Summer seafood is abundant, so why not put out a plate at your next gathering. Chef Dino Renaerts, Chef, Sommelier, and owner of The Bon Vivant Hospitality Group LTD & Bon Vivant Catering LTD has this tasty seafood creation for us.
Chilled Summer Seafood Plate
Serves 4
4 oz Dungeness crab meat
8 side stripe shrimp
8 scallops
1 Avocado From Mexico
2 rib of celery + (1 carrot, ½ onion, 1/2c white wine for court bouillon)
1 small cucumber
½ pint heirloom gem tomatoes
1 mango
1 bunch breakfast radishes
1 Belgium Endive
1 -2 jalapeño
Picked cilantro leaves
1-2 lime / 1 lemon
1 tsp mayo
1tbsp crème fraiche
Olive oil & seasoning
Method: peel celery & cucumber and brunoise, set aside in a bowl, add crab meat, seasoning, zest of ½ lemon, 1 tsp mayo, season lightly and mix, set aside. Heat a court bouillon up and lightly blanch scallops & side stripe shrimp (30 seconds – 1min) let cool and marinate with lime juice, S&P, finely diced jalapeno and cilantro, set aside. Cut Avocado in half, remove pit & place in a food processor with, ½ lime juiced, 1-3 tsp crème fraiche, S&P, & 2-3 leaves of cilantro. Pulse until smooth, and set aside. Peel & cut mango – cutting crosswise across ½ mango to achieve slivers. On a mandolin, slice silhouettes of radishes, & Jalapeno, and cover with ice water.
To Assemble: take a rectangular plate, and 1 tsp of avocado crema – place dollop on one corner of plate and use back of the spoon to smear across the top 1/3 of the plate. Add 1 tbsp of crab salad mixture in a line across the bottom of the smeared avocado. Place marinated side stripe shrimp & scallops artfully arranged around crab salad. Slice endive & gem tomatoes, add to a bowl, add drained radishes & jalapeño, dress with oil & seasoning and garnish plate filling in empty spaces, garnish with mango spears and serve….bon appetite!
About Chef Dino Renaerts
A love of wine inspires Renaerts’s cuisine. In 1999, he was the first chef in Canada to become a Certified Sommelier through the International Sommelier Guild. Renaerts’s expertise in oenology earned him the runner-up Sommelier of the Year award at the Vancouver International Playhouse Wine Festival in 2006 and 2010.
Studies at the Dubrulle French Culinary School and a three-year apprenticeship at the William Tell led to roles at Bishop’s and Le Gavroche. Renaerts cooked for celebrities and royalty at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel and Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and further honed his skills in the award-winning kitchens of Bistro Pastis and West. He later accepted executive chef positions at the Crown Plaza Hotel Georgia and the Metropolitan Hotel, home to the acclaimed Diva restaurant.
Recognition for his distinct, innovative approach to cooking has followed Renaerts throughout his career. He has garnered accolades for numerous regional and international competitions and was named ‘a culinary talent to watch’ by Vancouver and City Food magazines, and the Province newspaper. He has also earned Best Northshore Restaurant since moving across the bridge to West Vancouver.
Devoted to his province and his craft, Renaerts is actively involved in British Columbia’s culinary scene. In 2014, he showcased his talents at several high-profile events, including the David Hawksworth Culinary Adventure at the West Coast Fishing Club for the 8th year, Dish n’ Dazzle, and the Chefs’ Table Society of B.C.’s Curry Cup. Renaerts served first on the board and later as president of the BC Chef’s Association from 2004 to 2009; he continues to be an active board member with the BC Hospitality Foundation.
Global influences have helped fuel Renaerts’s passion for cuisine. He has represented Canada’s culinary excellence in Indonesia and California and has drawn inspiration from visits to Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York, the Napa Valley and Portland. Renaerts counts Argentina and France’s Champagne region as his next culinary destinations.
Renaerts’s education in wine led to his most important partnership: his marriage to restaurant-industry veteran, Nessa van Bergen, whom he met during an International Sommelier Guild course at Dubrulle Culinary Arts. Today, Renaerts and van Bergen are partners in The Bon Vivant Consulting Group and have two vibrant little girls who keep life busy and bright.
