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Posts Tagged ‘The Sandbar’

Brunch with Zak Santiago at The Sandbar

November 10th, 2012 admin

Brunch is a favourite past time shared by many and should be an extraordinary experience, one that you will cherish. Vancouver has some wonderful places for brunch. Each of the places I visit is unique for what is offered along with the type of service and selection of dishes. I am on a journey around the city to find these extraordinary places and, at the same time, I will be joined by a notable personality who may be a Film Producer or Director, Musician, Arts Festival Director, Actor or other well-known individual for Brunch at restaurants in and around Vancouver.

For my thirty third brunch in this series, I was joined by Zak Santiago, Actor and DJ at The Sandbar Restaurant in Vancouver talking about Acting, Music and more!

Zak Santiago

Zak Santiago was born in Halifax. Zak is a Golden Gloves winning boxer, popular night club DJ, classically trained musician, ballet and flamenco dancer, and of course, a talented actor.

Among his credits are as series lead in the N Network comedy Interns, series regular in the PAX/NBC series Young Blades, series regular on the popular Canadian series Robson Arms and many recurring and Guest Starring roles in episodic television. He was also in the Tom Cavanagh in the mini-series “Catching the Devil”.

He won a Leo Award for best supporting actor in the lauded Human Cargo, and was appraised for his supporting lead work as one of the terrorists in A&E’s ratings blockbuster Flight 93. In 2006 Zak was nominated for another acting Leo for his work on Young Blades.

Among Zak Santiago’s credits are the feature films Shooter with Mark Wahlberg, The Eye with Jessica Alba, Underclassmen with Nick Cannon, Josie and the Pussy Cats with Tara Reid, Trixie produced by Robert Altman and a supporting role in Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal with Rutger Hauer. Zak also hosted a series called Break Out for MTV.

What came first being an Actor or DJ?

Both started at the same time, kind of a long story but on a walk through Gastown, I walked into a Gastown actors studio, took an acting class. At the same time in 1994, I put on the 1st Hip Hop night and then it rolled from there.

I understand you are a classically trained musician, what was your instrument of choice?

Piano, I studied at the Royal Conservatory growing up. Then years later I bought a set of drums and played in a band.

What was your favourite role you ever played in a tv or film production?

Young Blades (TV series) as Ramon de la Cruz

What were your most recent acting roles?

  • Mario Zavala on the “Cult” series – regular role
  • Cecil on the “Fringe” tv series

Did you always want to be an Actor?

No, not while I was growing up. I remember wanting to make my dad proud. I love creating dance and music.

I saw your latest film, “Random Acts of Romance” at VIFF where you played Matt, what was it like for you performing that role?

Working with Catrin Bowen was a great experience. She is a real visionary and a voice of Canadian cinema. It was my 1st stint as one of the producers of that one and well it was exciting.

Tell us about the DJ duo Los Hermanos Libres with Flipout that you were or are still a part of

Flipout is a DJ/Actor/Hip Hop artist/Music Producer and I co-founded “Los Hermanos Libres” and we still DJ under this group and we both DJ separately as well.

It means “ The Free Brothers” and we are both Libras and our birthdays are a day a part from each other.

What do you do in your spare time?

  • Go to Church
  • See my family
  • Boxing (do & watch)
  • Dance (do & watch)
  • Drive fast cars

What is your favourite food?

  • Paella
  • Tortilla Espanola
  • Tarta de Santiago
  • Trifle

What are your favourite restaurants in Vancouver?

  • The Oakwood Kits
  • Guu
  • Gyoza King
  • Kingyo
  • Hapa Izakaya

Spring Salmon

Halibut in Citrus sauce

Mushrooms and Onions

Belgian Chocolate Pudding

Zak had the Spring Salmon, rice & seasonal vegetables, Richard had the Halibut in Citrus sauce. Zak and Richard shared the Mushrooms and Onions. Richard had the Belgian Chocolate Pudding for dessert while Zak had a Cappuccino.

Who are some of your favourite musicians/artists that you have played in your sets?

  • Public Enemy
  • Derrick Carter
  • Weeknd
  • Maceo Plex

How does an aspiring nightclub DJ make it big nationally and globally?

Social Media bullshit

Tell me about your boxing

I spar in the ring. I used to compete and maybe one day I will compete again.

How do you know what is hot to play in the music scene?

This is what defines the generation, in my day, I would listen to records in the record store. Nowadays you go to google and search the record charts and download what is new.

What are 3 of your favourite tv shows  or films?

  • Luther
  • Top Gear
  • Friday night fights – boxing show
  • George Stroumboulopoulos

Who are your favourite actors?

  • Daniel Day Lewis
  • Javier Bardem

Is there a Director one or more that you want to work with?

  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Gaspar Noe
  • Almodovar

What inspires you?

Love

What is next for you?

Blackbird Project (working title) with Philip Cabrita and directed by Catrin Bowen

What would you like to do in the future?

I want to help people, so whatever that is. Keep developing Canadian identity. Keep making Canadian film, music, restaurants etc, to keep our Identity & culture.

 

Style: A La Carte

Attire: Business Casual

Time: Saturday & Sunday 11:30am – 3pm

The Sandbar

1535 Johnston Street, Creekhouse #102, Granville Island, Vancouver

Menu: http://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar

For Reservations call  604-669-9030

Stay tuned to my next guest Interview along with the next Brunch in and around Vancouver.

By: Richard Wolak

Posted in Brunch with Celebrities, Latest Tags: , , , , No Comments »

Granville Island Brewmasters Dinner

October 25th, 2011 admin

Brewmaster -Vern Lambourne (L) & Chef William Tse

I attended this dinner at The Sandbar on Monday October 24th that featured a 5 course meal created by Chef William Tse paired with a variety of beers from Granville Island Brewing along with their Brewmaster Vern Lambourne.

I dined with the team from Granville Island Brewing and their Brewmaster Vern Lambourne and we talked about the beer including their limited release Pumpkin Ale and the soon to be released Imperial Chocolate Stout.

Cypress Honey Lager

The dinner was created by Chef Wiliam Tse who skilfully paired each of the dishes with each of the beers.

Now on to dinner and the pairings!

First Course:

Pan Seared Marinated Halibut

Pan Seared Marinated Halibut

Sashimi of sweet scallop, pineapple honey jam

Paired with Cypress Honey Lager

Second Course:

West Coast Seafood Chowder

West Coast Seafood Chowder

Bacon confit, mussels, clams, prawns, salmon gyoza, coconut cream with a hint of lemongrass

Paired with Lions Winter Ale

Third Course:

Island Lager Granita

Island Lager Granita

Hints of citrus & chilli

Paired with Island Lager

Fourth Course:

Applewood Roasted 8oz Rib Eye Steak

Applewood Roasted 8oz Rib Eye Steak

Roasted pumpkin tortellini, honey lemon candied beets, star anise demi-glace

Paired with Pumpkin Ale

Fifth Course:

Roasted Asian Pear & Basil Strudel

Roasted Asian Pear & Basil Strudel

Vanilla Bean gelato, cinnamon crème anglaise

Comments:  All of the beers and courses were well paired, just wish they would have had their chocolate stout ready to pair with the dessert. I thought the West Coast Seafood Chowder coconut cream was exceptional with the  Lions Winter Ale in the 2nd course and the Roasted pumpkin tortellini, honey lemon candied beets, star anise demi-glace was divine with the Pumpkin Ale in the 4th course and in the last course the Roasted Asian Pear & Basil Strudel was a delightful dessert with the hints of the basil showing through.

The Sandbar hopes to offer more Beer and Food pairing dinners in the future, contact them for details at 604.669.9030. More info on the line up of beers from Granville Island Brewing can be found online at http://gib.ca/

By: Richard Wolak

Posted in Beer Dinners, Latest Tags: , , , , 2 Comments »

Chef William Tse

November 8th, 2010 admin

Vancouver is home to some of the best chefs in the world, many have worked for the top chefs and restaurants around the world as well as around the city. Dishing with the Chefs is a series of Interviews with some of the top chefs in and around Vancouver.

Chef William Tse

I spent the afternoon recently with Executive Chef William Tse at The Sandbar on Granville Island. William and I have known each other since he last worked at Goldfish Pacific Kitchen. On this visit he cooked up a few of his signature dishes for me to taste, cooking with William provided the perfect setting to dish with him and talk about his cooking, life and passion.

The First Dish:

Pan-seared Prawns Provencal Soup

Pan-seared Prawns Provencal Soup – with fresh tomato salsa finished with chilli and lime aioli

What was your Inspiration to create this dish?

He always fused everything he cooked, unique, different and not a full soup. The bread in this dish is a take-off from a French onion soup, he cooks from his heart. This dish is perfect as a Spring dish either with a hot or a cold broth.

The Second Dish:

Soy Ginger Marinated Sablefish

Soy Ginger Marinated Sablefish – with blistered tomato and basil ragout on top of a jasmine rice pilaf and finished with star anise broth.

How do you create a dish?

His creativity comes spur of the moment, when he is driving or spontaneous on the fly, not usually from a cookbook. William likes to cook on the fly, he likes a challenge such as putting two items together. He always looks at the Ying & Yang of life, the sweet and sour. One thing that he stressed, it is all about how you pull the flavours together.

What are your favourite ingredients to cook with?

Ginger, garlic, soy and Chinese cooking wine

What would surprise me?

William puts soy sauce into his Bolognaise –ok that surprised me.

Where are your roots in cooking?

He has done a lot of time cooking European but his roots are in Asian food.

What drives you from waking up in the morning?

He wants to be at the top of his game. Being a chef is fantastic running a restaurant, but he wants his name to stand out in the city, people should know that William Tse is the Executive Chef at The Sandbar.

The Third Dish:

Steak and Eggs

Steak and Eggs – double bacon hash browns, basil grilled tomato, shitake mushroom green peppercorn jus, top sirloin steak with a sunny side up egg.

What is the inspiration behind your version of Steak & Eggs?

Once on a trip to Hawaii, he saw the Loco Moco served (popular breakfast dish there), his version is very different in presentation but it hits the spot as did the one he had in Hawaii.

What inspired you to cook breakfast items?

He has never eaten breakfast himself other than Dim Sum, someone asked him to create a dish with meat and thereby his version of Steak and Eggs was born!

What are your thoughts on cooking with butter?

He doesn’t use much butter personally in his cooking. He only uses it to finish a sauce, he usually uses canola or olive oil.

If you had an opportunity to do a different style of cooking what would you do?

Taking the existing menu and redefining it with his own personality.

Have you always wanted to be a chef?

No. He went to BCIT and studied Marketing & Advertising first, then he worked for his Aunt cooking in her restaurant, his mom then bought a restaurant where he worked briefly, he enjoyed cooking so he went to cooking school and then graduated and worked in a variety of hotels from the Delta Hotel Resort for 8 years then to the Delta Airport and then to the Ramada in Richmond, he also worked at the Vancouver Airport Marriott. We all know how important connections are, well one of his longtime friends offered him an opportunity he couldn’t refuse and he took over as the Executive Sous Chef at Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House where he worked for 3 years before taking over as the Executive Chef of sister restaurant Goldfish Pacific Kitchen for 3-1/2 years and recently joining The Sandbar as their Executive Chef.

What is your view on underground restaurants?

He loves it, the more the merrier.

What is your favourite type of Asian cuisine when you are dining out?

He loves all of them, especially Chinese and Japanese.

Follow Chef William Tse and his cooking adventures on Twitter @chefwilliamtse

Stay tuned for the next chef in the Dishing with the Chef series.

By: Richard Wolak

Posted in Dishing with the Chefs Tags: , , No Comments »

An Afternoon with Chef David Adjey

September 15th, 2010 admin

Last Friday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Chef David Adjey, we started off on a tour of the Granville Island Public Market where David was on a mission to find ingredients to cook a recipe that night at the Vancouver Home + Interior Design Show. We were joined by a few women including Carole MacFarlane who won the market tour contest that was sponsored by VHDS. Shopping for ingredients with David was quite the treat for these women as well as for the vendors in the market as he picked up fresh tuna, manila clams, olives, Spanish olive oil and lots of local vegetables for his dish that he aptly named “Tuna: Cool, Warm and Hot”.

Chef David Adjey has established a strong television presence as a chef-expert for the Food Network on such programs as “Restaurant Makeover”, and is now staring in his own new show for Food, entitled “The Opener”. David who lives in Toronto, has been Personal Chef to actor Dan Aykroyd, appeared on the Jay Leno Show, and realized a dream as Chef Proprietor of his own Toronto fine dining establishment, “Nectar”.

Chef David Adjey at the Sandbar

After our market tour we dined nearby at The Sandbar on the patio overlooking False Creek and downtown. We all had a great time talking with David over wine and tasty creations prepared by Executive Chef William Tse. William served us a delicious array of BC sockeye salmon Gyoza, Seared Scallops, Ahi tuna with jam of pineapple and blackberries, Soy brined sablefish, Crabcakes and ginger fried oysters.

By: Richard Wolak

Posted in Farmers Markets, Great Ideas, Latest Tags: , , , , 1 Comment »

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