Méli-Mélo November 2024
Elevating Women in Food and Beverage
On November 6, WORTH Association is hosting Yes Shef, a culinary event showcasing women across the B.C. food and beverage industry. The event aims to build a community for anyone who encounters barriers in the workplace and to elevate self-identifying women by spotlighting their skills and craft.
What started as a long table dinner in 2019 at Chambar restaurant, featuring just five chefs, five sommeliers and 80 guests, has expanded to more than 20 tasting stations featuring noteworthy chefs — such as Tacofino’s Kaeli Robinsong and Berenice Balbuena, Araxi’s Ying Gao and Hawksworth’s Marissa Gonzales — paired with talented apprentices from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Last year, since moving to a larger event space, nearly 400 people attended in celebration of the gifted women.
“I was a cook early in my career and saw firsthand the lack of representation on the line. I also realized that the majority of headlines and awards are given to men in the sector, not reflecting the talent and diversity we have in B.C. Culinary schools tell us their student mix has gender parity, but we aren’t seeing this reflected in the industry,” says Joanna Jagger, founder of WORTH Association.
“Many of our participants or their restaurants have been Michelin-recognized, and one thing that sets Yes Shef apart is the care we put into supporting and uplifting these talented women… This event goes beyond fine dining — it’s about community and bringing people together to share in the joy of food and drink while celebrating women’s exceptional talent and contributions to the industry.”
“Our chefs come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, making it a celebration of the incredible diversity in B.C.’s food and beverage industry… This is the professional development opportunity I wish I had access to when I was starting my culinary career 25 years ago.”
worthassociation.com/yes-shef | @worth.association
Preserving Perfection
Starting as a small marmalade business in 2013, Le Meadow’s Pantry has quickly flourished into an award-winning company expanding beyond the classic citrus delicacy.
“I worked all my life around food, around healing and food. I studied plant medicine and holistic nutrition and was always interested in old-fashioned methods. Real, slow, authentic, handmade food,” explains owner Geneviève Blanchet when discussing her inspiration for preserving foods and creating true artisan products.
“I wanted [to create] something that would show how important it is to preserve food and how it is possible to work with local and seasonal food throughout the year.”
Unlike many retail preserve companies, Blanchet makes Le Meadow’s products in small batches — no more than 12 jars at a time — using seasonal produce that is chopped, peeled and processed by hand. Inspired by traditional French methods, Le Meadow’s preserves are uniquely lower in sugar and use no added pectin. Instead, lemon juice is used to awaken the fruit’s naturally occurring pectin.
Once processed, each jar is hand-labelled by PALS Adults Services Society program members, which provides work opportunities for autistic adults in the community.
“The fruit shines,” says Blanchet, explaining that when plants or other flavours are added, they are intentionally blended to enhance the flavours of the fruit. Favourites include raspberry and rose jam, pear maple syrup and sage jam or sour cherry, strawberry and cocoa nib jam. “Limited edition flavours are seasonal and very spontaneous,” Blanchet continues.
Le Meadow’s Pantry's preserves, holiday gift boxes and small batches of orange and whisky marmalade will be at the Vancouver Farmers Market through the winter season and can be found on shelves of local stores year-round.
lemeadowspantry.com | @ lemeadowspantry
A Taste of Paris
Merci Boulangerie, a popular fixture at the Vancouver Farmers Market, recently opened a small retail space on Commercial Drive, so you can enjoy its seasonal pastries, breads and other goodies in-house or delivered to your door.
“We have built a great community of customers and other vendors through the Vancouver Farmers Market, so being able to use this space to bring the community together and foster a great, one-stop-shop is the goal,” explains owner and head baker Natalie Cumberbirch.
Cumberbirch studied the culinary and pastry arts at Vancouver Community College before working at two German bakeries, a restaurant in Barcelona, and a Michelin-starred restaurant and a celebrated boulangerie in Paris. Aftering honing her skills in Europe, Merci Boulangerie is Cumberbirch's way of bringing a taste of Paris home to Vancouver.
From cruffins and baguettes to savoury danishes, Merci’s autumn menu features flavours of spiced apples, pears, pump- kin, mushrooms and other root vegetables. It's pain d'epi — a demi baguette rolled in sesame and cut right before baking — is a tasty pull-apart snack for those on the go.
In addition to the storefront and online deliveries, Merci Boulangerie can still be found at the Vancouver Farmers Market and the bake-at-home products are available at more than 12 retailers throughout the province.
Merci Boulangerie | 2879 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
merciboulangerie.com | @ merciboulangerie
Winter Wonderland
Vanilla Bean Bake Shop opened in downtown Maple Ridge in 2022 and quickly became a must-stop shop for cakes, cupcakes, cookies and other sweet treats. It has been named the “favourite bakery in Maple Ridge” two years in a row on the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News A-List.
Alongside its rotating drink and dessert menus, the bakery offers daily high-tea experiences. A carefully curated tasting menu of sweet and savoury delights is paired with a choice of 12 specialty teas from Once Upon a Tea Leaf — another Maple Ridge favourite shop run by Cindy-Lea and Taryn Stephenson for more than 14 years. The high tea menu changes seasonally and can include buttery scones served with jam and clotted cream, macarons, quiche Florentine, roast beef sandwiches on rye with horseradish aioli and almond roca shortbread.
The shop transforms during the holidays, offering Gilmore Girls-themed treats and Stars Hollow-inspired events in the fall. And the upcoming holiday season will be no exception.
“We always decorate the shop for the season; in the winter, you’re transported to a winter wonderland,” says owner Taylor Livesey. Guests can indulge in a wide selection of holiday cookies, themed cupcakes and a holiday drink menu starting in November.
Vanilla Bean Bake Shop | 101-11900 Haney Pl., Maple Ridge | vanillabeanbakeshop.ca | @vanillabean.bakeshop
Phantom Creek Estates Opens New Richmond Space
As a destination winery in the South Okanagan, Phantom Creek Estates is bringing a taste of the winery to the Lower Mainland by expanding its day-to-day operations to Richmond.
“We are very excited to have our new salon in Richmond, which will allow us to better serve our customers in the Lower Mainland. With this beautiful new space, we will be able to host exclusive events for our club members and partners to create the sense of visiting our winery and sampling our extraordinary wines right in their backyard,” says general manager and director of winemaking Mark Beringer, explaining that many Phantom Creek wine club members live in the Lower Mainland.
Coinciding with the opening of the new space, Phantom Creek is releasing its first Halo wine: Baoshan 2020. The Chinese name translates to treasure mountain — symbolic of prosperity — which aligns with the winery’s mission “of creating something that is not only meant to be cherished and shared but can also be passed down from generation to generation,” Beringer says. Baoshan is a full- bodied blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. “Creating something that matches this notion of [something] to be cherished, shared and passed down, we created this blend with the most exceptional fruits from the best lots in our Kobau and Becker vineyards.”
Phantom Creek Estates
6928 Pearson Way, Richmond
phantomcreekestates.com | @phantomcreek
