The art of service

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Blaine Wetzel, Canlis, Ekstedt, HK BBQ Master, hospitality, KOKS, KOKS Restaurant, Levante, Niklas Ekstedt, Noma, Poul Adrias Ziska, Random Musings, Relæ, service, The French Laundry, Thomas Keller, Vancouver, Willows Inn

During one of our first years at University, a mandatory first term course was called Organizational Behaviour. The required class readings were extensive but enthralling. Following the syllabus week by week, we made our way through the text. One week we remember chuckling at the section on organizational culture. At the time, our resume barely had any form of significant experience and the section on culture felt more like theory and academic nonsense thrown in by the authors to fill our bi-weekly lectures.

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads (KOKS)

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Faroe Islands, KOKS, KOKS Restaurant, Leynavatn, Michelin, Poul Adrias Ziska, Torshavn

More than a millennium ago, Vikings colonized an archipelago in the middle of the north Atlantic. Isolated, tundra-like and sub-polar in climate, agriculture was limited and Norse settlers had to rely heavily on the sheep they brought along with them and the surrounding sea and bird life for sustenance. This relative lack of resources fostered a self-sustaining culture among its people. One where every part of their catch was utilized, shared and preserved to last through difficult times. More than a thousand years later, what was born out of necessity has now become cultural traditions that have defined the gastronomic landscape of the Faroe Islands.

Through the Bifröst (Faroe Islands)

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Aarstova, Barbara Fish House, Esturoy, Faroe Islands, Fossa waterfalls, Gasadalur, Gjogv, Kallur lighthouse, Kalsoy, KOKS, KOKS Restaurant, Kopakonan, Leynavatn, Mikladalur, Mykines, Saksun, Seal woman, Streymoy, Torshavn, Vagar

Often shrouded in a haze of clouds, it was astonishingly clear during our descent to the island of Vágar. As the Faroe Islands came into view from our airplane window, only a single soul in sight continued to sleep. He must have been a local. For everyone else, the elevated perspective of the mountainous tundra-like archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic was encapsulating. Not a single person looked away.

A Dream of Spring (Willows Inn)

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Blaine Wetzel, Willows Inn

An extremely long winter plagued the Pacific Northwest this past year. Intermittent snow fell well into March, temperatures remained at single or low double digits through May and halfway through June the sun continued to maintain its elusiveness. The last ten months have been a relentless stretch of cold and wet that at times seemed to have no end in sight.

The Muggle World of Harry Potter (London, UK)

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50 Best, Chelsea, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Epicure, Fat Duck, Gordon Ramsey, Harry Potter, Hedone, Heston Blumenthal, Koffman's, Le Bristol, Le Servan, Ledbury, London, Michelin, Niege d'ete, Notting Hil, Paris, St John

It certainly has been a while since we touched down in London town. At the time of our visit earlier this year Harry Potter and the Cursed Child had not yet open, Brexit was still a much debated topic, the pound was valued more than twice the (Canadian) dollar and David Cameron was Prime Minister. The combination of indecision and laziness has now seen the weather come almost full circle since our visit with no words to account for it.

The Winds of Winter (Willows Inn)

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Blaine Wetzel, Willows Inn

Here we are. The dead of winter. Nimbus clouds gracing us Pacific Northwest residents with their unrelenting droplets of cold precipitation. Wellies have never been used this much and our 190 thread count lifetime-guarantee fabric umbrellas can barely withstand the daily onslaught on rain – unable to dry fully before having to be used once again.

Too cheap to pay for the horses? (Manila and Tokyo)

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50 Best, AFURI, Aoyama Esaki, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Gerry's Grill, Ginza, Greenbelt, Haruhiko Yamamoto, Ippudo, Kabila at Museum Cafe, kaiseki, Koji Sawada, Leslie's, Lorenzo's Way, Michelin, Ramen, Seizan Mita, Shake Shack, Shake Shack Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Shintaro Esaki, Sushi, Sushi Sawada, Sushi Ya, Taal Volcano, Takao Ishiyama

I’d like to think the question posed above to our guide by one of the Taal volcano island’s residents was in fact true. But in reality, it was because I fancied myself more physically fit than I actually was. As beads of sweat came pouring down my face, my runners and leggings lathered in dust and my drinking water getting hotter and hotter by the minute, I awed in admiration as our ostensibly unfit looking guide made the trek in his flip flops cool as a cucumber and unfazed by both the heat and the hike. As I approached the peak of the volcano’s island, I looked for our group who was now out of sight surely basking in the glory of reaching the top and relaxing under the shade of the palm trees.

Northern Italy

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Dal Pescatore, Duomo, Il Calandrino, Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, Le Calandre, Lombardy, massimiliano alajmo, Massimo Bottura, Nadia Santini, Osteria Francescana, Tokuyoshi

One day Sonny accosted me on the train on the way home from work. He was frantic and excited at the same time after reading about the youngest chef to receive three Michelin stars and who many were saying made the best risotto on the planet. A few moments of interrogation peaked my interest but a promise made to our younger brother years ago about venturing to Italy together always deterred our travels to this part of the world. So when he told us he would not be able to join for a few more years, we decided we could not wait for him any longer. The next thing you know we were flying on two new Boeing 787 Dreamliners on our way to the rich artistic, historic and culinary delights of northern Italy.

Hawksworth (2015)

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David Hawksworth, Hawksworth

“It was like night and day” I told our server as we paid for the bill. After our last meal at Hawksworth a few years ago, it was easy not to return. It was quite simply another quintessential Vancouver restaurant experience trying to be something it could never be. But after such a dismal experience at Farmer’s Apprentice a few weeks earlier, we decided we could give this place another try.

Farmer’s Apprentice

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David Gunawan, Farmer's Apprentice

Number 18 on Vacay.ca’s 2015 Top 50 Restaurants in Canada, Vancouver Magazine’s 2014 Restaurant of the Year and Best in Casual Dining, countless more accolades, critical acclaim and a constantly booked restaurant. What does it take to be this type of restaurant in Vancouver? Not much apparently.