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Posts Tagged ‘Chef Thomas Heinrich’

2014 Healthy Chef Competition Recap

Posted in Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Healthy Eating, Joyce, Meat, Salad, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

For the past 4 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend the BC Healthy Chef Competition. Co-sponsored by the BC Chefs’ Association and the BC Produce Marketing Association, the purpose of this event is to promote a healthier diet with the use of fruit and vegetables, while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Chefs representing 8 units were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. Despite I received a media invitation this year, I once again joined a few other colleagues at work at this event. Here is the list of competing units this year:

  • The Art Institute of Vancouver
  • Beach Grove Golf Club
  • Burnaby Central Secondary School
  • Delta Hotels (Burnaby and Vancouver Airport)
  • The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
  • Pretty Estates Resort
  • Rational
  • Vancouver Community College

Healthy Chef Competition 2014

Before we followed the tradition and opened our envelope to retrieve our entree and dessert tickets, we each received a plate of Salmon Carpaccio prepared by the team at Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Because the team was led by Chef Thomas Heinrich, it had the resemblance of the beef carpaccio we previously had at the Mosaic Bar & Grille downstairs from the ballroom. A different protein but this still composed a good flavour and texture combination using fish, crispy garlic chives, the aioli and liquid vinegar gel.

Salmon Carpaccio

I couldn’t resist. In addition to my assigned entree and dessert, I also picked up a couple more dishes after we were allowed for “seconds”; therefore, I have tried a total of 3 entrees and 3 desserts. Ooops hehe!

Entrees

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s Braised Beef Short Rib was very tender. (more…)

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Mosaic Bar & Grille – 4-course Taiwanese Tasting Menu

Posted in By Invitations, Canadian, Dessert, Dinner, Fine dining, Food Bloggers, Joyce, Meat, Restaurants, Seafood, Soup, Vancouver, West Coast, Wine Pairing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2014| 1 Comment »

With an invitation from my old-time blogger friend Sherman, we tried Mosaic’s latest Taiwanese Tasting Menu. Inspired by his recent visit to Taiwan, executive chef Thomas Heinrich put out this 4-course menu with a wine pairing option. Based on my experience last year, I was quite looking forward to another fantastic dinner.

Food

The dinner started with the Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust. The house-made fish balls were made with ling cod, scallop and ground pork. Because the texture of ling cod and scallop is on the soft side, and I’m used to the bouncy, ping-pong like fish balls from HK, I found these a bit mushy. But the use of a little bit ground pork added some chew to it. The broth was quite aromatic and you could definitely taste the ginger and scallion; it had a homey taste to it. When mixing in the porcini paste on the side of the bowl (although not necessarily the most appetizing looking) there was some additional earthy note to the broth. Unfortunately our server poured a bit too much broth so I couldn’t finish it all.

Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust

Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust (Photo Credit: Sherman Chan)

Our second course was the Hakka Tea Crusted Ling Cod, and it was my favourite plate of the evening. (more…)

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2013 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Posted in Christmas Series, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged , , , , on December 23, 2013| 1 Comment »

Already in its 23rd year, the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver is currently filled with more than 30 gingerbread houses built by amateur and professional bakers, as well as secondary students enrolled in culinary arts programs.

What is noticeably different this year is the centrepiece. This new masterpiece made by Executive Chef Thomas Heinrich measures 11 feet tall and 16 feet wide. Ingredients include 500 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of confection sugar and 1,400 egg whites, plus a few secret ingredients and a little help from Hyatt’s engineering department. Standing beside it is a replica of the iconic steam clock from Gastown.

Hyatt Gingerbread House Lane 1

In addition to traditional gingerbread houses, you will find displays themed around popular animations such as Spongebob Squarepants and Despicable Me. (more…)

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Mosaic Bar & Grille – An Amazing Experience

Posted in Chocolate, Dessert, Dinner, Fine dining, Joyce, Meat, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Occasion, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2013| 4 Comments »

This is definitely not our first time visiting Mosaic Bar & Grille. I was there for Dine Out, for business lunches and for Christmas Day buffet brunches, and of all my visits quality had been great. Therefore, I was pretty excited when the VANEATS folks invited us to sample their latest offering, Art of Taste at Mosaic.

Mosaic Bar & Grille

Mosaic Bar & Grille

Before I even go into any details, let me just put it out there. We were blown away. The hospitality of staff and the quality of food were just top notch. Now, of course, you may say we got special treatment because we are bloggers. Possibly. So keep that in mind as you read on, but hopefully you’ll be convinced otherwise.

Food

First of all, let me walk you through the Art of Taste menu. It’s a 3-item dining pass that gives you an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. You have two options for each course, and luckily, we’ve tried them all.

Appetizer #1 is the Local Spring Salad, which features the freshest seasonal vegetables that are currently available in the market. And they did taste very fresh – the cooking wasn’t anything fancy, but that’s how you bring out the best of the fresh ingredients. The citrus dressing was refreshing and not over-powering, and it was just the right amount of dressing. Sheep milk ricotta was rich and creamy, with a little hint of gaminess, but it was a welcomed substitute to the rather commonly seen goat cheese.

Local Spring Salad

Local Spring Salad – Fava Beans, House-made Sheep Milk Ricotta, Citrus Mustard Dressing

Appetizer #2 is A La Minute Smoked Salmon. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It was the same smoked salmon that I had at the Healthy Chef Competition. That being said, this is the perfected version of the smoked salmon. When it first arrived at our table, it’s sitting in a cloud of smoke, inside a dome.

Salmon in a Smoky Dome

Salmon in a Smoky Dome

And wow, this was sooo much better than the other one. (more…)

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