VANCOUVER CHEFS || A Community Fuelled by A Passion for Culinary Art
How many of you have a side hustle?
Something you are vigorously working on during the off hours of your day? It usually does not feel like work because it is something you have chosen to pursue from a place of pure passion. Most times it starts with just knowing there is a field that really interests you and you try your hand at that, only to quickly figure out that 1/ there are a variety of potential roles within the field and 2/ the first role you tried really wasn’t your thing.
What happens then? If it is REALLY a field you are passionate about, you are going to find another way to see if you can find your niche within the particular field; this was the approach that Christian Alvarez took when his passion for culinary art was first ignited.
Sous Chef Kim Nguyen photographed by Christian for his ‘Life On The Line’ project.
THE BACK STORY
Let’s take a step back to 2004 when Christian was a local House DJ performing here in Vancouver and abroad, producing music for countless international labels and his own imprint Delecto Recordings. He did this all while working his full-time day job in the corporate world. Music had always been his primary passion, but as life changes, so do our interests.
In addition to music, Christian had always taken a keen interest in cooking and culinary art, but it wasn’t until he saw the documentary, ‘El Bulli: Cooking in Progress’, which showcases Spanish chef Ferran Adria and his team work to create an extraordinary menu for the world’s best restaurant (El Bulli has been ranked at the top restaurant in the world 5 times since 2002) that he saw how artistic and creative cooking could be.
Deeply moved by the film, Christian knew he had to pursue cooking as a career. From that point on, he became obsessed with learning about the best chefs in the world, traveling to dine at top-rated restaurants and buying a plethora of cooking tools and books to help him learn cutting edge techniques (he jokes that he was one of the first to try sous vide cooking from home). After several years of consideration, Christian took the plunge in 2015 quitting his day job to attend cooking school at Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.
THE REALIZATION
After culinary school, Christian worked at a variety of restaurants including Maenam and Fable but quickly realized that while he loved cooking, it didn't fulfill him creatively. What initially had inspired him about food was lost in the repetition, long hours, and ultimately assisting someone else to execute their vision and not his own. Fully aware this may happen, Christian began thinking of other ways he could be part of a community he so dearly loved and respected.
Justin Witcher. Executive-Chef of Como-Taperia.
LIFE ON THE LINE
While traveling through Spain shortly after school, Christian recounts watching a program entitled, “Back of House” on a flight to Bilbao to dine at Asador Etxebarri (currently 3rd in the world on the San Pellegrino list). The series follows Australian painter, Jeff Martin, who sketches paintings of chefs during service at some of the world's best restaurants including Noma and Per Se in a series he called "Back of House".
Christian had an epiphany. He would combine two of his passions, photography, and culinary art, in a project that would allow him to spend time in a bustling kitchen, and at the same time, feed his need of a creative outlet (He points out his tattoos, one, a simple reminder, the word "create" and another that quotes Picasso "art washes away the dust of everyday life"). Upon his return to Vancouver, he began photographing local chefs and chronicling their personal stories in his own series, "Life On The Line".
Since January of 2017, Christian has photographed eighteen kitchen teams, created the Vancouver Chefs
community on social media and beyond, and collaborated with renowned local chefs to curate his highly sought after inspired pop-up dinners.
Makoto Ono. Executive-Chef of Mak N Ming.
VANCOUVER CHEFS AND POP-UP DINNERS
Christian takes great pride in having created a hub to connect the community of talented chefs within the Vancouver community, and from this expanded network, Christian has brought chefs together to shine a light on their talents through creative, pop culture-inspired pop-up dinners. The framework for the collaborations has allowed Christian to combine his love of music, film, art, and food in a unique and interesting way.
Cubano - A featured dish in The Scarface Dinner by Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson (Published on Main). Inspired by a scene where Tony Montana is working at a beachside Cuban restaurant "El Paraiso". Cuban sandwich with BBQ pork, fermented kohlrabi, salsa verde, mayo mustard, swiss cheese and ham.
All Eyes On Me - a featured dish from the Tupac and Biggie Tribute Dinner by Mike Robbins (AnnaLena). Inspired by 2pac ft. Snoop Dogg's song "2 of Americaz Most Wanted". Components of a California Roll, Dungeness crab, charred avocado, grilled and pickled cucumber, charcoal kewpi, puffed rice, smoked tobiko.
Thus far the dinners have been inspired by Pulp Fiction, Scarface, Michael Jackson's Thriller album, a tribute to Biggie and Tupac, and a menu created from the paintings of Dali, Van Gogh, Monet and more, entitled, "Night at the Museum." These dinners have featured sixteen of Vancouver's top chefs including Phil Scarfone of Nightingale, Mikey Robbins of AnnaLena and Trevor Bird of Fable, to name a few.
When asked what’s the next step for the Vancouver Chefs community and what he ultimately plans to do with the themed pop-up dinners, Christian shares that he is just really happy to be able to contribute in a very small way to an industry he has so much respect for (keeping in mind that he still has a full-time management day job while working on this passion project).
Honey Pumpkin - featured dish in the Pulp Fiction Dinner by Sean Reeves (Mackenzie Room). Inspired by Tim Roth's and Alexis Arquette's characters "Pumpkin & Honey Bunny". Yakatori stick with grilled rabbit brushed with fermented honey glaze, freeze dried pumpkin and pumpkin seed pesto.
We want to thank Christian for sharing such a colorful story on how he has pursued his passions. The lesson we took from this conversation is that you don’t have to know exactly where to start or plan for exactly how it ends. Discovering and cultivating your passions is a lifelong work in progress, and as we can see from Christian’s story, passions shift and change; what inspired you 10 years ago may not ignite a fire in you today. AND THAT’S OKAY. There’s no right or wrong answer, and we can tell you that most of the people who seem to have the answer are still on the search for the next evolution of their passion and art.
Whatever it is that inspires you today, make time for it and go out and try it. It may turn out as cooking school turned out for Christian, or it may have an entirely different route for you, but if you don’t explore the path ahead, you will always be left wondering. We can’t promise that the path will be easy (or easier than what you are currently doing now), but we can guarantee that you will feel more fulfilled and treasure any results you generate from the experience.
Find out more
www.vancouverchefsofficial.com
Instagram @vancouverchefs
Photos courtesy of Christian Alvarez
*Cover photo features Executive Chef Sean Reeves of Mackenzie Room
