Edible Vancouver & Wine Country

09/25/2025

The Fraser Valley Artisans Food Hub is a simple, white concrete building located in downtown Abbotsford, just off Highway 1. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d likely miss it.

When Tami Serandos walked into the facility for the first time, she knew she’d found a home for her business, That's A Good Cookie. Inside is an expansive, high-ceilinged workspace. Rows of stainless steel worktables gleam under industrial lights. Shelves with dry goods and other supplies line the walls. In every corner, commercial-grade appliances hum and clatter, filling the room with a steady rumble.

Throughout the week, nearly 30 businesses — caterers, food trucks, meal-prep service — prepare, package and store their products here.

There’s half a cow in the walk-in fridge and an intimidating supply of habaneros in the walk-in freezer. In the kitchen, Serandos bakes shortbread while Adrian Beaty, chef and owner of Salt&Thyme, simmers chicken stock in the tilt kettle. It feels like the engine room of food entrepreneurship in the Fraser Valley.

The food hub is a state-of-the-art, shared-use food and beverage processing facility. Similar to a commissary kitchen, businesses such as That’s a Good Cookie, Local Preserve and Golden's Goods, can access the services, space and specialized processing equipment through monthly memberships.

It’s one of 13 food hubs that make up the BC Food Hub Network. Launched by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 2019, the initiative aims to support the development of the food and beverage processing sector.

Read "Elbows Ups at the Fraser Valley Artisans Food Hub" by Michelle Vandermoor: https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/stories/elbows-ups-at-the-fraser-valley-artisans-food-hub/

Photos by Danielle Campani.

09/24/2025

Don't miss Les Dames d'Escoffier - BC Chapter Culinary Garage Sale on October 4th!

09/17/2025

Have you ever cleaned a slimy Pacific sea cucumber, cracked open a spiky urchin or peeled the gangly siphon of a giant geoduck clam?

No surprise if the answer is no, but if you live on the West Coast, there’s a good chance that this kind of seafood has turned up on your plate, or that you have encountered it while paddling or fishing in the Salish Sea.

That’s because we’re living right in a rugged region that’s teeming with these creatures and, like a modern-day incarnation of Captain Nemo, there’s a whole community of commercial fishermen who regularly dive to the bottom of the sea to deliver them for dinner. We have large phallic-shaped clams, bulbous, red sea cucumbers and equally exotic red or green urchin. There’s also a large community of discerning Asian diners who are happy to pay for the chance to sample these luxury foods.

In Vancouver, you can have a traditional Hong Kong–style hot pot featuring dried Pacific sea cucumber, visit a Japanese uni bar for an Omakase menu with sea urchin in every course or have a hyperlocal clam linguine made with B.C. geoduck at a modern Italian eatery.

And now some creative city chefs are joining forces with commercial fishers for a special Divers’ Catch Gala https://www.diverscatchbc.ca (Sept. 20th), an event designed to introduce more adventurous eaters to this oft-overlooked local bounty.

Read more about these unusual BC seafood options in "Deep Diving for Local Seafood" by Cinda Chavich, from our September issue: https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/stories/deep-diving-for-local-seafood/

Ocean Wise, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, BC Seafood Alliance,

09/11/2025

Chaima Chmale is delighting Vancouver market goers with Moroccan comfort meals and sweet treats with Darna Moroccan Flavours.

Seeing that more opportunities arose when she offered unique items not already available at Vancouver Farmers Markets, she began to focus on Moroccan meals packaged to eat at home. Now her menu includes Moroccan favourites, including Preserved Lemon Roasted Chicken Tagine and Harira Soup, rich with chickpeas, lentils and tomatoes, and flavoured with turmeric, ras el hanout—that stalwart of Moroccan cooking—cinnamon and a touch of lemon, with a version suitable for vegans. “So far, the soup is the best-seller at the markets,” she says.

These rich meals are sold in vacuum sealed bags, a simple solution that belies the depth of flavours. A recent addition to the menu is a fragrant sweet and savoury lamb tagine with prunes and apricots. When serving, Chmale recommends garnishing it with toasted almonds and rose petals. Shoppers can also purchase her homemade harissa paste.

Read "Preserved lemons and Tagine" from our September issue: https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/stories/preserved-lemons-and-tagine/

Words and photos by Helena McMurdo Photography.

09/04/2025

The first week of September can be kind of crazy - even if you don't have school age children. It's still summer, but autumn isn't that far away. The first week of September also means we have a new issue out. Hopefully you've picked up a copy. If not, here's what you'll find:

- Chaima Chmale is delighting Vancouver market goers with Moroccan comfort meals and sweet treats at Darna Moroccan Flavours.

- "A Deep Dive": B.C.’s geoduck, sea urchin and sea cucumber are prized in Asia, but locals are hoping they catch on more at home, too. Ocean Wise, F***y Bay Oyster Bar & Shellfish Market, Fisheries Council of Canada, Fraser Ritchie, Seaworthy’s Sea Urchin’s-Steveston BC

- How Suho Lee and Nam Kim built Black Table Farm from the ground up — feeding chefs, families and their community.

- "Elbows Up at the Fraser Valley Artisans Food Hub": where entrepreneurs meet like-minded makers and grow their businesses together. Fraser Valley Artisans Food Hub, Salt&Thyme, Golden's Goods & That's A Good Cookie

- "A Season of Squash": From sweet cakes to savoury terrines, these fall-forward recipes celebrate the rich variety and flavour of one of autumn’s most versatile vegetables.

- "Call it Kismet": Neelam and Manpreet Dhaliwal are just where destiny has led them: running the family’s award-winning winery, Kismet Estate Winery

Pick up a complimentary copy while they last, or order a copy from our website: https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/subscribe/

Cover photo by Danielle Campani.

08/25/2025

Still need to use up some tomatoes?

The following recipes are designed in relatively small volumes, that allow you to use them quickly. If you’re looking to make a larger batch, they are easy to scale up and jar for use later in the year when the fresh, summer tomatoes are no longer available. That being said, Canada produces great greenhouse tomatoes, so maybe you won’t have to wait until next year to make these recipes again.

https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/roundup/4-tomato-condiment-recipes/

Photo by Helena McMurdo Photography.

08/16/2025

Camping or RVing in the Okanagan means waking up to the sound of birds, spending your days lakeside or on the trails — and enjoying some of the freshest local food B.C. has to offer. A morning visit to the Vernon Farmers’ Market should be high on your list if you’re camped near Vernon.

Read our article on the BC Farmers Markets website:

Camping or RVing in the Okanagan means waking up to the sound of birds, spending your days lakeside or on the trails — and enjoying some of the freshest local…

08/13/2025

There are, of course, myriad reasons why restaurants fail these days. According to Restaurants Canada, we’ve seen a record-breaking number of restaurant bankruptcies the last couple of years, mostly due to weak sales, but also affected by new taxes, higher rents, crippling debt loads and increased costs of everything.

It all comes down to service, the secret sauce that makes a good restaurant great. And yet in North America, we don’t take service seriously. Service isn’t considered a career here, the way it is in, say, France, Switzerland or Australia — countries that train their servers well and pay them accordingly. And it shows.

Enter Sandrine Ramoisy and her bold, audacious plan to change the system, treat service workers like the professionals they are and bring hospitality back to the dining room floor.

TIPS Academy BC a new program designed to train restaurant servers — and transform the hospitality industry.

Read the full article "At Your Service" by Joanne Sasvari from our July issue: https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/stories/tips-academy-at-your-service/

08/10/2025

Blueberry season is coming to an end, so make sure you grab some local berries and try these two quick-hitting blueberry desserts that will impress your dinner guests this summer.

Russlynn Blueberries, Krause Berry Farms & Estate Winery, On The Go Farms, Surrey Farms, Bumble Berry Farms, Berry Bounty Farms

Two quick-hitting blueberry desserts that will impress your dinner guests this summer.

08/05/2025

With food costs rising and supply chain challenges, no one wants fresh, locally grown food going to waste.

Yet even with the spotlight on the issue of food waste in recent years, Canadians still waste food. And it’s far more than that mouldy cucumber or limp head of lettuce in your fridge. Fresh food is also left in fields or composted right on the farms where it’s grown, due to a lack of markets, labour shortages and other distribution issues.

According to Food Banks BC’s latest Impact Report, more than $6 billion dollars of food is wasted in the province every year, “healthy food that is sent to landfill sites when it could be redirected to feed hungry families.”

Read how charitable movements across B.C. are working toward decreasing food waste on all fronts in our July issue article "Waste Not, Glean More" by Cinda Chavich.

https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/stories/waste-not-glean-more/

Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Chaser's Fresh Juice Vancouver, Supreme Freeze Dry, LifeCycles Project Society, Food Share Network, FoodMesh, EnWave Corporation, Fraser Valley Gleaners

Charitable movements across B.C. are working toward decreasing food waste on all fronts.

08/04/2025

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 – 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 🌿🍓👒
LuLu Island Winery invites you to kick back under the grapevines and soak up the vibes at our one-of-a-kind Summer Picnic Series! Think live music, sunshine, local wine, and delicious charcuterie—all in the heart of wine country. 🍷🧀

What’s included:
①Entry to a Sunday picnic session
②Your own personal charcuterie box
③Free entry for kids under 12
④Live music from local artists
⑤Wine available for purchase
⑥Grape tunnel magic included
Exciting weekly pop-ups from local businesses🧺✨

📅 Sundays from August 3–31, 2025
Doors open at 2:00 PM | Live music from 2:30–4:30 PM

Bring your picnic blanket and good vibes—we’ll handle the rest.
Spots fill fast, so 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 on LuLu Island Winery’s website 🫧

Book here: https://www.exploretock.com/luluislandwinery/event/547044/2025-summer-picnic-series-at-lulu-island-winery

07/30/2025

Looking for a low-impact, high-reward day trip from Vancouver? Swap four wheels for two and cycle your way to one of Delta’s charming farmers’ markets — Southlands Tsawwassen, North Delta Farmers Market or the bustling Ladner Village Market — for a hyper-local, seasonal shopping experience rooted in community and sustainability.

Read our article on the BC Farmers Markets website:

Looking for a low-impact, high-reward day trip from Vancouver? Swap four wheels for two and cycle your way to one of Delta’s charming farmers’ markets — Southlands Tsawwassen, North Delta…