The second annual Feast on the Fraser returns to the Royal City this month.
The 10-day culinary experience, which runs from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2, pairs up local businesses for an evening of food and fun. There’s a different event happening each night, giving participants a variety of outings to choose from.
“It’s just lighting up,” said Tej Kainth, executive director of Tourism New West. “I think we already have two or three events almost sold out.”
Feast on the Fraser kicks off with an opening night celebration at River Market, with food from restaurants like El Santo, Wild Rice and Longtail Kitchen. Drinks will be provided by Steel & Oak and Pacific Breeze winery.
Sept. 24 will see The Boathouse and Samson V Museum team up. Participants will get to tour the last steam-powered sternwheeler to operate in Canada, followed by champagne and oyster shucking inside the restaurant’s lounge. The next day, there’s a guided food tour along 12th Street that starts at D Roti Shak and ends at Gospa’s Delightful Food, a new Eastern European deli.
On Sept. 26, HUB Restaurant will serve a three-course tapas dinner featuring preserves from the Vista D’Oro and entertainment by the Arts Council of New Westminster and the Douglas College Performing Arts department.
Wild Rice’s chef Dante Ramos will be hosting a cooking demo on Sept. 27. Students will pick up some basic knife skills, learn how to butcher a salmon, create old-fashioned garnishes from the days of the King Neptune Restaurant, all while learning about the city’s salmon industry, courtesy of New Westminster’s Museum and Archives. A three-course dinner will follow.
Back by popular demand is the paint and sip night on Sept. 28 at 100 Braid St. Studios, which includes drinks, appetizers and art. Attendees will get to re-create historical New Westminster signs with The FAT Paint Company.
Other Feast on the Fraser events include a pizza and beer night, a long-table dinner at Tipperary Park, a dinner cruise, a 60-minute barre class and night of music and entertainment at Match Eatery and Public House, celebrating the gold rush days of the Fraser River. Tickets are either $25, $45 or $65, depending on the event.
Kainth started Feast on the Fraser last year as a way to bring awareness to what New West has to offer. Her ultimate goal is to make it into a regional dine-out program that would include other communities along the river.
“I would love to see restaurant or chef takeovers, or chef competitions in a couple of years, things like that,” she said. “Businesses are saying, ‘You know what, we’ve been wanting to work with that other business, and we never got a chance to.’ Feast on the Fraser gives these businesses that chance.”
Sourcing local ingredients is another important aspect of Feast on the Fraser, Kainth added. This year, thanks to a partnership with The Fraser Valley, participating businesses had to source at least one ingredient from a Langley, Abbotsford or Chilliwack farm.
Kainth anticipates 2016 to be a sellout year.
“I think we’ve really elevated our food scene here. I’m just so amazed and excited for what we have to offer starting Sept. 23,” she said.
