Vancouver’s greenest restaurant follows up its win with a new sustainable menu loaded with spring flavours
One week after taking home the Green Award 2012 at the 23rd annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, Trafalgars Bistro follows the achievement by pushing green cuisine to the next level; introducing a warm-weather menu bursting with fresh flavours and sustainable ingredients.
Chef Matthew Villamoran — who counts local trailblazers Rob Clark and Ryan Zuvich as mentors — created the new roster of dishes in keeping with the neighbourhood bistro’s award-winning commitment to community and the environment.
“It fits with what I do,” says Villamoran. “I’ve long believed that if you use quality ingredients and treat them with respect, the end result will justify your extra effort.”
From brunch and lunch through to snacks and dinner, Villamoran walks the environmentally friendly talk: curating just-picked produce and natural meats from local farms; making his own condiments and even cheeses in-house; and seeking out lesser known and sustainably harvested seafood, (which make up 80 per cent of the new menu). He pulls it all together with finesse, crafting balanced, full-flavoured dishes highlighted by a hint of whimsy.
Starters include grilled octopus served with pickled and fresh chili, and watercress salad tossed with chili vinaigrette, or another that mingles pickled local beets, Okanagan goat cheese and hazelnut “mulch.”
Mains at lunch include comfortable classics like Abbostford fried chicken sided by warm potato salad, while dinner brings sustainable standouts like prosciutto-wrapped sturgeon or luscious rainbow trout.
Of course, it isn’t just Villamoran’s efforts that went into the bistro’s recent win — that was a team effort.
Last year, Lorne Tyczenski and Stephen Greenham, co-owners of Trafalgars and next-door bakery Sweet Obsession, decided to do something about their garbage. In just four months they reduced the waste from the bistro and bakery by 98 per cent — less than a garbage bag of waste per week — thanks to diligent recycling and the GreenGood GG-50 composter. The freezer-sized machine turns organic matter into nutrient-rich soil, which is then used in local community gardens.
It’s a win-win. Obviously.
About Trafalgars Bistro and Sweet Obsession Cakes and Pastries
Named Vancouver’s greenest restaurant by Vancouver magazine, Trafalgars Bistro is a cozy, informal, award-winning Ocean Wise restaurant with a modern French menu located in Vancouver at 16th & Trafalgar. Chef Matthew Villamoran’s style embraces French classical techniques, Italian processes, high quality ingredients, using sustainable products from the Pacific Northwest. Two doors down, Sweet Obsession Cakes and Pastries is a bakery and café with patio, serving up fine desserts and savoury snacks of uncompromising quality using no stabilizers, preservatives, and no artificial colour or flavourings. Owners Lorne Tyczenski and Stephen Greenham have created their bistro and bakery with a farm-to-table philosophy supporting local organic farms that share their passion for sustainability, simplicity and seasonality. The Westside favorites have been neighbourhood fixtures since 1993.
