Mar
24
2011
Feast! Tofino-Ucluelet
Author: The ShoreBy Jen Dart
If you haven’t made plans already to be here in Tofino in May, a newly announced culinary festival might change your mind.
Feast! Tofino-Ucluelet is a month-long series of culinary events that will take place on the west coast starting on May 8 and leading up to the 9th annual Tofino Food and Wine Festival June 3-5.
Sponsored by EAT Magazine and Global BC, Feast will feature numerous events, including $29, $39 and $49 prix fixe menus at participating local restaurants.
This isn’t your average dine-around event, however.
Each Saturday during Feast, a different seafood will be the focus of a Saturday “On the Dock” festival in both Tofino and Ucluelet. Salmon week is from May 9-14, crab week is May 15-21, and spot prawns are the feature of the week for May 22-28.
Local chefs will join a number of guest celebrity chefs in preparing all kinds of seafood dishes both on the wharfs and in local restaurants. Among the chefs confirmed to attend are: Canada’s Iron Chef Rob Feenie, Rick Moonen of rm seafood at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Hayato Okamitsu of Calgary’s Catch Restaurant, Angus An of Vancouver’s Maenam Restaurant, JC Poirier of Campagnolo, also in Vancouver, Brad Holmes of ulla Restaurant in Victoria, Nico Schuermans of Vancouver’s Chambar Belgian Restaurant, Peter Zambri of Zambri’s in Victoria, and Bob Izumi of Global’s “The Real Fishing Show.”
The chefs will also be participating in educational sustainable seafood processing and preparation tips and demonstrations, both at locals restaurants and on the wharf.
There are also “Stay, Dine and Play” packages on offer from participating accommodation providers, restaurants and tour operators.
The concept for Feast was developed by the group of local chefs and food purveyors who make up the Tofino-Ucluelet Culinary Guild, a local non-profit organization focused on sourcing sustainable food for the area.
As Shelter Restaurant owner and TUCG board member Jay Gildenhuys says, the festival is meant to showcase the rich culinary culture of the area, along with the bounty of sustainable seafood available here.
“No town this size has this kind of culinary scene,” said Gildenhuys. “Doing something like [Feast], it’s not really creating anything; it’s already here.”
It’s just a matter of showing it off to the rest of the world.
Local fisherman Jeff Mikus (owner of the Wildside Grill), embodies the TUCG’s principle of boat-to-table.
“Sometimes it’s funny that we have so much of this stuff in our backyard, but we don’t have farms,” Mikus said about the abundance of sustainable seafood.
He likes the idea of incorporating more than the culinary aspect into Feast. “So much of what we do here is based on everything else.”
The festival will lead into the Tofino Food and Wine Festival, starting June 3. This weekend will be the perfect way to cap off a month of celebrating what the west coast area has to offer the seafood lover, with BC wineries and local restaurants and Vancouver Island food purveyors coming together in the Tofino Botanical Gardens to showcase their own delights.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to sample the culinary gems of Tofino, Feast may be your perfect opportunity.
Image Credit: Feast! Tofino-Ucluelet Website
Tags: Feast culinary festival, Rob Feenie, The Shore, Tofino, Tofino Food and Wine Festival, Tofino-Ucluelet Culinary Guild