Not Even a Global Pandemic Could Stop This Made-in-Vancouver Burrito Collaboration…

I spent the early part of the evening of March 12th, 2020 inside the Kits location of Tacofino watching a tasty collaboration on a vegan burrito unfold between the restaurant and the West End’s popular Beetbox.

In just a few days Covid-19 would upend the hospitality industry and all our lives, effectively putting a stopper in fun stuff like this. Those assembled still didn’t know the case count was about to double that very day from 21 to 40, shocking the province into a harsh new reality. Looking at the photo below it feels like years have passed, not mere months…

The collaboration was shelved as the two chefs, Tacofino’s Jason Sussman and Beetbox’s Bryan Satterford, quickly pivoted to managing the unforeseen, once-in-a-century crisis in their own respective ways. For my part, until this morning when the following press release and video from SMC Communications landed in my inbox I had completely forgotten about the delicious events and chill, collaborative vibe of that carefree evening. The sudden coming of this burrito — aptly named “Not today, Seitan” — rushed me back in time and spirit, giving me hope that similar nights will soon be on the horizon.

Here’s the release in full:

TACOFINO AND BEETBOX TEAM UP TO LAUNCH LIMITED-EDITION PLANT-BASED BURRITO COLLAB FOR WORLD VEGAN DAY

Vancouver, BC | Vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians alike can get a fresh new fix when Tacofino and Beetbox team up to flex a new limited-time-only, plant-based ‘Not Today, Seitan’ burrito feature launching on World Vegan Day, Sunday, November 1.

Available at Beetbox (1074 Davie St.) and Tacofino’s Gastown Burrito Bar (15 W Cordova St.) from Sunday, November 1 to Saturday, November 7, the ‘Not Today, Seitan’ burrito offers a tasty spin on Beetbox’s signature Fried Chick-Un Sandwich and comprises breaded and fried seitan, pumpkin-seed macha, cashew-lime crema, white-cucumber kimchi, lettuce and lime chilaquiles wrapped in a Tacofino flour tortilla for $11.

The creative burrito collab comes about as the result of a meeting of two like-minded culinary talents in Bryan Satterford, Chef and Co-Owner of Vancouver plant-based hotspot Beetbox, and Jason Sussman, Chef and Co-Founder of the beloved Baja-by-way-of-West-Coast Tacofino family of restaurants. Beetbox offers a 100% plant-based menu, while Tacofino prides itself on offering an array of vegan- and vegetarian-friendly fare at all of its brick-and-mortar restaurants across Vancouver and its roaming fleet of food trucks.

“We’ve been big fans of Beetbox since it opened and this collaboration really let us highlight the best of what Tacofino and Beetbox are known for and play to each other’s strengths,” says Sussman. “It also continues the commitment that all of our teams have in giving our fans plenty of conscious, plant-based choices on our menus.”