By Caylie Warkentin
Many local restaurants in Vancouver have taken inspiration from our abundance of local food sources and endeavour to source farm-to-table ingredients that support local farmers, fishers, and foragers. Others have looked to traditional food sources long revered by Indigenous communities to create innovative and sustainable menus that connect foodies and casual restaurant-goers alike with the food on their plate and to establish a sense of gratitude for the land that shares so much of itself with us.
As a brand that sources and manufactures our products locally, we are continuously impressed by the innovation of local restaurants that look close to home for inspiration for their dishes.
Discover our top five favourite restaurants below that feature local and seasonal flavours.
For a vegetarian, haute-cuisine experience, check out The Acorn, a cozy restaurant situated on the corner of Main Street and East 24th. This award-winning vegetarian restaurant was founded in 2012 and has a seasonally-focused menu whose dishes are focused on singular ingredients - think kale, larch, or allium. The menu changes continuously throughout the year depending on the availability of seasonal foods and offers tastes of local flavours like the Nootka rose and kelp oil to curious restaurant-goers. Reservations are available only for the chefs tasting menu.
Located on Robson Street, Forage is a restaurant established in 2012 by locally trained Chef Welbert Choi who endeavours to form and support long-lasting relationships with local fishers, foragers, and farmers. Grilled Pacific octopus features alongside kelp mignonette and other classic Pacific Northwest flavours. Plus, they boast the best brunch in the West End - think Fraser Valley duck ragout, and salted duck yolk custard-stuffed french toast. The cocktail and wine menu also feature well-known names like Empress Gin and Burrowing Owl. All seafood is Oceanwise certified.
This restaurant is located on West Broadway and is presently owned by Inez Cook, a member of the Nuxalk Nation. It’s the only Indigenous-owned restaurant in Vancouver, and traditional foods are served including bison pemmican mousse, candied chum salmon, and an assortment of bannock dishes, a type of flatbread. All of their seafood is wild and locally caught off the coast of British Columbia and all game meat is organic and free-range. Salmon n’ Bannock emphasizes the connection between a community and its food and seeks to connect diners with traditional Indigenous food sources.
A sustainable oyster bar in its second year of operation situated in Vancouver’s Chinatown, ShuckShuck has created a space that revolutionizes the consumption of sustainable seafood with neon signs and modern seating. ShuckShuck offers a unique menu centred around topped oysters – think key lime, an oyster topped with lime curd and meringue, or Feed Your Seoul, an oyster paired with kimchi and Asian pear. Indecisive? No problem – they offer oyster flights where you can sample a variety of flavours. ShuckShuck is an Oceanwise partner and sources its oysters from solar-powered farms on Vancouver Island.
You know those moments in late autumn when the rain begins to fall continuously, pattering on the roof in an endless cacophony that lulls you to sleep and you can’t recall the last time you actually saw the sun? Or that day in November when you replace your runners with rubber boots and your SPF with self-tan? For those of us who live in Northern climates or places where sunlight becomes scarce during certain times of the year, you’ve likely created routines and cultivated habits that help you cope with decreased sunlight.
For some, though, insufficient sunlight is linked to a deficiency in vitamin D and this has the potential to lead to prolonged feelings of lethargy and sadness, particularly for those living in Northern climates. So when the blues become feelings of listlessness rather than music you once danced to, it’s important to ensure that you’re receiving adequate levels of vitamin D by incorporating supplements and fortified products into your everyday routine. Sufficient levels of Vitamin D enable calcium absorption, promotes strong bone density and overall good health, and can protect against damage from free radicals like environmental pollution.
Here are four key ways to help maintain sufficient levels of Vitamin D.
1. Exposure to sunlightThe most abundant source of sunlight is from the sun. Vitamin D exists naturally in our bodies and is released and converted into the usable form of Vitamin D3 when sunlight comes into contact with our skin. For people with a low amount of melanin in their skin, a sufficient level of Vitamin D can be achieved through fifteen minutes of sun exposure. For people with more melanin in their skin, it might be closer to twenty-five minutes. Physical barriers, like SPF and clothing, can also influence how much Vitamin D we receive from the sun. Other elements, like age, skin tone, and geographic location, also influence how much sunlight is absorbed into our skin.
2. Fatty fish, fortified foods, and egg yolks
Certain foods like fatty fish and oysters contain high amounts of Vitamin D. Wild salmon is rich in Vitamin D3 – just 100 grams of the oily fish contains 50% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin D. Egg yolks are also high in Vitamin D3. Mushrooms contain high levels of Vitamin D2, which they produce when they come into contact with sunlight. This means that wild mushrooms and mushrooms grown under ultraviolet light are richer in Vitamin D than conventionally grown mushrooms. Other foods are fortified, like certain cereals and even orange juice. There are few plant-based food sources that contain high levels of the vitamin, which is why many food products are fortified, and why people often take supplements.
3. Supplements
Not only can you find a safe boost of Vitamin D in your medicine cabinet, but you can also find it in your makeup bag. We designed a lip product that offers a safe and essential boost of plant-derived, organic Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol). This is a synthesized, vegan formulation of Vitamin D3. In cosmetic products, this vitamin can be absorbed topically and can be safely ingested. While our lip care is first and foremost a cosmetic product, the booster amount of Vitamin D is a perfect complement to your supplement regimen, if you have one.
We believe that our beauty products deserve supplements just as much as we do. The integration of essential nutrients with our daily cosmetic products blends beauty with wellness to ensure that our outward glow begins first and foremost with our inner health.
Sources
Arnarson, Atli. “Vitamin D2 vs. D3: What’s the Difference?” Healthline, 4 March 2018. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d2-vs-d3#Supplements-101:-Vitamin-D. Accessed 24 January 2022.
"The Guide to Immune -Supporting Foods, Vitamins, and Minerals," Goop, https://goop.com/wellness/health/food-for-immune-system-support/?ref=newsletter&nlptrk=Story3-edit-wellness-vitaminguide-reader-versiona&utm_source=Emarsys&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20220217-newsletter-thursday-reader&utm_content=gwyneths_makeup_free_secrets--&sc_uid=J4nRuBzXyy&sc_src=email_1773545&sc_lid=172478262&sc_llid=24400&sc_eh=b846dd29a064b8171
Hill, Ansley. ”7 Effective Ways to Increase Your Vitamin D Levels.” Healthline, 17 March 2019. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-increase-vitamin-d#Supplements-101:-Vitamin-D Accessed 24 January 2022.
Lu, Z., Chen, T.C., Zhang, A., et al. “An Evaluation of the Vitamin D3 Content in Fish: Is the Vitamin D Content Adequate to Satisfy the Dietary Requirement for Vitamin D?” US National Library of Medicine, 2007, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2698592/. Accessed 24 January 2022.
“Vitamin D.” Harvard School of Public Health, https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/. Accessed 24 January. 2022.
A Food Journey Through the Pacific Northwest
Winter Edition
As a brand centred around locally-sourced ingredients and sustainable initiatives, we continuously endeavour to look within our regional home for everything we need. Our own experiences in the Pacific Northwest have informed our knowledge and love of this land – like our culinary experiences, which have been shaped by the rich abundance of local flora and fauna of British Columbia. We are grateful to operate out of this land that shares so much with us, and invite you to come on a journey with us through the winter landscape as we share some of our favourite locally-sourced foods with you.
Barnacle-encrusted rocks break underfoot as you follow the coastal shoreline, navigating through iridescent seaweed and exposed mussels. At low tide, a rich landscape of shellfish is revealed, and if you stay long enough you might witness larger fauna like sea wolves and black bears pawing at the marine offerings. The cold seeps into your bones, but barren is not the right word - the landscape around you is lush, verdant, despite it being mid-December. Past rocky precipices towards the open ocean bob masses of bull kelp, bulbous heads glistening as they follow the undulation of winter swells. A shoal of euchalon fish darts by, and you’re blinded by silver-blue scales, their dazzling light fading into deeper water like a constellation burning out. Snow has not yet fallen, but you can taste it, feel how the flakes will cling to your hair when the temperatures drop.
A landscape that appears happenstance in its offerings is anything but. Since time immemorial Indigenous communities have cared for, and continue to care for, this land. Land that is plentiful even during colder months, land that has been carefully cultivated to provide sustenance throughout months when many staple foods are more scarce. Alongside stores of summer offerings, like smoked fish and dried berries, foraging and harvesting continue throughout the winter months, with an emphasis on marine fauna and flora.
Disclaimer: The harvest of marine fauna and flora requires knowledge and experience. We don’t encourage you to fish or harvest without permission. The species listed below are an illustration of food sources you might come across on a journey through the rich winter landscape of the Pacific Northwest.
Oysters
Winter is prime time for local oysters. In summer these bivalve molluscs reproduce and red tide – a harmful algae bloom – is likely to render oysters unsafe for eating. Oysters thrive in cold water, and so they can be safely enjoyed in the winter months. The most abundant variety of oysters harvested off the coast of British Columbia is the Pacific oyster and is a species that was introduced from Japan after our native oyster, the Olympia, was overharvested in the 1800s and nearly went extinct. Restoration efforts are ongoing in an effort to prevent the depletion of this species. For now, though, the Olympia oyster is a protected species, and as such is hard to come by commercially. The Pacific oyster is a species sought-after for its sweet and fresh melon-like flavour and is available at most local restaurants. Rich in Vitamin D, a single 100-gram serving of this oyster can provide 75% of your daily need for Vitamin D.
Try innovative topped oysters at ShuckShuck, an oyster bar located in Chinatown that sources its oysters from a solar-powered farm on Vancouver Island. Succulent oysters are topped with everything from lime curd to champagne vinaigrette.
Salmon
There are five species of salmon native to the cold waters of British Columbia that migrate through our rivers and ocean – Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, and Sockeye. Each one of these species is anadromous, which means they were born in streams before migrating to the saltwater of the Pacific Ocean. In BC, salmon is both wild-caught and farmed. Salmon is best caught during the late fall and into early winter. Both farmed salmon and wild salmon are impacted by their environment and as such have slightly different flavour profiles and nutritional qualities. Recently, some BC restaurants removed wild salmon from their menu as a statement against overfishing. Salmon is traditionally prepared through smoking, drying, or canning. When cooked, the inside of salmon will turn a distinct pink colour. The fish is abundant in essential fatty acids and rich in Vitamin D. Wild salmon contains 124% of the DV in a 100-gram serving. Comparably, farmed salmon contains 25% of that amount.
One of our favourite salmon dishes is Aburi Salmon, a seared salmon sashimi dish served at Miku, a restaurant that sits next to Canada Plane and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The dish features sockeye salmon and is Oceanwise certified.
Kelp and Seaweed
From kelp oil to smoked seaweed, marine-based plants are nutrient-rich superfoods that grow in abundance in the coastal waters of British Columbia. In BC alone, there are over 530 identified species of seaweed and kelp. Kelp and seaweed are unique in that every variety is edible, though some species are more conducive to cooking than others. Porphyra abbottiae Krishnamurthy, colloquially known as red laver, is a species that has long been valued by the coastal Indigenous communities of BC. Red laver has traditionally been used in addition to other ingredients like fatty fishes and is rich in essential vitamins A, B, and C. Bull kelp, a species that gives shape and structure to underwater ecosystems and provides an anchor for sleeping sea otters, is often used in mainstream cuisine. Seaweed and kelp offer essential nutrients like iodine, iron, manganese, and copper.
Award-winning vegetarian restaurant The Acorn features dishes with locally-sourced ingredients, including ‘Chantarelle’, a dish created with chantarelle mushrooms and topped with sweet maple syrup and kelp oil.
Tofino-based store Wild Origins procures locally foraged food items, including ocean foraged slow-dried bull kelp. They also share recipes made of wild foraged ingredients including a recipe for bull kelp and potato soup.
Sources + Further Reading
Chavich, Cinda. “Seaweed, the Wild Food to Forage From the Sea.” YAM, Victoria’s Lifestyle Magazine, July/August 2019. https://www.yammagazine.com/seaweed-the-wild-food-to-forage-from-the-sea/
Cox, Jeff. “Why the Olympia Oyster Is Primed for a Comeback.” Eater, 10 February 2017, https://www.eater.com/2017/2/10/14570190/olympia-oysters-where-to-find
"The Guide to Immune -Supporting Foods, Vitamins, and Minerals," Goop, https://goop.com/wellness/health/food-for-immune-system-support/?ref=newsletter&nlptrk=Story3-edit-wellness-vitaminguide-reader-versiona&utm_source=Emarsys&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20220217-newsletter-thursday-reader&utm_content=gwyneths_makeup_free_secrets--&sc_uid=J4nRuBzXyy&sc_src=email_1773545&sc_lid=172478262&sc_llid=24400&sc_eh=b846dd29a064b8171
“First Nations Traditional Foods Fact Sheets.” First Nations Health Authority. https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/Traditional_Food_Fact_Sheets.pdf
Jones, Taylor. “7 Healthy Foods That Are High in Vitamin D.” Healthline, 18 December 2019. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-foods-high-in-vitamin-d#1.-Salmon
Kingzett, Brian. “An Almost Forgotten History of Native Oysters on Vancouver Island.” Deep Bay Marine Field Station, 14 March 2014, https://research.viu.ca/deep-bay-marine-field-station/history-olympia-oyster
Kubala, Jillian. “Are Oysters Good for You? Benefits and Dangers.” Healthline, 8 March 2019, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/oysters