The Nosh
A weekly show about the people, places and issues behind what we eat and drink. Hosted by Anya Levykh.
Episodes
Episode 194: Heritage Acres Distilling and Helping the BCHF
Anya chats with Alana Dickson from the BC Hospitality Foundation about helping those in need, the current state of the industry and its workers, and how you can help. Later, Chris Noske from Heritage Acres Distilling in Abbotsford joins the show to chat about BC’s goldrush past, preserving Barkerville, and a hurdy-gurdy gin for the holidays.
Episode 193: Robbie Kane of Medina Cafe
From photography and design to waffles and making waves, it’s a packed hour with Medina Cafe owner Robbie Kane as he chats with Anya about family, friends, creating great experiences, Liege waffles, and more.
Episode 192: Author andrea bennett
From bike mechanics and working a salad bar to writing about food systems and culture, this award-winning author and journalist has covered a lot of ground and explores the idea of food for both pleasure and sustenance in her latest book. Anya chats with andrea bennett, senior editor at The Tyee, about Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence.
Episode 191: The Victor
From small-town beginnings in Prince George to three-Michelin-star restaurants in London and Disney cruise ships, the immigrant experience, discovering sushi, and cuisine without borders, Anya chats with Executive Chef Garett Blundell and Head Sushi Chef Jae Cho of The Victor steak and seafood house at Parq Vancouver about putting the fun back into fine dining.
Episode 190: Chef and Food Security Advocate TJ Conwi
From his childhood in the Philippines working in the family restaurant to launching and running glittering hotel and corporate kitchens to working to fight food waste and food insecurity, this chef has served up almost half a million meals over the last five years to those that need them most. Anya chats with chef TJ Conwi, owner of ONO Vancouver about “Robin Hooding” food (without the stealing), the dangers of aesthetically pleasing produce, poorly seasoned chicken, and so much more.
Episode 189: Birch Block Vineyard
Anya chats with Sarah and Murray Bancroft of Birch Block Vineyard about the journey from cooking and high fashion to wine and agriculture, raising grapes, working with UBC Farm, and more.
Episode 188: Author Timothy Taylor
Anya chats with award-winning author and journalist Timothy Taylor about his latest book, The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf, as well as mentors and strange journeys, hybrid cuisines, the connection between this novel and his first, Stanley Park, becoming a restaurant critic, uncovering family history, the social world of food, and more.
Episode 187: Sandrine Ramoisy
From a small village in Belgium to the northern wilds of Dawson Creek and Quesnel, and then to Vancouver and fine-dining, this seasoned front of house veteran has seen—and done—it all, and now she’s serving it back with the launch and expansion of TIPS (To Insure Proper Service) Academy, which offers training to newcomers to Canada, as well as those entering or looking to upgrade in the profession. Anya chats with Sandrine about leaving home as a teen, becoming a bouncer, overcoming an introverted personality, respecting boundaries, reigniting your passion, and the true meaning of “the customer is always right.”
Episode 186: Good Thief
From the culture of nhậu and eating frog legs to save the environment, to cocktails that tell a story and drinking “collagen juice,” it’s a packed show chatting with co-owner Amelie Nguyen and beverage director Ben Kingstone of Good Thief.
Episode 185: Hector Laguna & Matt Jacobson of Botanist Restaurant
Solving puzzles, surprising takes on chicories, the many definitions of Pacific Northwest cuisine, tastes of home, being an ambassador for B.C. wine, salsa macha (not the tea), spice levels, cooking hyper local on a grand scale, and so much more. Anya chats with Executive Chef Hector Laguna and Wine Director Matt Jacobson of Botanist Restaurant at the Fairmont Pacific Rim about it all.
Episode 184: Rob Feenie
From cooking in Alsace to winning Iron Chef to taking over the reigns at Le Crocodile, Rob Feenie’s career has spanned many styles and situations. Anya chats with the renowned chef about growing up in Burnaby, travelling as a teenager, cooking and drinking in Russia (really), mentors, traditions and legacies, cracked glass (the kind you eat), and future plans both in and out of the restaurant.
Episode 183: Yuki Aida & Hiroshi Hoshiko of Sushi Mahana
From talking to the fish (really) to defining a new Kyushu style of omakase infused with West Coast ingredients and sensibilities, Chef Hiroshi Hoshiko and owner Yuki Aida have turned a quiet corner of Lonsdale into a small retreat that transports you to Japan. Anya chats with the pair about Sushi Mahana, the omakase experience, brulee on eggs and more.
Episode 182: Indáy celebrates Filipino Cuisine
The Philippines are a group of 6,000+ islands and more than 200 languages and cultures. The idea of Filipino cuisine as being a monolith of steam-table cafeteria-style fare is one that has persisted too long and is now slowly being replaced with the understanding that what we know about Filipino cuisine represents only a tiny fraction of the whole story. A group of intrepid Filipino-Canadians are launching a collaborative dining series that explores the essence and evolution of Filipino cuisine, its diversity of regions and flavours, and what it means to be Filipino in Canada. Anya chats with the group behind Indáy to learn more.
Episode 181: Aman Loodu of Union Market
It’s all about community building, great coffee, continuing a Strathcona legacy, and becoming a gentrifier for a cause as Anya chats with Union Market owner Aman Loodu.
Episode 180: Colin Johnson of Le Petit Chapeau
His pâtés and terrines became a byword when he was working at the city’s best French restaurant and now he is striking out on his own with a venture that it sure to ‘spread’ in popularity. Anya chats with Chef Colin Johnson of Le Petit Chapeau about pâté, kitchen culture, cooking for pleasure, working in restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic, and more.
Episode 179: Doug Stephen of DownLow Chicken
This chef and restaurateur has done everything and pretty much seen everything in his time in the industry, ranging from fine dining to cooking on the downlow. Anya chats with DownLow Chicken founder and chef Doug Stephen about fried chicken, confit bacon, creating safe spaces for kids—and snacks, the sepia-toned restaurants of our youth, going from cork dork to slushie nerd, playing Tetris with walk-in fridges, and more.
Episode 178: Chef Steven Fecho of the SLCC in Whistler
His professional background has gone from deep sea bomb detection to butcher to chef and a whole lot in between. Now, he cooks and collaborates in Whistler at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. Anya chats with chef Steven Fecho about hooshum berries, cooking with local and seasonal ingredients, the perils and positives of smoking fish (even in summer), switching from fine dining to casual cookery and back, and more.
Episode 177: Claire Livia Lassam
Her breads and baked goods have been a byword in restaurant kitchens for years, as has her Commercial Drive storefront. Claire Livia Lassam, owner of Livia Bakery, Pasta and Wine Bar, joins Anya to talk about bread, baking, kitchen culture, food as community, the ups and downs of potato bread, feeding kids, the dreaded “P” word, embracing the slow life, eating together, the importance of carbs, and so much more.
Episode 176: Pluvio in Ucluelet
In a remote town on the northern west coast of Vancouver Island lies a small but mighty restaurant that has become of one of the best in Canada. Pluvio in Ucluelet is run by a husband-and-wife team who have turned this tiny town into a dining destination. Anya chats with them about their love of rain, cooking, hospitality, fried chicken, fine dining, doughnuts, adventures with bears, and more.
Episode 175: Chef Clayton Fontaine of Tofino’s Wickaninnish Inn
Anya travels to Tofino to chat with Executive Chef Clayton Fontaine of The Wickaninnish Inn’s The Pointe Restaurant about cooking on the Wild Wet Coast vs. East Coast, how local and sustainable plays out on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, the extraordinary pace of changing menus, growing anything in a temperature rain forest, local suppliers, the Relais & Châteaux experience, and more.
Episode 174: Lila Arrives on Main Street
Two much-lauded restaurateurs, Meeru Dhalwala of Vij’s and Rangoli, and Shira Blustein of The Acorn, have come together to open Lila on Main Street. They chat with Anya about the restaurant, the menus, working together, friendship, food sustainability, the culture and politics behind plant-based, vegetarian and flexitarian eating, avoiding labels, the concept of welcome, and more.
