September is bringing a solid lineup of food events to Vancouver, from chef collaborations and special tasting menus to dinners putting BC ingredients front and centre. If you’re looking for a reason to try somewhere new, or just want an especially good meal, there are a few dates worth saving. Here are some of the food events happening around the city this month.
A Taste of Canada at PICA: September 3
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts is kicking off the month with an A Taste of Canada Pop-Up Dinner on September 3. The four-course dinner is chef-led and student-executed, with a menu focused on ingredients from BC and the Pacific Northwest.
The evening starts with fresh bannock and cultured local honey butter, followed by a duck confit croquette with pickled BC blackberries. Other courses include BC mussels with smoked bacon and cider, Montreal-smoked BC bison with celeriac rémoulade, and pan-roasted Pacific lingcod with sweet corn velouté. Dessert is a tarte fine aux pommes with BC cider caramel, honey crème fraîche and toasted oat crumble.The dinner runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at PICA’s campus at 1515 West 2nd Avenue. Tickets are $89 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
SUYO con Amigos x Folietta: September 10
For the latest SUYO con Amigos dinner, SUYO Modern Peruvian is teaming up with Folietta’s Chef Bobby Milheron for an eight-course dinner on September 10.
Chef Ricardo Valverde and Milheron will take turns presenting courses that bring Peruvian and Italian flavours together, with wine and cocktail pairings included. The dinner is part of SUYO’s ongoing chef collaboration series, which brings different chefs together for one-night-only menus.
There are two seatings, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., with 40 seats available at each. Tickets are $269 per person, including wine and cocktail pairings, tax and gratuity.
Torafuku x Cafe Malabar: September 14 & 15
Two Vancouver and Victoria restaurants are coming together for a two-night collaboration at Torafuku.
On September 14, Victoria’s Cafe Malabar will take over the restaurant for Kadal Amma: Mother of the Sea, a 10-course dinner inspired by Kerala’s Malabar Coast. The menu uses Pacific Northwest seafood and ingredients alongside the restaurant’s Kerala cooking, with plenty of spice, smoke, fermentation and coconut. Tickets are $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
The following night, September 15, Torafuku and Cafe Malabar will collaborate on Where the Tides Meet, a seven-course dinner combining the restaurants’ different approaches. The menu includes dishes like galbi wagyu beef tartare, vattayappam with beef roast and chili chamanthi, Manila clams with Thai basil and chili, and a truffled egg hopper with foraged mushroom pacha masala.
Tickets are $105 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Wine pairings are available for an additional cost on both nights, and cocktails will be available à la carte. Both dinners take place at Torafuku at 958 Main Street.
L’Abattoir x Savour the Wild: September 21
On September 21, L’Abattoir is teaming up with Savour the Wild for a one-night-only dinner centred around the flavours of the Pacific Northwest.
The 10-seat dinner brings together L’Abattoir Executive Chef Jasper Cruickshank, Savour the Wild Chef Colton Armstrong-Ashley and Bar Manager Alexa Gervais. The menu will make use of ingredients including geoduck, wild mushrooms, bull kelp, ramps and sea asparagus, with cocktails inspired by seasonal botanicals and coastal flavours.
Some of the planned dishes include albacore tuna tataki with bull kelp and onion dashi, charcoal-grilled octopus with mushroom BBQ glaze, Parisian gnocchi with lion’s mane mushrooms and preserved ramps, and preserved peaches with crème fraîche and fig-leaf granita.
The dinner starts at 7:30 p.m. and costs $225 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. With just 10 seats available, this one is definitely one to book early.