Canadians Invade US Food World

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(Written April 11, 2007)

Not that I’m trying to do this, but today I’ve found that it’s not easy to get away from Vancouverites – or even former Vancouverites. As I type this I’m sitting in the Seattle airport on my way to a raging snow storm in Chicago. While I wait for the connecting flight, I’ve raided the airport newsstand for local literature and, lo and behold, it turns out that the April edition of Seattle Magazine happens to be their Annual "Food and Restaurant Issue". I expect to find only a few feature pages on the theme inside, but instead pleasantly discover that most of the issue has been devoted to the food, restaurant and wine scene of Washington state. Interesting stuff. And guess who is in there?

Well, for starts, there is Lorna Yee. Lorna (and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong here), goes by the handle of "Ling" on eGullet.com and for Seattle Mag she has penned a nice little spread on the city’s best pastries and desserts. Her bio informs us that she moved to Seattle over a year ago and that she is currently “rumoured to be the chef at an underground restaurant.� The byline also manages to get in a nice little plug for urbandiner.ca via the mention of her column for the Vancouver-based website.

Flip over a few pages, and there is a photo of Jamie Boudreau – a full page shot to be exact. “ Master Mixologist Jamie Boudreau creates classic and contemporary cocktails at Vessel� reads the photo caption. Seattle magazine has named Bourdreau as Seattle's “Best Bartender. Not a small accomplishment when you consider that he also has been living in the city for only a short time after moving from Vancouver where he had previously worked as Bar Manager for Lumiere.

Next it’s on to the Seattle Times newspaper which has a pullout feature documenting highlights of the upcoming Taste Washington!, the large tasting festival of Washington wines which will take place this weekend on April 14 and 15. This time, looking up from the pages we have Vancouver wine educators, David Scholefield, DJ Kearney and Mark Davidson. The three are panelists on various seminars throughout the weekend and wish I could sit in on one that DJ will be co-hosting with Lettie Teague of Gourmet Magazine – “What a Woman Wants.� Apparently, what a woman wants is a wine with plenty of chocolate notes.

But what this woman wants right now is to check out the new airport wine bar Vino Volo, and I track it down just off the food court next to Iver’s Acres of Clams. It’s a modern space with comfy lounge chairs, wine bottles stylishly on display, and a counter where travellers can sample numerous wines by the glass while waiting for their flights. As the Australians would say, “How bloody civilized.� (And what might be even more civilized is the fact that nearby there is a sound-proofed, rubberized exercise room for children, filled with kiddy-cart planes and jungle gym type apparatus, so while Mom and Dad work off some post-security check stress with a little tipple of Washington Merlot, next door, the figits can be bouncing off the walls and otherwise thoroughly exhausting themselves before being strapped to an airline seat for a long haul flight. Americans are so clever.

Back to Vino Volo where the bar man could be Mark Taylor of Cru restaurant’s long lost twin brother. I try a flight of Washington whites - three generous tasting glasses for $8 -- and enjoy a chat with the wine lover seated next to me. He’s a chef at Canlis restaurant and on his way to Avignon, France to help out with a wine consulting job. (Seattle Magazine touts Canlis as “Best Place for a Splurge� and “Restaurant with Best Wine List�, so obviously the man knows something or two about the subject.) On the other side of me are seated – you guessed it – Vancouverites discussing the recent Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival and sampling a plate of Washington cheese along with their Viognier.

It occurs to me that once the Skytrain extension is hooked up to the Vancouver airport, a day or weekend trip to Seattle or Portland to visit restaurants or check out local wine events will be all the easier for people who prefer flying to driving. No need to spend $50 on taxis getting to and from the city, or drop a bundle on day parking.

But for me it's on to Chicago … and its snowstorm, leaving behind my spring window boxes which are bursting into bloom. I’m going to be attending the IACP conference (International Association of Culinary Professionals) for which some 1,400 (mostly American) food professionals will be attendance. I check the scheduling. The first two seminars concern the influence of Asian cooking on western cuisine. The first seminar is given by Vancouver food stylist Nathan Fong; the second by restaurateur Vikram Vij.

As I say, we Canucksters are everywhere.

-- Rhonda May, Editor, CityFood