Fetzer Appetizer Challenge: Foodie Fantasy

Yesterday evening at the Fairmont Waterfront, competition loomed thick in the air…almost as thick as the sickeningly delicious smell of glorious appetizers! Chefs at the helm of 10 popular B.C. restaurants were prepping their finest for Fetzer’s Great Beginnings Appetizer Challenge, part of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

My NCAA volleyball days are long gone, but competitive juices remain. I was up to the personal challenge of testing all appetizers. Here they are:

1. Pourhouse’s ‘Crab Louie’ – a century old, lost West Coast classic:

Mini eggs are my favorite Easter chocolate. I also love quail eggs (above), but would require 25+ to create my usual ham, mushroom, and goat cheese omelette.

2. Teahouse Restaurant’s Qualicum Bay scallop and crispy pork belly with smoke pea puree & micro shoots:

Teahouse proves that pea puree is so much more than baby food.

Hotel Grand Pacific’s Bartlette Farms rabbit saucisson, sweet onion tart with rosehip mustard:

When I was little, my parents forced me to read Watership Down. I hated the book, but love rabbit.

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House’s King Crab Tempura with crushed avocado and Fresno chilli sauce:

How could they not describe the ‘wrapped in bacon’ part? Within the tempura batter, this huge prawn is wrapped in bacon. Wrap anything in bacon for a winner.

Terminal City Club’s Slow braised pork belly, sunchoke puree, Dungeness crab and apple slaw with espelette oil:

Too pretty not to eat. Major points for presentation.

Bearfoot Bistro’s ‘Hamachi Tartar & Tuna Tim Bits’ – tartar is wrapped in a sheet of tuna coated with Nam Jim on a sous-vide honeydew melon infused with kaffir lime leafs and yuzu juice, garnished with foam of rosewater, litchi and flowers:

Looks like spit, non? …the best spit I’ve tasted. Bearfoot should consider serving these by the 10-piece snack pack.

Elixir’s Qualicum Bay Scallop ‘Ceviche’, Aji-amarillo dressing, with mint julep ice:

Ice? It must have melted…like the scallops did in my mouth. Really smooth.

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen’s Pan Seared Wild BC Salmon, tea smoked Japanese scallop sashimi, smoked salmon custard with hints of ginger and coconut reduction:

Long ago, during an all-you-can-eat meal at Shabusen, I semi-threw up at the table when I realized I was eating shiny salmon skin in my BC roll. Minus the silver exterior, this bite from one of my favorite Yaletown seafood spots, was delectable.

Prestons Restaurant’s Confit of Sunhaven Farms pork belly with pickled rhubarb, shaved watermelon radish & orange foam:

A whipped cream dispenser deposited this silky orange cream onto each plate, reminding me of my trashy indulgence. If my metabolism allowed for it, I would live off of the rich dairy product.

And last but not least (I really loved this one), Tigh Na Mara’s ginger and chilli cured salmon on a curry chick pea cake, topped with caramelized mango puree: