Hottest soup around or just a hot mess

Vancouver, BC (January 17, 2014): Dine Out Vancouver Festival organizers have decided to stir the pot – and earlier today, dozens of Vancouver’s top chefs took turns at the ladle.   

Early this morning, chefs from across the city convened on Granville Island to celebrate the start of Dine Out with a brand-new kickoff event – the Chef Soup Experiment.

Chefs each brought one ingredient (of their own choosing and with no advance coordination) to contribute to a communal cauldron. Under the watchful eye of Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA) Executive Chef Julian Bond, students struggled to keep up as endless ingredients streamed in, spanning the gamut between customary (celery) and downright wacky (raw cacao). Over the next few hours, the team seasoned, simmered and stirred the concoction into some semblance of appealing soup.

“We have a lot of Asian-inspired ingredients, and those will definitely come through in the flavours,” said Chef Bond. “We’ve also decided to create a vegetarian base – we’re adding in the proteins after, as a garnish – to ensure no one is left out and everyone can have a taste.” 

So just how did the soup turn out? You be the judge! 

The public is invited to Granville Island today from 12:30 pm onward to taste the final product outside Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (1050 West 2nd Ave.). But be sure to get there early, since the kitchen shuts down when the pot runs dry!

The Chef Soup Experiment is the first event to kick off 17 days of Dine Out excitement. Inspired to make reservations? Check out the list of participating restaurants and their menus, event information and hotel packages at dineoutvancouver.com.

Dine Out Vancouver Festival Chef Soup Experiment – Ingredient List:

1. Green garbanzo beans – Ned Bell, YEW Restaurant
2. Coconut milk – Montgomery Lau, MARKET by Jean-Georges
3. Guajillo chilies (dried) – Pedro Gonzalez, Coast Restaurant
4. Rapini – Antonio Martin, Paulie’s Kitchen
5. Braised beef tongue – Joachim Hayward, Campagnolo Roma
6. Prosciutto – Dave Bell, Al Porto Ristorante
7. Tomatilla and dikon – Lino Vargas, Hurricane Grill
8. Fresh naked chickens – Joyce Isaac, Nando’s
9. Celeriac – Chris Whittaker, Forage
10. Papaya – Yen Do, Broken Rice
11. Celeriac – Joel Green, The Lobby Restaurant
12. Alder smoked bacon – Ian Errington, Catch 122
13. Red kale – Rob Feenie, Cactus Club
14. Flank steak – Corey Fields, Vancouver FanClub
15. Kale – Christine McAvoy, Vancouver is Awesome
16. Raw cacao – Karen McAthy, Graze Restaurant
17. Bacon salt – Eric Pateman, Edible Canada
18. Yam – Michelle Kim, Miss 604
19. Chipotle flakes – Jane Nahirny, BC Magazine
20. Kombu (kelp) – Nathan Lowey, Campagnolo
21. Butternut squash – Mark McEwan, Black + Blue
22. Horseradish root – Cooper Green, Sandbar Seafood Restaurant
23. Apple-smoked bacon – Kyle Baker, The Keg
24. Cesara – Genevieve Talbot, Baru Latino Restaurant
25. Saffron – Jean-Francis Quaglia, Provence Marinaside
26. Leeks – Daigen Taylor, Hapa Izakaya
27. Seaweed – Toshiyuka Iwai, Hapa Izakaya
28. Lotus roots – Nobutaka Watanabe, Hapa Izakaya
29. Shitake mushrooms – Masafumi Okuno, Hapa Izakaya
30. Gelatin noodles – Daiji Tanaka, Hapa Izakaya
31. Israeli couscous – Vishwa Mohan, Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel
32. Roasted sunchoke – Darren Brown, ORU Restaurant
33. Bone marrow – Wildebeest
34. Thyme – David Hawksworth, Hawksworth Restaurant
35. Shitake mushrooms – Mijune Pak, Follow Me Foodie
36. Chorizo sausage – Amber Sessions, Tourism Vancouver
37. Celery – Sonu Purhar, Tourism Vancouver
38. Garlic – Jorden Hutchison, Tourism Vancouver
39. Red lentils – Chris Blanchette, Tourism Vancouver
40. Five beans mix – Collin Dawkins, The Reef
41. Thai chilis – Shannon Phillips, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
42. Local carrots – Cloe Boiral, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
43. Ginger – Julian Bond, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
44. Lemongrass – Oliver Lago, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
45. Onions – Darren Clay, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
46. Bay leaves – Carmen Wong, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
47. Coriander seed – Katsu Inoue, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
48. Freshly cracked pepper – Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
49. Sesame oil – Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
50. Capilano stock (i.e. water)

About Dine Out Vancouver Festival: 

Produced by Tourism Vancouver and presented by American Express, Dine Out Vancouver Festival is a city-wide celebration of eating out, attracting tens of thousands of local and visiting foodies to Vancouver’s exceptionally diverse collection of restaurants for 17 days. Now in its 12th year, Canada’s largest restaurant festival allows diners to sample menus from hundreds of restaurants around the city, all for a prix fixe cost (price points are $18, $28 and $38 per person) and many with suggested BC VQA pairings (available at an additional cost). Dine Out also features special hotel room rates and packages, plus a full menu of unique food-themed events, seminars and activities. Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2014 runs from January 17 to February 2. Wines of British Columbia is a festival partner, and supplier partners include All You Need is Cheese and OneCoffee.  dineoutvancouver.com

Tourism Vancouver’s focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists.  The organization’s brand essence is about “exceeding expectations”.