The Buzz Tofino May 2019

16th Tofino Food & Wine Festival — 20 top chefs, 75 wineries and 21 breweries to indulge on June 7th – 9th. Friday kicks off The Cocktail Show at Schooner Restaurant, featuring creative cocktails paired with small bites. The signature event Grazing in the Gardens on Saturday afternoon, June 8, has local chefs pairing B.C. wines and microbreweries with canapes, all set in the lush rainforest of Tofino Botanical Gardens. You can move along to Schooner’s Sunset Patio Brew-Be-Que in the evening to take in more spectacular food and spirit pairings. www.tofinofoodandwinefestival.com

West Coast Nest is hosting a unique opportunity to learn hands-on from local experts about foraging varieties of seaweed and then enjoying a seaweed lunch by Picnic Charcuterie. Follow this up with a workshop on pickling kelp while sampling seaweed and lastly meet chef Paul Moran at 1909 Kitchen for a special seaweed dish. www.westcoastnest.org

Help support your local fishermen while celebrating boat-to-table food culture at one or all Feast Tofino series of events starting April 26th through May 5th. Maybe an intimate dinner is your idea of a night out, or perhaps you and a group of friends prefer a restaurant take-over or a large scale community event, there’s something for everyone. www.feasttofino.com

The Pointe Restaurant and Driftwood Cafe are this years’ hosts of B.C. Seafood on Your Plate, part of the B.C. Shellfish Festival taking place June 2019 (dates TBD). View their swimmingly good dinner menu at www.wickinn.com

And finally, put some beef on your plate every Tuesday night starting in June at the Driftwood Cafe off Chesterman’s Beach, where your favourite farmers’ bounty will be paired with house-made beachside burgers and Tofino Brewing Co. beer. www.wickinn.com