APPETITE FOR AERIAL DINING
Crane-suspended table takes eating to new heights
Would you be comfortable eating dinner while suspended 150 feet above False Creek? Well, you can discover the answer to that question at the upcoming Dinner in the Sky installation happening July 1-31.
The aerial-food event, which sees diners eat chef-created cuisines while seated at a table suspended by a 200-foot crane, first began in Belgium and has since been replicated at more than 5,000 events in more than 40 countries around the world. But this will be the first time Vancouverites have had the chance to see if they can stomach the sky-high meal.
Event organizer Jhordan Stevenson has tapped Vancouver’s own cooking talent Travis Petersen to create the food that will entice and excite the event’s guests. Oh, and hopefully make them forget about the dizzying heights beneath their table, too.
“The goal is to highlight the cuisine of Vancouver and leave the taste of the Pacific Northwest in our customers’ memory banks for years to come,” Petersen says of the event’s menu, which is sure to include his trademark West Coast-culinary mix. “We will have options for meat, fish and vegans, with the choice of three to six courses, depending on the package you purchase.”
So, how does one prepare for cooking more than 100 feet in the air?
“The first hurdle will be my fear of heights,” he says with a laugh. “It might take me a couple dry runs to get used to cooking so high in the air. That being said, I’m not one to let something like a fear of heights get in the way of this amazing opportunity.”
Petersen says Vancouver’s unpredictable weather could also prove difficult, despite the event’s relatively safe scheduling in July.
“We shouldn’t be seeing much rain or wind, if any at all,” he says a tad hopefully. “I think it’s safe to say we’ve had enough of that this year already.”
Despite his aforementioned fear of heights, and in keeping with his seemingly endless supply of confidence, Petersen is positive the month-long dining experience will be a big hit in the city.
“The breathtaking natural beauty of Vancouver lends itself completely to this unique dining experience,” Petersen explains. “It also leads one to think — has there ever been a better selfie opportunity?”
Petersen is no stranger to sharing on social platforms. He regularly updates his various feeds with images of food and his cooking engagements. In fact, he says platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have proved to be invaluable for connecting him with prospective clients — as well as fellow chefs.
That heightened level of social media savvy is actually what landed Petersen the gig as Dinner in the Sky chef.
“I had just recently cooked for a client who is Facebook friends with Jhordan, and when she saw the post, she tagged my name,” he explains. “From there I met with Jhordan and we started collaborating right away. The power of social media has been such a huge asset to growing my business.”
But whether it’s a month of rain or shine (or the most likely scenario: a mixture of both), precarious heights, or perfect #selfie lighting that he faces during the summer month, Petersen isn’t overly concerned about how things will play out.
After all, this is a self-taught chef who has made a name for himself, and subsequently, a living, by making himself more than a little uncomfortable.
“I have big dreams and a long list of goals I want to achieve,” he says when asked why he seems to thrive in situations where he pushes himself past his comfort zone.
“My ambition and optimistic mindset push me to go after every opportunity, whether it’s travelling across the country to cook in Toronto or cooking in a kitchen 150 feet in the air, I’m going to put myself out there and go for it.”
That go-getter attitude was one of the factors behind the Vancouver-raised chef ’s (albeit brief ) appearance on MasterChef Canada. Despite having no formal culinary training, Petersen hit the TV show’s kitchen with the hopes of taking home the final title.
“I’m a self-trained home cook who learned from the school of YouTube and Google,” he says with a laugh. “Getting on to MasterChef gave me the confidence to pursue my passion, and being eliminated so quickly lit a fire under me to show that I was better than that.”
Since his departure from the show, Petersen has been honing his cooking skills in his personal kitchen — and other people’s too.
“With MasterChef premiering in February of 2016, I knew I had a small window to capitalize on this opportunity, so I moved to Kelowna January 1, 2016 and started the Nomadcook,” he says. “In my first year I did 48 events and, to date, in 2017 I’m at 32. I have two chefs that are taking jobs part-time now, with plans at bringing one on full-time this summer.”
Petersen’s mobile chef business, dubbed The Nomadcook, sees him step into private home kitchens in order to cook three- to five-course meals for dinner parties, bachelorette extravaganzas, corporate affairs — and more.
“The Nomadcook brings all the food, does all the prep, cooks, serves and cleans; leaving the host to focus on their guest and not having to stress about dinner,” he explains of the business model. “Our other main service is private group cooking lessons, which is extremely popular for groups of friends looking to get together and do something fun.”
Prices for the service vary depending on the size of the dinner party and the type of service, ranging from $80 per person for a six- to 12-person cooking class to $120-$200 per person for a dinner party — and more. In addition to providing chef-quality meals in a private setting, The Nomadcook has allowed Peterson to pursue his other passion: travel.
“The Nomadcook was created to help take the chef out of the restaurant kitchen and bring him or her into your kitchen,” he says. “No longer does a chef need to work 12hour days and rarely interact with the people he’s cooking for.”
While he has already travelled coast to coast in Canada for his cooking engagements, Petersen’s next adventure will take him further east: Asia.
“One of the reasons I applied for MasterChef in the first place was because I’ve always wanted to have something I could travel and earn a living doing,” he explains of the inspiration for his fall cooking tour, which will see him making meals for private dinners in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore.
“Now that I have the ability to do so (with The Nomadcook), I’m going to jump at it while the opportunity is present.”
To cook — and to eat, of course too. But perhaps the biggest draw of Petersen’s chosen career is how cooking — whether in people’s homes, at a sky-high table or on a competitive television show — has allowed Petersen to experience more of what makes him the most excited about cooking: the people.
“I love creating food that gets the conversation going around the dinner table,” he explains of the draw.
“I find some of the best discussions happen when people are eating. People are excited for the meal that’s about to be served and I feed off that.
“Hearing that moan of satisfaction after the first bite of a dish is one of the best sounds in life. It’s addictive and something I strive to hear every course I make.”