Meeru Dhalwala of Rangoli
On October 16th I attended RIPE: A Harvest Celebration, this was my first year attending this annual fundraiser for Vancouver Farmers Markets. RIPE is a casual, family-style meal that includes a feast of delicious and seasonal food prepared by local chefs and market vendors, regional beer, wine, and cocktails, a silent auction, and live entertainment.
Meat & Bread (Braised Lamb Shoulder Sandwiches)
The RIPE dinner was a sit-down, buffet-style meal that began with appetizers prepared by chefs from Meat & Bread (Braised Lamb Shoulder Sandwiches), Vij’s Rangoli (Spicy Sauteed Tomatoes, Onions and Paneer), Campagnolo (Pickled Eggplant), and Swallow Tail Supper Club (Wild Mushroom Pate), using seasonal food provided by Farmers Markets vendors. Cocktails, beer and Tangled Vines wine were for sale along with complimentary coffee, tea and a very refreshing apple juice. The backdrop was the spectacular view of the mountains from the Creekside Community Centre in Olympic Village.
Harvest Dinner Buffet
Velvet Squash & Apple Soup
Chevre, Chard & Kale Pyllo Lasagna
The delicious harvest meal was prepared by Save On Meats Diner and Tacofino and personally I loved the Velvet Squash & Apple Soup (Golden West Farms apples & Cropthorne Farm squash); Roast Broccoli & Fingerling Potatoes with Toasted Hazelnuts (Helmers’ Farm potatoes, Sandhu Produce Growers broccoli & Popular Grove Arbour hazelnuts); Chevre, Chard & Kale Pyllo Lasagna (Goat’s Pride Dairy chevre, Hannah Brook Farm chard and kale) and Roasted Garlic.
French Made Baking’s Financiers
French Made Baking’s Macarons
Desserts buffet style as well were devoured pretty quickly, my favourites were the Purebread Whistler’s Rosemary and Sea Salt Cookies, French Made Baking’s Financiers and Macarons and Gluten-Shmuten’s Ginger Cookies.
This was a wonderful evening of joy and celebration that saw members and supporters of Vancouver Farmers Markets partaking in a fine harvest meal. Mayor Gregor Robertson greeted everyone joined by his wife Amy and they dined along with a few other city council members that included Andrea Reimer, Heather Deal and Ellen Woodsworth. Growing Chefs provided great educational fun for the children, there was a fun silent auction as well as music by Blackberry Wood.
By: Richard Wolak