Kitchen Swapping

Those of us who are foodies can appreciate the difficulty acclimating to a friend's kitchen. Well, imagine the complex challenges of taking over an entire restaurant for the day and serving a multi-course meal to a group of critical food and travel writers, as well as paying guests.

Bearfoot Chef Melissa Craig (second from left) works her magic. Credit: Bearfoot Bistro

That's exactly what we witnessed last week as the management, chefs and front-of-house staff of Whistler's celebrated Bearfoot Bistro descended from the alpine heights to relatively balmy downtown Vancouver to take over MARKET by Jean-Georges, the upscale eatery attached to the Shangri-La Vancouver. Called Switch it Up, the dining event was part of this year's annual Cornucopia Food and Wine Festival. On Nov. 9, the MARKET crew, led by Chef Montgomery Lau, headed up to Whistler to takeover the Bearfoot for an evening.

“The plan is to recreate our respective restaurants so that from the moment you walk in the door to the moment you leave, you will think you are in a different place," MARKET restaurant manager David Auer said earlier.

Bearfoot rarely does things small-scale: after all, this is an establishment with the largest restaurant wine cellar in BC, with a staggering 20,000 bottles and 2,100 different labels. They even arranged for a miniature version of their famous vodka ice bar to be recreated on the balcony of MARKET - complete with the heavy parkas used at their Whistler base. Prior to sitting down to dine, Bearfoot's ebullient Andre St. Jacques invited everyone for al fresco champagne tasting (Dom Perignon, no less), and demonstrated champagne sabering! The bon vivant wine collector presided over the evening, with his usual extravagance and aplomb.

We then embarked on a culinary journey that took us through Bearfoot Chef Melissa Craig's four course tasting menu -  Northern Divine Caviar, Alaskan King Crab, Wild Mushroom Tortellini, Braised Reserve Angus Beef, and Caramelia Chocolate.

The MARKET tasting menu on Nov. 9 up at Bearfoot included: Crispy Egg, Northen Divine Cavier, Vodka Crème Friache, Fine herb salad (appetizer); Pan Roasted Sablefish, Malaysian Chili Sauce and Steamed Rice (main course); Dual Parmesan Chicken 
and Braised Salsify (third course); and, Black Pepper Pineapple Tart bacon and Maple Ice Cream.

Organizers said such restaurant swapping is rare and agreed it requires a lot of fortitude. We say bravo!

A cozy, fun atmosphere in the MARKET. Credit: Vancouver Eater

Meticulous planning by the Bearfoot team went into the evening. Credit: Vancouver Eater