November 24, 2010 The 3^rd annual Ocean Wise Chowder ChowDown At the Vancouver Aquarium 7 – 10pm

• Tickets are $40 (non-members) and $32 (members)
• 12 of BC’s top Ocean Wise chefs reveal their newest chowder competing for the Best Sustainable Seafood Chowder on the West Coast.
• 12 top BC craft brewers provide delicious pairings. Celebrity Judges: Popular food reviewer Jamie Maw, celeb chef David Hawksworth, famous blogger Miss604 join industry heavyweights to choose the winner on site!
• Join in the fun, amazing food and innovative local beers, your ticket buys you samples galore!
   

Vancouver Aquarium Members receive 20% off!

Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown Vancouver 2010 Competitors:

 

Chef Todd Bright

Chef Todd Bright began his career at age 17 in Australia as an apprentice at Ming Jade Restaurant under Cantonese chef Kevin Lowe.  He then commenced his extensive travels in Europe at age 22 before settling into the position of sous chef at a high end gastropub south of Oxford, England. 

Upon returning to Australia his valuable experience overseas led to a position at Vinos, the largest fine dining and multi award winning restaurant in Queensland, Australia.  In the winter of 2007 he ventured to Vancouver, his talents were immediately discovered by Wild Rice, where after one year he became executive chef. He took 6 months off in summer 2009 to broaden his appreciation for wine and traveled to the Okanagan where he learned winemaking. Todd’s menu reflects his passionate commitment to working sustainably with local ingredients while never compromising on quality and flavour.

Chef Taryn Wa

The roots of Chef Taryn Wa’s passion for cooking can be easily traced: growing up around two amazing cooks, her mother and grandmother, instilled an early love of food within Chef Taryn. It came as little surprise, then, that Chef Taryn decided to forge a career path out of her love of cooking. A graduate of the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver, Chef Taryn received classical training in both the Culinary and Pastry Programs before receiving a scholarship from the renowned organization Les Dames D’Escoffier. Taryn represented her school at the 2005 British Columbia Chef’s Association “Hot! Competition Live,” where she earned a gold medal.

Personal chef work piqued Chef Taryn’s interest while working at the multi-award winning Bistro Pastis. After a stint in entertainment as the Sous Chef for the second season of the Channel M multicultural cooking show, “Fusion Fare,” Chef Taryn focused her full attention on simply elegant entertaining and catering.

Chef Taryn loves discovering new flavours and techniques from all over the world, and travels both internationally and within the multicultural city of Vancouver for inspiration. Chef Taryn also recognizes the importance of using fresh local ingredients in her cooking, and has incorporated this value into her entire business model.

Chef Ben Berwick

Chef Ben Berwick was born in Vancouver in 1981 but spent his childhood in Japan.

It was there, in his mother’s native country, that he was first exposed to the culture and cuisine of Japan.

When he moved back to Canada at the age of 9, this experience stayed with Chef Ben and shaped who he is today.

Chef Ben loved food growing up and when he realized that he could make people happy with his own cooking he decided to choose a life in the kitchen as his career.

Chef Ben is a graduate of Vancouver Community College culinary arts program, and has trained in various restaurants in Vancouver.

Through his cooking, Chef Ben feels he can teach people about the importance of quality ingredients and that what people choose to eat can affect the environment we live in. He has been with Hapa Izakaya in Kitsilano since 2007.

Chef Myke Shaw

The Vancouver Aquarium Executive Sous Chef Myke Shaw,  is not only dedicated to raising awareness of sustainable seafood options. She also takes much pride in teaching her cooks all about the conservation efforts developed by the Ocean Wise program.  Whether it be challenging her team to create fabulous recipes within the 100 mile diet. Or being whisked away to the Queen Charlotte Islands as a guest chef in the 2010 WCFC culinary series. Myke with the support of her catering team will always ensure that what you’re about to eat not only tastes good, is good for you but is good for the environment.

Jamie Drew, 1st Cook, graduated from George Brown’s culinary management program where he was trained in classical French cuisine. He is a proud Vancouver Aquarium team member buoyed by the institutions’ commitment to sustainability in all its practices and programs.

Chef Kunal Ghose

Chef Kunal Ghose, co-owner/chef of Red Fish Blue Fish, (Victoria’s beautiful inner harbour), and creator of the popular tacones, sleeps well at night knowing that success came via sustainable practices.

After 20 plus years of running restaurants for others – not so sustainably – he jumped when the opportunity came up to do it right in Victoria.The Ocean Wise program enabled him to create a 100% sustainable menu. Redfish Bluefish also composts and recycles nearly all of the waste created. He also loves making chowder.

Chef Chris Whittaker

Chef Chris Whittaker has been an integral player in some of Vancouver’s most interesting kitchens.

Since his arrival at O’Doul’s in 2007, Chef Chris has garnered praise for his eclectic cooking style and for his passion for local products and ethically sound ingredients.

He has been the driving force behind the restaurant’s participation in the Ocean Wise program and the Green Table Network while introducing new menus focusing on sustainable prepared New Classics.

Chef Michael William Traquair

Chef Michael William Traquair General Manager, Executive Chef, Ramada Plaza and Conference Centre Abbotsford, is passionate about the sharing of knowledge. The Ramada Plaza’s Chefs Apprenticeship Program teaches the next generation of chefs more than just cooking good food.  The program fosters and nurtures a positive team culture committed to continual growth and improvement.  

Chef Michael has also been the driving force behind the Ramada Plaza’s Green Program.  In 2009, the hotel was awarded 3 Green Keys from the Hotel Association of Canada in recognition of their accomplishments in environmental management.  

One of Chef Michael’s many career highlights includes being selected to cook and serve for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, as well as former President of the United States Bill Clinton, and former Prime Minister Jean Crétien. Chef Michael is a member of the CCFCC and the British Columbia Chefs Association. He is also actively involved in the community and was a member of the inaugural Heat Foundation Golf Tournament committee in support of grassroots, philanthropic and educational causes that focus on the children of the Fraser Valley.
 

Chef Leah Huyghe

Chef Leah Huyghe‘s hospitality interest developed into culinary ambition after a couple of stints in private social club kitchens and a backpacking trip through New Zealand.

In spring of 2010 she registered at Vancouver’s Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts where she is currently completing her diploma program in the Culinary Arts.  Chef Leah is inspired daily by BC’s abundance of local produce and sustainable seafood options.
 
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts offers two diploma-granting professional programs in the Culinary Arts and the Baking & Pastry Arts. Additionally, this culinary centre offers programs for both the casual home-chef and hospitality professionals including cooking classes and industry-recognized wine certification.  

Ryan Maule

Ryan Maule, Aqua Riva’s Senior Sous Chef, learned at an early age, 14 years old to be exact, to work hands on in a White Rock bakery working the graveyard shift while still going to school.

At the tender age of 16 he then went on to work for 4 years (still going to school) for a caterer in White Rock.  Ryan’s family could not cook and he decided he had to learn to cook for himself rather than dine on Kraft Dinner and toast. 

Ryan decided the restaurant life was for him and entered VCC graduating in 2003. Ryan started with Aqua Riva in 2004 apprenticing under Executive Chef Mario Fortin working his way through the ranks until being promoted to Senior Sous Chef.  Ryan achieved his Red Seal in the Spring of 2010.

Doug Hawrish

Chef Doug Hawrish has a real tie to the ocean having grown up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When asked the question, “Why do you choose to champion Ocean Wise?” his answer was simple: “It is the only thing that makes sense. As chefs and restaurants we have a responsibility to serve people nutritious, healthy foods which are farmed in sustainable ways – and this includes the seafood we catch in our oceans.”

Chef Hawrish mentored several chefs from the Montreal and Toronto area who championed the local food concept and in 2001 he accepted a challenge to operate a café, with a 100 mile menu, from a truck called The Gravy Train.

Chef Hawrish then moved to the West Coast for love and the ocean. After working at several caterers and Kits bistros he chose his favorite restaurant to work at: Rocky Mountain Flatbread. What makes Chef Hawrish proud to work at Rocky Mountain is his unwavering commitment to the company’s mission statement to “change the world one pizza at a time,” the use of local produce and its community atmosphere. Chef Hawrish is the Field Chef at Rocky Mountain, hunting down the freshest local produce and integrating it into their seasonal menu specials.

Matt Blondin

Born in 1983, Chef Matt Blondin has worked in the restaurant industry since the age of 17.  When he was 19 he enrolled in the Chef Apprenticeship program at the Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Sudbury, Ontario. From there, Chef Blondin completed a two year apprenticeship at Bryston’s on the Park in Copper Cliff, Ontario and in only a short period of time became a culinary force in the city’s growing restaurant industry.

In 2005 Chef Blondin left Sudbury for Toronto when he took a position working with culinary wizard Guy Rubino at Rain. Working his way up to Junior Sous Chef in only one year, Chef Blondin eventually joined the Luce team on a part time basis, and was a key factor in both restaurants’ daily operations. In late 2006, after a few consulting gigs, he joined Claudio Aprile at Senses – from there Aprile opened Colborne Lane, regarded as one of Canada’s best restaurants, and Chef Blondin followed as the restaurant’s Sous Chef, and finally Chef de Cuisine in 2008. After countless stages in some of North America’s most sought-after kitchens, Chef Blondin was cordially invited to participate in the eclectic anti-restaurant Charlie Burger – an underground supper club in the downtown Toronto area.

In 2010, Chef Blondin left Colborne Lane and found his way to the Okanagan region to enhance his wine and terroir cuisine knowledge. It was there he met Jon Crofts, a master fish monger who owns and operates Codfather’s Seafood Market in Kelowna, BC. Working closely with Jon for five months, Chef Blondin learned the ins and outs of a fish market, as well as an incredible amount of knowledge on the ever popular west coast fish industry.

In September 2010, Chef Blondin left Kelowna for Whistler and  plans on residing in the Village for the winter months. He will be returning to Toronto in 2011 to open his own truly unique project.