 14 is all about premium canned drinks, fast becoming a consumer favourite.
It’s all to bring people together, Yip says, with the charity component being greatly important to the cofounders.
“It represents how all communities are tied, and the festival is a way to bring our communities closer by connecting through food,” Yip says. “We chose the BC Cancer Foundation as the beneficiary of our efforts because it is something that has impacted us all, and we wanted to gather efforts to give back as a collective through joint efforts.”
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