All Scenes & Results From The Van Mag Restaurant Awards…

The 21st Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards went down yesterday at the Wall Center. There were lots of predictable winners and quite a few surprises as well. And as with every year there were as many disappointed people as there were happy ones. The better highlights I’ll save for the deathbed (except for the part when a high profile executive chef accidentally nailed an old lady in the head with a Nimby burger frisbee – that was just too awesome to keep to myself), plenty second-guessing of us judges, and an intoxicating array of after-parties that left half our finest rooms staffed with fabulous drunks, ecstatic winners and not a few honourable mentions wondering how it all went wrong. Results after the photos… Read more

The Chef of the Year, Robert Belcham Of Fuel & Campagnolo

Once out of his Peace River high school, Robert Belcham moved to Victoria, BC, where, after training at Camosun College, he got his start in the industry toiling at Rebar, one of Canada’s most celebrated vegetarian restaurants. He then followed an opportunity at the island’s Aerie Resort, and shortly thereafter became its executive sous chef. To further sharpen his skills, Belcham spent a year as chef de partie at Thomas Keller’s famous Californian restaurant, The French Laundry, and stayed on in Silicon Valley for another two years to work as a private chef. In 2002, he returned to Canada and joined the team at “C” Restaurant, rising to the position of chef de cuisine two years later. He opened Fuel with one of his best friends, sommelier Tom Doughty, in 2007. The restaurant claimed the Best New Fine Dining award at that year’s Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. His second restaurant, the casual Italian-themed Campagnolo, opened in the winter of 2008. He is this year’s Vancouver magazine Chef of the Year. Read more

Q&A: The Chef of the Year, Pino Posteraro

One or twice a week Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose which ones they’d prefer to answer, with a minimum response rate of 20. A Rorschach test, for sure…

Pino Posteraro is the current President of The Chef’s Table Society of BC, the 2008 Vancouver Magazine Chef of the Year, and the owner/chef of Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill in Yaletown.

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Scout Q&A

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Grand Boulevard area In North Vancouver: down to earth; friendly environment; still small reality; almost a village, like where I come from.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Pasta, Pasta, Pasta.

Default drink of choice: Champagne.

Drink you’ll never have again: Never say never.

The one place you’d move to without any regrets: My home town in the south of Italy.

Favourite wine varietal: Pinot Noir (old Burgundy to be more precise).

The person you can imitate: Depends on how much I had to drink (the only time I shall attempt).

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: The rain.

Bartender who could sell you anything: Stefano, an old school bartender from Toronto who has a “special gift”.

Cheap place for dinner: Pasparos Taverna on the North Shore, even if now the prices are up.

Book you’re reading: Cresci: The Art of Leavened Dough.

Last place traveled: New York.

Biggest fear: Dying young.

Cliche that you use too often: I do not have one.

Dead film actor you wish was still making pictures: Massimo Troisi.

Best sneaker in the world: The most comfortable ones (no particular brand).

Place in BC that you love escaping to: Ruby lake

Under what circumstances would you join the army: No circumstances.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: He died the same year I was born.

Best bar stool in the city: I do not have one.

Dumbest purchase ever: Must be one of my sports cars.

What are you proud of: My family.

The thing that makes you the angriest: Stupidity

Saddest thing about Vancouver: Hastings and Main.

Most challenging part of owning a business: Keeping the staff focused.

Best fine dining restaurant in the city: Tojo’s.

Your nickname growing up: Pino, which is short for Giuseppe.

Talent you wish you possessed: Be a great soccer player.

The trend you wish you never followed, but did: Fusion, when I was back from working in Asia.

Musical instrument you long to play: Guitar.

Sport you gave up: Soccer.

Foreign politician you most admire: Bill Clinton.

The game you’re best at: Cooking.

Best gallery in the city: Petley-Jones.

Somewhere within an hour of Vancouver that is worth checking out: Bearfoot Bistro (Whistler).

The number of fist fights you’ve been in: One that I can remember (his name was Pino as well).

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Losing my mother and my brother within 9 months of eachother.

Three things of no value that you will keep until you die: My old track pants; my old soccer shoes; my old guitar.

Local person you admire most: John Bishop; Hidekazu Tojo; Robert Clark.

The thing you’re ashamed of: Not spending enough time with my wife and kids.

Best concert experience ever: Avril Lavigne with my daughter.

Aspect of your personality you wish you could change: Being more patient.

How you waste time at work: Repeating myself.

The thing you wished people cared more about: Other people.

The dish you’re most proud of: The last one I’ve created.

The thing that makes you the most nervous: Flying and hospitals.

Town you were born in: Lago in the province of Cosenza in Calabria, Italy.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Friends.

First memory: My mom.

Quality you admire most in yourself: Perseverance.

Album that first made you love music: My love for music came as a consequence of the Catholic study I attended.

Default junk food of choice: Chocolate chip cookies.

The career path you considered but never followed: Heart surgeon.

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: Kazakhstan.

Your top 3 films of all time: Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino, La Vita e’ Bella.

The first three things you do every morning: Espresso; soccer news online; respond to my emails.

The thing you’re addicted to: Pasta.

Biggest hope: A healthy life for my family and for all the kids of the world.

Luckiest part of your life: Being born into a family of six children. You really learn about life and love.

Favourite book as a child: The stories narrated by my mom. We could not afford many books.

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READ ALL SCOUT INTERVIEWS

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Related Video:

Senza Frontiere at Cioppino’s

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Related Photos:

Senza Frontiere at Cioppino’s

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