Written By Rebecca Baugniet Edibles / Food Events Jul 27, 2011 Taste’s Third Year Ends on a High Note SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter PinterestClockwise from upper left: Raising a glass of Mission Hill's 5 Vineyard Rose, Dungeness crab and albacore tuna salad, grilled sockeye salmon with parsley and basil butter, dessert arrives, lemon olive oil cake with just-picked summer berries. All photos: Rebecca BaugnietImagine a long table dressed in white linens, silver and stemware. Place it in a farm field, flanked by rows of kale and cilantro. Paint a scenic background, say, of the Haro Strait, Gulf Islands, Mount Baker and other mountains in the distance. Now bathe it all in a warm, golden, slowly setting sun. Add a softly strumming guitar player and sixty happy, appreciative guests. Finally, bring a few perfectly executed dishes to the table and pour some of BC’s best wines. If you think this all sounds to good to be true, then sadly, you missed out on last Sunday’s Land and Sea Harvest Dinner – the grand finale of the 3rd Annual Taste Festival. Happily, though, they are already planning next year’s. This is the first event I’ve ever attended where guests were asking to buy tickets for next year’s follow up, but it isn’t hard to see why. Reminiscent of the recent al fresco dining sensation Outstanding in a Field, the main difference is that this event was plotted here on Vancouver Island, not imported by traveling foodie evangelicals. The brainchild of Taste founder and organizer Kathy McAree, the Marina Restaurant’s Chef Matt Rissling, farmer Ryan Vantreight and grower Eric Doublier, the Vantreight Farm Dinner brought the distance between farm and fork down to nil. Chef Matt Rissling and his team made the ultra-fresh produce shine in a four-course, family style dinner. Each course prompted groans of audible delight, from the spot-on soft-boiled eggs with orange yolks mirroring the evening sun in miniature on our salad plates, right through to the moist lemon olive oil cake, onto which we piled fresh berries and whipped vanilla crème fraiche, only to be told “wait! – there’s lavender syrup!” so we paused, waiting our turn to drizzle and be dazzled.Plans are already underway to lengthen the table to include up to 200 guests next year. But yes – you might want to reserve your seats early. Land and Sea Harvest Menu by Chef Matt Rissling 5 Seed Bread, Turkish Olive Oil—Dungeness crab and seared loin of albacore tuna salad, Buttercrunch lettuce, sliced raddish, sauce gribiche Mission Hil 5 Vineyard Rose—Lemon and herb marinated baby carrot and French bean salad, Baby beets, Salt Spring Island goats cheese, sherry vinaigrette Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc—Grilled Sockeye salmon, parsley and basil butter, Grilled lacinato kale, garlic buttterHerb roasted German fingerling potatoes Mission Hill Reserve Pinot GrisMission Hill Reserve Pinot Noir—Lemon olive oil cake, summer berries, whipped vanilla crème fraiche and lavender syrup Mission Hill Reserve Late Harvest RieslingBC wineChefsfarmsFestivalFood Eventstaste victoria SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Rebecca Baugniet Rebecca Baugniet is a freelance food writer and editor living on Canada’s West Coast with her husband and their four children. The author of three published cookbooks, Rebecca has also written for EAT Magazine and for Montréal ... Read More You may also like EAT Magazine News / Food News January 28, 2021 CITY EATS February | March 2021 If you haven’t yet taken advantage of Victoria’s free local delivery program, Downtown Delivers, you have until February 15 to try it ... Read More Food News / Pantry / Review January 28, 2021 Some Like It Hot — A Hot Sauce Tasting Party A Hot Sauce Tasting Party Gillie Easdon gathered 15 local, house-made hot sauces and four brave souls to taste-test them. It was a mid-October, late ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News December 7, 2020 EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide. Not just for the holidays! Bolen Books Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi ($45.00) Cat’s Meow Trivet ($6.95) Book Seat ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News November 30, 2020 CITY EATS December 2020 | January 2021 A new bakery has opened in the Leland building at 2506 Douglas St. Working Culture Bread is serving up naturally leavened sourdough breads, as well ... Read More Food / Food News / Restaurants November 30, 2020 Eating Out—At Home Originally published in EAT Oct|Nov issue. Are you missing those romantic date night dinners, a favourite dish from a local chef, the fluffy ... Read More Breads / Food / How to Cook / Recipes November 27, 2020 Rosemary and Feta Potato Loaf A delicious homemade bread is always a welcome treat that can really set the mood for a good day. This is an approachable recipe to bring to holiday ... Read More Comments are closed.
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