LET’S EAT TOGETHER
I was recently chatting with designer Phoebe Glasfurd—one of our 2018 Foodies of the Year and one-half of the design team that is Glasfurd and Walker—about what attracted her to designing for the restaurant scene, and I was struck by her answer. “In terms of a brand perspective, there are very few things that live fully in the real world,” she said. “A restaurant is something that is very physically and viscerally here for people and those attached to it. That’s something quite special.”
She articulated a lot of why food is such a compelling piece of our culture—why so many of us identify as “foodies,” why magazines like
Bon Appétit hold their thrall, why we clamber for reservations at buzzy spots like St. Lawrence in Vancouver and Calcutta Cricket Club in Calgary. All of the Foodies of the Year we’ve named in this issue are creating the local connection that we are craving in our cities—and the more “connected” we become virtually, the more we seek it out in the real world.
Calgary’s Lourdes Juan, for example, has tackled food waste in her city, launching the first annual “Feeding the 5,000” event, collecting food that would otherwise be discarded, then transforming the ingredients to serve lunch to over 5,000 Calgarians. It’s an event that no doubt brings those who experience it closer to understanding the issue of food waste and to each other in the moment.
And Glasfurd and Walker have been the brand designers behind many of the top spaces in Vancouver: here, a beautiful dinner plate; there, a gorgeous menu design that creates a mood for the evening—all illustrations of their artistry. There’s truly a visceral connection that comes from dining in one of their rooms.
Each of our winners moves the dial on our food scene in Western Canada, and we’re the luckier—and more connected—for it. As you look through this issue, I hope it leads you to discover some of the ways food is creating connections in your own life and with your own city; perhaps even the people on this list are the minds behind some of those connecting points. ANICKA QUIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR ANICKA.QUIN@ WESTERNLIVING.CA