Farm-to-Table Dining

That’s not how things are with farm-to-table restaurants, where it’s all about direct relationships with growers. And in the case of award-winning Vancouver chef Andrea Carlson, those relationships have deep roots.

“I’m still working with people I’ve known since my first restaurant job 20 years ago,” says Carlson. “Like Susan at Glorious Organics, she’s one of the people who’s always set the tone for the quality of produce in the city, which is outstanding.”

A fixture in some of BC’s most influential kitchens, from the groundbreaking 100-mile diet menus at the Raincity Grill to locavore legend Sooke Harbour House, Carlson now has her own restaurant, Burdock & Co on Vancouver’s Main Street in the heart of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

Inviting connections

Burdock & Co’s inspiration sprang from Carlson’s desire to bring the kind of farm-to-table cuisine she was creating at higher-end restaurants such as Bishop’s, where she was executive chef, to a wider audience.

“I wanted something more accessible, that was in a neighbourhood where families would come, not just for a special occasion,” she explains. “I wanted to bring all the food I have access to as a chef, which I thought was so healthful and important in terms of connection to the land, and bring that vitality to more people.”

Tapping a rising tide

Consumer interest in food traceability and farmers’ markets has opened the door to farm-to-table restaurants hitting the mainstream. A 2012 study by the University of Northern British Columbia estimated the economic impact of farmers’ markets across the province to be more than $170 million—a 147 percent jump compared to 2006—and that interest is only on the rise.

Since opening Burdock & Co in May 2013, Chef Carlson has seen that first-hand: “My cooks and service staff get excited about the amazing local products we use and then relay that excitement to guests, who then go and source those products from farmers’ markets.” It’s a food chain that does the whole circle, from farmer to restaurant, to guest, and then back to the farmer again.

Making seasonal connections

Eating farm-to-table connects us to the seasons, and for Carlson that means being flexible when it comes to menus. At Burdock & Co, she’ll change up the menu anything between 12 to 24 times a year, depending on what’s happening with her suppliers. Dealing with some 30 different suppliers over the year, Carlson makes a list of what is currently available and then pieces together a menu like a jigsaw puzzle.

“It’s knowing, as you move through the layers of the seasons, who has what and when. You have to be open to change, as in the natural world, crops fail; they can come late and you need to be agile in dealing with that.”

Most of us have a sense of which fruits and vegetables herald the start of different seasons, but when you work so closely with farmers, that becomes a hyper-awareness. “It’s not just the fruits and vegetables that I get excited about; it’s the seeds and the flowers, the roots and shoots,” enthuses Carlson.

“All of the different components of the plants express different nuances and flavour throughout the season. Whether you’re having a frond of the fennel here, the flower and seed there, and then maybe the bulb somewhere else.”

Connecting farmers and diners

Unlike many other dining trends, farm-to-table has its roots in sustainability and food security, and looks set to be the way more restaurants will work in the future. For Carlson, the attraction is clear: “Cooking this way is ever-changing, diverse, and represents the freshest of the products that are available to you.

“For consumers, I feel like it’s the same, and people want to know where their food comes from. That’s what we’re striving to do here in the restaurant, so it’s an extension of that farmers’ market experience: you can meet the farmer, eat their produce, and it’s that same thing right here.”