Stir Wine Pairing: La Ligue Gourmande brings absurdist supper club to the Fort Gallery
Todd Gronsdahl’s eccentric exhibit happens to open at an epic time for food lovers: We’re going for B.C. Inniskillin icewine and pan-Asian rice bowls from Bovine
Todd Gronsdahl’s G.A.S.P.R. “G.A.S.P.R. is an acronym for général appareils sous-marins personnel respiratoires. A diving helmet.” .
2020. Wood, Masonite, dishwasher hose, snow brush bristle, thermoglue. Image courtesy the artist
Photo by Richard Won
We’re opting for a pan-Asian rice bowl from Bovine to celebrate Dine Out Vancouver Festival and Lunar New Year to pair with our made-in-B.C. Inniskillin Riesling Icewine.
Every week, Stir Wine Pairing suggests BC wine and food to go with a local arts event.
The event
La Ligue Gourmande at the Fort Gallery, February 11 to March 28
The food
Bovine Rice Bowls
The drink
Inniskillin Riesling Icewine
The lowdown
Vancouver Island-based Todd Gronsdahl is an entrepreneur and artist who studied visual art and industrial design at ECUAD. In a former life, he and his wife, Megan Macdonald, launched and operated successful restaurants Sushiro Sushi Bar and Duck Duck Goose Tapas. He brings that insider industry experience to La Ligue Gourmande.
The exhibition is an absurdist supper club that he situates within his fictional Saskatchewan Maritime Museum (think about that for a moment), a project he has been showing since 2017. The notion of a maritime museum in the middle of the Prairies takes a jab at accepted histories of Canadian nation-building, to “right the official record through a bit of mischief and humour”, as he puts it.
With La Ligue Gourmande, Gronsdahl uses the dinner party—remember those from before COVID-19?—to explore social conventions. The exhibition features prop-like artifacts made with repurposed materials and vernacular objects.
The exhibition is part of the Fort Gallery’s four-part Making Home series, which is all about our changing relationship to the domestic sphere.
On February 11 at 7:30 pm, there’s a virtual Philosopher's Café via Zoom, including an audience Q & A. On March 18 at 7:30 pm, Gronsdahl hosts a Zoom cocktail/costume party. The idea is to promote the eccentric values he aims to represent with the Saskatchewan Maritime Museum through dress, filters, backgrounds and the like—and to connect with other art folks.
More information is at the Fort Gallery.
The menu
With dinner parties off the table for the foreseeable future, we’re dining at home with our bubble. La Ligue Gourmande happens to open at an epic time for food lovers, with Lunar New Year on February 12 (and celebrations such as LunarFest running all month), Dine Out Vancouver Festival up and running, Valentine’s Day on Sunday, and Family Day on Monday.
Who says you can’t have it all? After checking out La Ligue Gourmande, we’re going to order food for pick-up from Bovine Rice Bowls, which is participating in Dine Out. Pals Jeremy Lau (who started cooking professionally in 1997) and Peter Yau started the pan-Asian counter-service spot in downtown Vancouver after going on a self-guided culinary tour to Japan. Upon returning home, they found themselves longing for the simple but flavour-packed bowls of rice that they had fallen in love with abroad.
For Dine Out, Bovine has three special bowls on offer, each priced at $15. (They come with a non-alcoholic drink.) There’s Bovine’s signature steak topped with spicy marinated eggplant and 64 degree egg, and a sweet and spicey eggplant bowl with crispy pressed tofu. We’re opting for the Sweet+Spicy Shrimp Bowl, made with Ocean wise seafood, crispy cauliflower, green beans, sweet peppers, and fermented chili sauce.
The pairing
A sweet substitute for the usual Valentine’s Day chocolate, Inniskillin Riesling Icewine is known for its intensity and acidity. It’s made in the Okanagan during short windows of opportunity from grapes that are naturally frozen on the vine at -8 degrees C.
This rich and concentrated wine is perfect for accentuating Bovine’s lively flavours while its honeyed sweetness calms the heat. It has tangy notes of orange blossom, apricot, and candied lemon peel, making it a great match for many Lunar New Year dishes, notably those with Szechuan peppercorns, ginger, citrus, and shiitake mushrooms (which are particularly smoky and rich). Find it at or at Great Estates Okanagan (2018 and 2019 vintages), independent shops like Swirl Wine Store, and other retailers.
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