Hundreds of foodies roamed BC Place Stadium over the weekend at EAT! Vancouver to taste some delicious cuisine, explore the different exhibitors, browse new products and watch their favourite celebrity chefs take the stage for cooking demonstrations.
604 Now sat down with three of those chefs—Vikram Vij, Chuck Hughes and Lynn Crawford to talk about their restaurants, TV appearances and how they manage to make time for it all.
Vikram Vij Interview
Chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur—originally from India, Vikram Vij has two award-winning Indian restaurants, Vij’s Restaurant and Vij’s Rangoli. He also has a food truck, Vij’s Railway Express and just opened up a new restaurant in South Surrey called My Shanti. Vikram currently appears on Food Network Canada as a guest judge for Chopped Canada and will be part of the new season of Dragon’s Den which will air in the fall.
604 Now: What made you decide to move to Vancouver and open up a restaurant here?
Vikram: I came to Vancouver and I realized it was the perfect city for me as a young entrepreneur that wanted to break in, and as an Indian that wanted to showcase himself and work hard at what I was doing. I knew that this was one city that was going to give me the love and the attention that I really needed. I’ve loved it ever since, Vancouver is my home, I’ll never go anywhere else.
604 Now: Can you tell me about your new restaurant My Shanti?
Vikram: We’re just opening it up. I’m really excited and looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of work but it’s a lot of love and passion as well. I’ve always wanted to do a lot of restaurants, but I didn’t want to do just one restaurant and multiply them. All of my restaurants are different from one another. My Shanti means “my peace” and it’s about small little towns in India that don’t get the attention and the accolade that they need. When I travel to India, I go to these small little places and I learn from them and bring it back here.
604 Now: With three restaurants, a food truck and TV appearances, how do you find balance?
Vikram: I don’t think I can balance anything. I’m one of those guys who’s always juggling, always running behind, I’m never ahead of the game. But you have to love what you do and I definitely do.
604 Now: Can you tell me about your new role on Dragon’s Den?
Vikram: I just finished six weeks of Dragon’s Den episodes. It was extremely tough, it was probably the toughest thing I’ve ever done, but it was a lot of fun. All of the other Dragon’s were unbelievable, I think the only one who did a mediocre job was me.
604 Now: How would you describe your philosophy on food?
Vikram: My philosophy is simple; cook what you love, eat it with a bottle of wine and enjoy your life. Every single moment, savour it—because you never know when it gets taken away.
Chuck Hughes Interview
Food Network Celebrity Chef, Chuck Hughes blends his two passions of food and entertainment with his TV show’s Chuck’s Day Off, Chuck’s Week Off and Chuck’s Eat The Street. He is also the owner and chef of the Montreal hot-spot Garde Manger. Chuck loves food and even has some of his favourites tattooed on his arms, such as bacon, lobster and lemon meringue pie.
604 Now: What are some of your favourite restaurants in Vancouver?
Chuck: When I come here, I go full on Asian cuisine. Back home, we have some good Vietnamese, some good Thai, some good Chinese and Japanese, but not that much. I like a lot of spots, but right now I’d say Gyoza King, that’s my jam. That’s my go-to every time I’m here. But there’s a lot of great restaurants in Vancouver.
604 Now: You seem to work even on your days off, how do you manage everything?
Chuck: The restaurant is always the most important, that’s where it all started and that’s what I really love to do. You find the time to do things but also the fact is—I’m lucky that I still have two restaurants back home where I work in kitchens and I’m still part of that life. And then I can come and do things like this and TV shows and other things that I never thought I’d do with my life. It’s definitely a balancing act but it’s good, I’m enjoying it. I have so many friends that don’t know what they want to do with their life and I’m just blessed that I know what I want and that I’ve found food and cooking.
604 Now: In the little spare time you do have, what do you enjoy doing?
Chuck: I don’t get many days off in a year, but I do take the time to go to the gym, play hockey and do yoga. I work quite a bit, but I try to find an hour a day to take a mini vacation.
604 Now: What is one of your favourite dishes to make?
Chuck: I love working with seafood. There’s just something about clams; when they open up, there’s this liquor that just can’t be matched with anything else. It’s just honest, it’s real. Clams, seafood and shellfish are things I love because there’s so much flavour already, you don’t need to do much. When you start adding too much stuff, you kind of lose the essence of things, so I try to keep it real.
604 Now: Where do you get the inspiration for your dishes?
Chuck: I find it everywhere—in dishes that I eat, people that I meet, the Internet. I travel a lot, I’m lucky with that; I get to experience a lot of different things. But mostly, I would say mother earth. When you live in Canada, you have no choice but to be influenced by the seasons, it’s part of our lives.
Lynn Crawford Interview
Food Network Celebrity Chef, Lynn Crawford is known as Canada’s Top Chef. She has appeared on hit Food Network shows, such as Restaurant Makeover and Pitchin’ In. Lynn worked as the executive chef for the Four Seasons Hotel in both Toronto and New York for 24 years. She now operates her own award-winning restaurant in Toronto, Ruby Watchco.
604 Now: How would you describe your philosophy on food?
Lynn: You have to keep it simple. Food shouldn’t be complicated. Food is about sharing and it’s such a gift. It’s one thing that we all have in common—sharing the table.
604 Now: Where do you get your passion for food and cooking?
Lynn: I’m inspired by the people that I work with, the ingredients I get to cook with and the places I get to visit. I love what I do—I think if you truly love what you do then you will be successful. You just have to surround yourself with incredibly passionate people.
604 Now: What is one of the most unusual foods you’ve ever tried?
Lynn: I’ve travelled quite a bit in my many years and I remember being at a street market in Beijing. I tried scorpions on a stick—it was a bamboo skewer and they stuck the little scorpions on it while they were still alive and then fried them. I don’t think I’ll ever do that again, but I did try it.
604 Now: What are a few staple ingredients that you always have in your kitchen to cook with?
Lynn: I always have a really good olive oil, always got to have a good butter, fleur de sel, hot sauce, citrus, fresh herbs, a good hard cheese and a good soft cheese.
604 Now: What has been one of the most memorable moments of your career?
Lynn: It’s an amazing thing about food memories—I think all of us remember occasions when we’re together with family and friends; just sharing those get togethers. Another memorable one was when I was in Kentucky doing an event and Julia Child was there and she invited me to have breakfast with her. What a memory that was. I worked at the Four Seasons for 24 years—we had everybody. I cooked for Ellen many times, I cooked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; but they’re just people. Anybody who is at a hotel is obviously away from home and if you can give somebody a good experience by having a great meal—sometimes home is just having a delicious supper.
Interview by: Meagan Gill
