Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 local food vendors to find at Squamish Constellation Festival

Here’s a guide to some of the B.C.-based makers keeping fest-goers well-fed

By Gail Johnson

Alice & Brohm Ice Cream Co.

The Teriyaki Boys.

Squamish Constellation Festival runs July 22 to 24 at Hendrickson Field

THE LINEUP FOR for the 2022 Squamish Constellation Festival is diverse, with music ranging from the love-fuelled alternative pop by Ghanaian-born UK/Vancouver-raised artist Mauvey to William Prince’s 21st-century country gospel of the Northern Interlake region to the polished alt-rock of Hotel Mira.

The food offerings are just as deliciously distinct.

Here’s a rundown of some of the locally made menu items to enjoy when you’re not singing along or dancing to the sounds that will fill the Sea to Sky corridor this weekend.

#1

Hunky Bills

Winnipeg-born Bill Konyk, better known as “Hunky Bill”, was a national food legend. A fixture of the Pacific National Exhibition, he dished out pierogies and other Ukrainian dishes there for over 50 years via his venture that began as a lark. Back in 1967, while having a beer with a friend at the Ritz Hotel, his pal bet him $10 that he would never get a booth at the PNE. Konyk went to the fair and pleaded and argued with staff for an hour until they let up and gave him one. He had no plan in place, but he knew how to make pierogies and how to connect with people, telling stories and getting customers to share theirs.

Even after retiring, he couldn’t stay away from the business, saying it was a godsend that helped keep him young. “I want to keep moving so [death] can't catch me,” Konyk told the Vancouver Sun in 2006. “If you sit down and lay back, the old man upstairs says, ‘Well, he doesn't want to do anything more constructive, it's time for him to come upstairs.’”

After Konyk died in 2019 at age 88, his sons took over the business (which also makes dishwasher-safe perogie moulds that are sold across Canada and the U.S.) and continue to keep the legend alive at fairs and fests across the Lower Mainland.

Look for classic potato-and-cheddar-cheese perogies as well as cabbage rolls, sausage, sauerkraut, and more.

Alice & Brohm Real Fruit Ice Cream.

#2

Alice & Brohm Real Fruit Ice Cream

Co-founders Katie Youwe, a B.C. native, and New Zealand-born Matt Harris were inspired to launch this venture in 2017 after so many trips to the latter’s homeland, where the frozen dessert made with an abundance of fresh fruit is a thing.

After their wedding in New Zealand, where a real-fruit ice-cram truck doled out cones to guests, the two brought a genuine real-fruit ice-cream machine back to their current homebase in Squamish, remodelled a 1972 Boler trailer, and started scooping raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, and other flavours of ice cream. They’ve since opened two swirl shops in the outdoor-recreation capital of Canada, home to Alice and Brohm lakes. They source their ingredients locally from Neufeld Farms and Birchwood Dairy in Abbotsford and Surrey’s King Cone; there’s a coconut-based option, too.

Luz Tacos.

#3

Luz Tacos

Taking its name from the Spanish word for “light”, Luz Tacos started with a 1958 Airstream trailer that caught the attention of Squamish resident Hector Aragon, despite its rundown state. Once he met fellow local citizen Rodrigo Rodrigue, a chef who has worked around the globe, the two set out to restore the vintage travel trailer, installing a professional kitchen so they could serve the cuisine they both grew up with and adore.

When the little caravan that could isn’t catering weddings or serving lunch and dinner at its weekly spot at A-Frame Brewing Co., Luz Tacos is dishing chilaquiles, burritos, quesadillas, and its namesake menu item at outdoor fest and events. Street-style tacos are served in double 5.5-inch corn tortillas, with fillings like steak asada, pork carnitas, refried beans, and chorizo and potatoes. Churros, Jarritos, horchata water, and Jamaica water, among other items, are also on the menu.

#4

Teriyaki Boys

Mamo Ijima spends winters cooking at Teppan Village, the only Japanese steakhouse in Whistler, and summers running Teriyaki Boys, the mobile eatery he first revved up in 2014. Roaming the streets of Whistler, Squamish, and Metro Vancouver, the food truck specializes in Japanese street food. Aside from teriyaki rice bowls with pork, chicken, tofu, or garlic shrimp, the food truck also serves up classic yakisoba, stir-fried egg-wheat noodles with cabbage, bean sprouts, green onion seasoned with a sweet-and-savoury sauce akin to Worcestershire sauce. 

Island Oasis Trailer.

#5

Island Oasis Trailer

The spirit of Hawaii is the theme of this trailer, which makes shave ice in dozens of flavours (including dragon fruit, ginger beer, macadamia nut, and pina colada, to name a few); espresso-based drinks with fair-trade, organic beans roasted by Squamish’s Counterpart Coffee; and thick smoothies with ingredients like acai powder, blue Hawaiian spirulina, coconut milk, dates, li hing mui powder, and pitaya powder. All of the smoothies can be made into bowls, which are topped with granola, sliced banana, dried goji berries, hemp hearts, chia seeds, and flax seeds. The retro trailer also carries vegan baked goods by To Live For, like double-chocolate marshmallow cookies and coconut-poppyseed lemon loaf.

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