food

rida Anderson remembers when vegan food was scarce in Vancouver. Five years ago, after visiting an underground vegan restaurant in Halifax, she had the irresistible urge to create something similar at home. So the ceramist and selftaught cook started Vegan Secret Supper, the citys first vegan dinner club, in Stephen her East Van apartment. Once a week, Anderson would welcome paying diners to the cozy attic space for a homemade, multiple-course meal. When she moved to Brooklyn a few years ago, Anderson took VSS with her. Having relocated to Montreal this past winter, she told the Georgia Straight she plans to keep VSS going there with occasional pop-ups in Vancouver and New York Citybut shes not sure she wants to host it in her home anymore. Your whole living room is tables and chairs, Anderson said by phone from Quebecs largest city. Its a bigmaybe not sacrifice, but its a big deal to have it in your house. You keep your house very clean, and everything is set up just so. Vancouvers Arsenal Pulp Press has just published Andersons first cookbook, Vegan Secret Supper. Subtitled Bold & Elegant Menus From a Rogue Kitchen, the 220-page book offers 150 recipes and plating instructions that allow anyone to re-create the high-end food of VSS at home. The book will no doubt lead to plenty of plantbased dinner parties, much as its 28-year-old

Vegan secret suppers flourish in Vancouver

Best Eats
author has inspired a small but vibrant underground vegan-dining scene in Vancouver. On a recent Saturday night, 17 people gathered for supper over two sittings in the same Mount Pleasant apartment where Anderson founded VSS. This time, however, the chef was Tim Aretz, who runs the monthly vegan dinner club Plate Invaders with his partner, Alissa Raye, AnHui dersons former roommate. From a tiny kitchen, Aretzwho works fulltime at Gorilla Food, a raw vegan caf in downtown Vancouverserved up a sumptuous, four-course meal featuring an entre of stacked turnip with mushroom and pecans, marinated sunburst squash, creamy red quinoa, and spicy red-pepper sauce. For the 32-year-old, Plate Invaders provides an opportunity to experiment with cooking techniques and contribute to a burgeoning local vegan-food scene. I really dont cook for vegans, Aretz said in an interview at the Straight offices. I want to cook for everybody, and I want to cook really good food that happens to be vegan. Plate Invaders charges $30 to $40 per person, with 10 percent of proceeds donated to nonprofits that help animals. While they started out in August 2012 cooking for their friends including a visiting AndersonAretz and Raye are now seeing strangers subscribe to Plate Invaders Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter accounts and reserve by email. In his Facebook profile, David Isbister posts the menus for PlantBase, and he usually
> By Carolyn Ali

Mrida Andersons book Vegan Secret Supper is based on the dinner parties she throws for paying guests, who are served dishes such as smoked tofu and caramelized onion spring rolls.

Food of the week

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival starts today (April 4) and runs until April 30, with restaurants around town showing their sakura cherry blossom spirit. For example, Tojos Restaurant (1133 West Broadway) is offering a seafood salad with a cherry mentaiko (roe) dressing for $24. This Saturday and Sunday (April 6 and 7), you can nosh more casually under the blossoms at the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden (5251 Oak Street). In addition to booths selling Japanese snacks like takoyaki (octopus fritters), there will be sake tastings and a Japanese tea ceremony. For info on all participating restaurants and fair activities, see www.vcbf.ca/ and japanfairvancouver.com/. -

manages to sell out the vegan secret suppers, which have taken place once or twice a month for the past two years. The 32-year-old autism support worker and singer in the rock band Season to Attack told the Straight that each event involves three days of preparation. Isbister likes to serve healthy plant-based versions of indulgent dishes, such as chicken parmigiana and mac n cheese, and set the stage for vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores to engage in friendly conversation. Dinners range from $28 to $35 and brunches cost around $20, with 10 percent of proceeds going to animal nonprofits as well. Its just fun, and I love cooking, Isbister said by phone from his Grandview-Woodland home. It works out really well all around. I like being hospitable. Cam Dean considers Bring Yer Own Wine, which has a Facebook profile, a monthly dinner party. What sets BYOW apart from other vegan secret suppers is that Dean, a 29-yearold urban farmer and bike mechanic, grows most of the food. Attendees donate a suggested $15 to $30 to enjoy Deans seasonal vegan cuisine in his

Grandview-Woodland apartment. He describes BYOW, which he founded in 2010, as both an artistic and a political endeavour. Its really about how I can live in a conscious, more sustainable way, and how I can share that with other people, Dean said in an interview at the Straight offices. While the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Coastal Health do not permit underground restaurants in residential areas, both generally wait for complaints before taking any action, according to spokespeople. Anderson advises anyone thinking of starting a secret supper to get certified in food safety. In terms of whats next for VSS and underground vegan dining in general, she sees change on the horizon. I think it needs to evolve into something different, Anderson said. But I dont quite know where that will be or what that will be. STRAIGHT.COM
For two recipes from the new cookbook Vegan Secret Supper, visit our website at www.straight.com/food

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