Festive food: Stir's tantalizing guide to Metro Vancouver holiday-flavoured culinary arts
From Christmassy Korean fried chicken to premium Ibérico ham to cakes inspired by snow globes, local chefs are dishing up seasonal deliciousness
Holiday Turkey To Go by Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar. Photo by Leila Kwok
FOOD BRINGS PEOPLE together, and at holiday gatherings, it also takes the spotlight. Here’s a taste of seasonal offerings by inspired local culinary artists, restaurants, and community-minded businesses that will add creativity and flavour to your festive table.
SWEET
Who says we can’t start with dessert? Cookies, cakes, chocolates, pies, candies, candy canes… Sugary goods are a staple, and Metro Vancouver pâtissiers have a way with wintry treats.
Temper Chocolate and Pastry.
Besides heaps of others baked goods and bonbons, look for especially artistic Bûches de Noel at Mon Paris Patisserie, where chef Elena Krasnova is offering Yule logs in three flavours: Pistachio Raspberry (pistachio crunch and mousse with raspberry jelly and cream); Chocolate Speculoos (spiced eggnog crémeux and ginger biscuit with dark chocolate mousse); and Chocolate Mango Passion Fruit (fresh mango and crémeux, chocolate brownie biscuit with passion fruit mousse), each serving eight for $45. Chef Steven Hodge has three takes on Yule logs at Temper Chocolate and Pastry: Salted Caramel (70% dark chocolate mousse, salted-caramel crémeux, chocolate biscuit, hazelnut feuilletine); Chestnut (chestnut mousse, mousseline cream, feuilletine, hazelnut dacquoise); and nut-free Yuzu Vanilla (yuzu sake, Bavarian cream, yuzu crémeux, sable base), for $45 each. Paris-born Ladurée on Robson Street is bringing back its popular Marie-Antoinette, Marquise, and Favorite (pistachio) Bûches de Noël, while executive chef Julien Alvarez has added a new one to the collection: the Forêt Noire. The fruit-forward yule log is made of 64 percent cocoa Manjari chocolate with a fleur de sel sablé biscuit, a chocolate biscuit soaked in amarena syrup and kirsch, a sour-cherry and amarena compote, 64 percent cocoa Manjari chocolate mousse, Madagascan vanilla and kirsch mousse, and a cherry confit ($11 for a single serving; or $75 to serve six to eight.) Hand-crafted Yule Logs can also be picked up at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts at the entrance to Granville Island for $35 each.
Mon Paris Patisserie. Photo by Nora Hamade
Lift Breakfast Bakery in North Vancouver is known for its beautiful freshly and expertly made pastries and breads year-round; among the charming bistro’s holiday specialities are its Assorted Christmas Cookies Box with Red Velvet Crinkles, Snowballs, Ginger White Chocolate, Cherry Almond Brown Sugar Shortbread, White Chocolate Cane Shortbread Bars, and Scottish Shortbread ($50 for 30 pieces or $100 for 60). Lift also makes its own gingerbread people, stollen with rum-soaked raisins, aged fruitcake with dark rum and marzipan, and silky-smooth eggnog.
Kouign Café.
If cookies are your kryptonite, take a trip down the rabbit hole to Kouign Café in Chinatown (it’s pronounced “queen”). Chef Andrew Han (whom we introduced you to when Stir launched) has launched the Slay Bells gift set (“just in time for the holigays”!). Nestled in a steam basket are two White Rabbit shortbreads, two Lunch Box shortbreads, two Miso and Chrysanthemum hunny shortbreads, two Coconut Lofthouse cookies with Ube Jam, a Micro Cosmos (banana mochi with black sesame and chrysanthemum hunny glaze and cinnamon streusel), and two ounces of its house-made Chrysanthemum Hunny to dip your treats in or make some tea with. Those White Rabbit cookies have gained a cult following in Vancouver and won a Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards, presented by Canola Eat Well, at the 2021 Chinese Restaurant Awards.
We’re keen to make a stop at Bâtard Boulangerie & Café Moderne—a family-owned, French-style East van bakery—for a few reasons: the Egg Nog, Spiced Caramel, and Candied Pecan Eclairs, for one. Oma’s Stollen with candied orange and lemon for another ($22.50). And their naturally leavened traditional sourdough Panettone for one more, with raisins, lemon and orange confit, hazelnuts, and vanilla ($32.50).
Speaking of panettone, Italian-trained pastry chef Emiddio Isernia of Bakery Antise is back in fine form, his dome-shaped loaves are available exclusively at Di Beppe and Giovane Caffè this year. At $45 each, they’re made by hand, take a full 30 hours from start to finish, and come in three flavours: Cioccolato, made with milk chocolate; Limoncello, with lemon zest and Limoncello-infused white chocolate ganache; and Classico, studied with candied orange, cedro lemon, and raisins.
Buttermere Pâtisserie. Photo by Leila Kwok
Hoiday Baking Gift Boxes are back at Sweet Thea Bakery, with culinary maven Thea Mercer offering three sizes, priced at $50, $75, and $100. You’ll find her wildly popular traditional fruitcake (made with B.C.’s own Jobst-Hof Orchards’ cherries soaked in brandy for three months) with marzipan icing, shortbread, chocolate lebkuchen cookies, gingerbread men, stollen, and other baked goods. Formerly of Sooke Harbour House and Vancouver Club, Mercer is also whipping up Christmas pudding, kipferls, Honey Hearts, and scores of other seasonal goodies at Sweet Thea’s pop-up-turned-permanent-storefront at 4305 Main Street (as well as in Langley and at the BC Ferries Terminal at Tsawwassen for westbound passengers.
The pièce de résistance at Buttermere Patisserie is head baker-owner Jamie Tung’s limited-edition Snow Globe Cake. At five inches tall, it’s made with Alunga milk-chocolate soft biscuit, black currant jelly, coconut crémeux, and coconut mousse, finished with a gingerbread man enclosed in a clear sugar dome. It’s $50; just don’t shake it!
If you’ve never been to Popina Canteen or Popina Cantina on Granville Island, you’re missing out on their famous puff creams. Filled with a proprietary soft-serve ice cream, the towering treats ($8) now come in changing flavours and toppings for the holiday season, with three Popina chef/co-owners contributing their spin. Sledding in the cold winter snow of northern Alberta and coming home to freshly baked shortbread cookies are two of Robert Belcham's favourite childhood memories; his Snowbank Puffcream is covered in crushed shortbread and filled with fluffy marshmallow. Angus An created a Christmas Tree Puffcream, drawing on memories of collections of different chocolates shared with friends and family while growing up; his favourite was frosty mint and chocolate. Hamid Salimian's family holiday gatherings are always sweetened with eggnog. His Eggnog Puffcream combines the traditional flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. (Find them at Popina Cantina inside Granville Island's Net Loft while sister location Popina Canteen shuts down for a long winter's nap till mid-March.)
SAVOURY
If you’re a traditionalist looking to lighten the workload this year, numerous options exist for those wanting to dine at home but not have to bother with the prep and clean-up of roasting a bird or making multiple plant-based plates.
Vegetarian Heat-and-Eat Meal Bundle by Tractor At Home.
Vancouver-based gourmet-meal and grocery delivery service Tractor At Home has introduced Holiday Heat-and-Eat Meal Bundles. Ordering deadline is December 10 for its Traditional and Vegetarian dinners, which are said to feed four hungry adults ($139 and $109 per package plus tax, respectively). The Traditional Holiday Bundle features Rossdown Farms Garlic Lemon Butter Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes, Turkey Gravy and all the fixings, while the Vegetarian Bundle includes a Lentil Walnut Loaf, Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts, Beet Pecan Salad, Rosemary Lemon Sheet Pan Vegetables and Pomegranate-Glazed Carrots. Both bundles also include a classic Apple Crisp for dessert. (Tractor At Home’s in-house sommelier, Maude Renaud-Brisson, has also come up with wine pairings.)
Savoury City’s French Canadian Tourtiere.
Savoury City has created a traditional Turkey To-Go package for six ($275), starring a pre-carved slow-roasted turkey brined with herbs and lemon and classic sides; the meal finishes with assorted holiday confections, sweets, shortbreads, tarts, and truffles. Best add-on option ever: its double-crusted Holiday Tourtiere Pie, available fresh or frozen made with ground pork, potatoes, onions, and spices ($45),
Brined turkey breast with confit turkey leg is one option for the main course on the Lazy Gourmet’s Holiday Set Menu with all the fixings; so is a gorgeous Vegetarian Cassoulet with hearty vegetables, beans, Swiss chard, fresh herbs, and bread-crumb topping.
Tayybeh puts a Syrian spin on its Christmas menu, which centres on holiday turkey over a bed of pea, carrot, rice pilaf topped with toasted almonds. The meal, priced at $38.50 per person, also includes Mhammara, sweet red pepper spread with walnuts, pomegranate molasses, gluten-free breadcrumbs, and olive oil; Chickpea Salad with tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil; Beet Tabbouleh topped with olive oil and pomegranate molasses; freshly baked vegan Zaatar Rolls; Seasonal Roast Vegetables; and Nammoura, a light semolina cake with coconut flakes.
SPUD Festive Feast.
You can create your own holiday meal through SPUD’s Festive Feast selections, which include Skye High Farms Fresh Turkey, Top Grass’s Grass Fed Rib Eye Roast, or Be Fresh’s Wheat Free Vegan Roast. Then add whatever sides you fancy, from Organic Honey Roasted Rainbow Carrots and Fresh Thyme to Hasselback Butternut Squash. From there, the extras run the gamut from the Pie Hole pies and Classic Canadian Butter Tarts by Tartistes (formerly Tartine) to Two Rivers’ Specialty Meats Milano Salami and Les Amis du Fromage’s Brown Bag selection to Bordertown Cider and Winery’s Grüner Veltliner and Persephone Brewing Company Dry Hopped Cider.
Juke Fried Chicken’s Turducken Meal Kit.
Juke Fried Chicken’s Turducken Meal Kit fits the bill for a standout alternative to a conventional main course. The showpiece of roasted turkey, duck, and chicken feeds four and comes with written and video instructions from Juke chef and co-owner Bryan Satterford. To go with it, there’s Juke Turducken Leek and Sausage Stuffing Scalloped Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts with Bacon Jam, Roasted Squash and Carrots with Pumpkin-seed Dukkah, Jalapeño Cornbread with Honey Thyme Whipped Schmaltz (a rendered chicken fat similar to whipped butter), and Cranberry Sauce, $199 plus tax.
Heritage Asian Eatery’s holiday feast for four ($128) features a greatest hits’ collection of dishes. Think wonton soup, five-spice chicken wings, honey barbecue pork, roasted duck, crystal prawn dumplings, truffle siu mai, black sesame balls, and more, along with jars of Heritage XO Sauce and Heritage Ginger Scallion Sauce.
Le Tigre’s Christmas Family Meal Set.
Le Tigre’s Christmas Family Meal Set has a long list of share plates on the menu—enough to feed five ($250). The Torafuku food truck is serving up its famous Crispy Kickass Rice Salad with grilled Vietnamese pork ham, shallot, ginger, herbs, and ssamjang dressing; Japchae Spring Roll with sweet potato noodles that have been stir-fried with mushroom, onion, and carrot as well as cabbage and ponzu; calamari; Korean Fried Chicken with deep-fried rice cake, green onion, and light brush sweet & spicy sauce. For dessert, there’s Injeolmi Tiramisu (roasted soy bean powder, sweet yam ball) and Kabocha squash pie with mascarpone.
If you’re into dining out on Christmas Day and crave a traditional meal, options include multicourse menus at Seasons in the Park, the Teahouse in Stanley Park, Forage, Bacchus Restaurant, Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar (which also offers chef Alex Chen’s Holiday Turkey To Go, with desserts including Bûches de Noël by Kenta Takahashi), and more. (Check back for updates.)
SEA
Organic Ocean Holiday Entertainment Pack.
We love the “seacuterie” trend: grazing boards filled with seafood as an alterative to meats and cheeses. Organic Ocean chef in residence Julian Bond, a BC Restaurant Hall of Fame inductee, has put together the ultimate Holiday Entertainment Pack featuring a pound of bacon-wrapped Hokkaido scallops, four split wild Atlantic lobsters, wild smoked sockeye salmon, wild pink salmon candy, a wild Albacore Haidacore tuna loin—all of it sustainable, in keeping with the foundation of the company, which also fairly compensates fishermen for their work—plus a bottle Chef Select Poke Marinade. There are prep and serving suggestions on the website: maybe you want to butter-poach the lobster to serve in brioche buns; place salmon candy atop cucumber rounds with goat cheese; or slice the tuna for sashimi. With each purchase ($147.59), Organic Ocean donates food for two full nutritious meals to people in the community. It’s part of Until We Are All Fed, the certified B Corp’s newly established permanent donation program that provides nutritious seafood to those in need via local and national charitable organizations. If you’re thinking seafood as a main dish, Organic Ocean’s 12 Days of Fishmas means that when you purchase any of its featured 12 products you receive an accompanying recipe that Bond created exclusively for Organic Ocean The lineup includes Sockeye Salmon Fillets (Blueberry and star anise-cured sockeye salmon – a Bond classic); Spot Prawns (Raviolis of spot prawn and buttered leek with smashed minted peas); Arctic Char Portion (crispy-skinned Arctic char on French lentils with apple-cider vinaigrette and pomegranate); and Canned Sockeye Salmon (Egg-and-salmon fried rice with kimchi).
Another sought-after local highlight that would be a hit for the holidays is B.C. sea urchin, a seafood delicacy that you can find at Fresh Ideas Start Here (F.I.S.H.) Seafood Market and FISHbar. Check out its Fresh BC Green Uni Tray ($28)—with sweet, small, delicate roes, available till December 11—or the limited-edition Ultimate Uni Box with a tray of fresh B.C. red or green uni, house-made uni butter, uni pasta sauce, shio ikura (salted wild BC salmon roe), smoked B.C. red sea-urchin roe, and nori ($95). Remember that uni availability depends on the weather and what their fishermen catch. F.I.S.H has an array of other gift boxes too, including its Greatest Hits ($65) with items like Truffle Spot Prawn Mac ’n’ Cheese and Wild Salmon Cakes.
Got geoduck? Winner of the 2021 Chinese Restaurant Awards’ INSPIRE Award, the Underwater Harvesters Association’s Geoduck from Canada is the source for this responsibly managed, wild, sustainable seafood, a type of burrowing clam with a sweet, briny, and non-fishy flavour that’s becoming more common in sushi, stir-fries, and traditional hot pot. Check out the UHA website for recipes from B.C. chefs Stephen Wong, Quang Dang, Bill Jones, and Hidekazu Tojo.
OUTSIDE THE BOX
These local gift boxes don’t fit into a this-or-that category, combing sweet and savoury deliciousness—perfect for an afternoon of grazing or if you simply can’t decide what to give or serve.
Commissary Connect Holiday Gift Box.
Now in its fourth edition, Commissary Connect’s Holiday Gift Box celebrates many of the driven local food entrepreneurs working within its shared-kitchen community. This year, all proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross to aid flood relief efforts in Abbotsford. The Non-Vegan box contains Connie’s Cravings The Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookie, a mini Chestnut Cake Gallery’s Basque Cheesecake; Flourgirl’s Sinnabun; Goodly's Coconut Tomato Soup; Kirk’s Kefir, a low-sugar carbonated beverage; La Bise Bakery’s Raspberry Financiers; Tango Foods’ Chicken Empanada; To Live For’s Gingersnap Cookie; and more. The Vegan box includes goods like Carnitas el Roly’s Cornbread; Kukki Jar’s Chocolate Bar; Planted Meals’ Tofu Ricotta; Tayybeh’s Pita Chips and Mutabbal Dip. Both boxes are $75.
Alimentaria Mexicana.
Alimentaria Mexicana on Granville Island has a range of gift boxes available in its retail store, the Mercado. Aspiring Mexican chefs will love the Cocina, with a white tortillero (tortilla holder), Mixteca Baja Arrocillo Corn, Hoja Santa (a Mexican herb), Chile Tabaquero (dried serrano chile), Sal de Pinotepa Nacional, and Chef-Grade Calcium Hydroxide ($95). Bring the Heat is for those who can take a little sizzle; at $75, it’s got Sal de Chicatana (a Oaxacan delicacy, it’s a sauce made of flying ants), Vancouver Island Hot Sauce Owl’s Screech, Chile Tuxtla (a small pequin chile from southern Mexico), East Van Roaster’s Chili Lime Dark Chocolate Bar, Sriracha Revolver Cilantro Lime Hot Sauce, and Chile Tabaquero.
Small, medium, or large? BC Local Root’s curated boxes (starting at $75) are filled with the best seasonal small-batch products from around here, from jams, nut butters, and coffee to cordials, craft soda, and chocolate, in vegan and regular versions. With a mission to help create an economically and food secure future by supporting B.C.-only food and beverage products, it is also offering Charcuterie Boxes (regular and premium, starting at $150) stuffed with local artisan cheeses, salamis, olives, dips, crackers, jams, and honey, plus a ChopValue cheese board made from 300 recycled chopsticks and a beautiful Badger and Burke dishtowel.
ARC Iberico Imports.
ARC Iberico Imports, a purveyor of imported Spanish goods, has launched holiday gift baskets (plus an all-new vermouth tasting experience) at its new Jamoneria, a tapas and wine bar, in Richmond.
Spanish-born founder Antonio Romero Casado is bringing the flavours and cultural traditions of Iberico ham to the West Coast, working with Jabugo, Spain-based Cinco Jotas, a company that dates back to 1879. It raises black-hooved Pata Nega pigs that are fed acorns and roam meadows, walking an average of 14 kilometres a day. The prized premium ham is cured in centuries-old cellars for three to five years and falls under the EU;s Protected Designation of Origin. ARC Iberico Imports is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Cinco Jotas products, which can be found in its new line of holiday gift baskets. Starting at $100, they are filled with goodies like conservas (tinned Spanish seafood), olive oils, vermouth, sangria, and turron—a holiday staple in Spain, the nutty nougat sweetened with honey and loaded with nuts. At the Jamoneria, menu items to graze include an assortment of Spanish cheeses, bocadillos (Spanish-style toasted sandwiches), authentic tapas such as Galacian Octopus with smoked paprika, gildas (anchovy, olive, guindilla pepper) and sweet Carabinero Red King Prawns. Casado also also serves up his family’s not-too-sweet cheesecake, drenched in an indulgent caramel sauce.
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