Stir Pairing: Equinox at VanDusen, a ravishing rosé, and spicy Southeast Asian food to welcome spring
As winter officially comes to a close, we’re enlivening our senses with a virtual celebration of nature, Grow Wild wine, and takeout from Potluck Hawker Eatery
Potluck Hawker Eatery is ushering in brighter, longer days with a new all-day spring menu. Photo by Richard Won
VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Spring Equinox Gathering centres around its Medicine Wheel Ceremony, this year taking place online. Grow Wild wines come from the Okanagan Valley (pictured with a bouquet from Main Street’s Flower Factory).
Every week, Stir Wine Pairing suggests BC wine and food to go with a local arts event.
The event
VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Spring Equinox Gathering, March 21 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm PST via Zoom.
The drink
Grow Wild Ravishing Rosé 2020
The food
Takeout from Potluck Hawker Eatery
The lowdown
Just like the Grinch couldn’t stop Christmas from coming, COVID-19 can’t halt spring, nor will it cause VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Spring Equinox Gathering from going ahead. On March 21, with the Medicine Wheel Ceremony at its heart, the annual happening takes place online.
Elders Phil L’Hirondelle (Cree) and Gisele L’Hirondelle (Mi’kmaq ancestry) will lead the celebration, based on holistic teachings and the cycles of nature.
The arts are part of everyday life for Indigenous people, not placed in a separate silo; singing and drumming, are integral parts of the virtual gathering as are teachings and prayers. Participants are asked to have a stone in their hands to focus their energy and thoughts.
The event is free, but donations to the garden are welcome.
We’re having lunch with our bubble afterward, either somewhere outdoors for a picnic or in our living room…
The pairing
Wildflowers grow in abundance between rows at this Okanagan Valley VQA producer, which boasts a vineyard free of sprays and chemicals. There, tiny Technicolor blooms contribute to the health of the soil and help protect biodiversity. We love this wine label’s labels, with detailed paintings of pink petals; inside the bottle, it’s a revelation. Ravishing Rose (12.5 percent ABV) is a blend of 50 percent Merlot, 29 percent Syrah, and 21 percent Pinot Noir, dry and bursting with flavours of freshly sliced watermelon and wild strawberry. It’s ideal for the first day of spring. (Find it at private and government liquor stores for $16.99.) It’s also an ideal drink to have with food that wakes up your taste buds…
The menu
Potluck Hawker Eatery (3424 Cambie Street) has been a hit ever since it opened in August 2020—smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. Specializing in Southeast Asian street food, the colourful Cambie Village eatery is a joint effort by Justin Cheung, who’s of Malaysian heritage and is former executive chef of Angus An’s Longtail Kitchen and Free Bird Chicken Shack, and Dominic Sai, a Myanmar native who grew up in Singapore and who also worked at both acclaimed New Westminster restaurants.
The popular spot is welcoming spring with its first major menu change since it launched. All-day lunch and dinner items focus on bright and lively Southeast Asian flavours. Consider some of the salad selections: beet and apple with torn herbs, garlic oil, and a vegetarian lime-juice “fish sauce”; and green papaya that’s been shredded and pounded in a mortar and pestle and is served salted duck egg, tomato, peanut, and a hot-and-tart dressing. Braised leafy kale in Filipino shrimp paste and coconut comes topped with a crispy tofu cutlet in a dish chef Cheung calls Tofu “Lechon” with La-Ling.
He reinterprets Cambodian Prahok Ktis with Potluck Chili Dip, featuring fermented seafood, pork and coconut. Bitter and sweet, it comes with chili paste akin to sambal and raw, steamed, or fried seasonal vegetables, all finished with lime leaf, lemongrass, and tamarind. Also new to the all-day list: Potluck’s Kaya Toast (kaya being a jam made with coconut, eggs, and caramel) for dessert.
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