Chowder Chowdown - Serves up Sustainability

Event:  Chowder Chowdown

Date:   November 14, 2017

Location:  The Fermenting Cellar - Distillery District - Toronto

November is Ocean Wise Seafood month and last night I had the privilege of attending the Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown for the second year in a row at the amazing Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District.  Although it's a hike to get there once you are at the Distillery you feel like you have gone somewhere else in the world.  There is nothing else like it in Toronto.  And the Fermenting Cellar is a great place for a Chowder Chowdown contest brought to you by some great Chefs in Toronto.  Centennial College was also one of the participants.  This event is a fundraising event for Ocean Wise's Sustainable Seafood Program.  It's a fun event where there are 5 Top Chefs and food industry people as Judges including Brad Long and Martin Kouprie this year.  It is hosted by Vancouver Chef Ned Bell who is a champion for Seafood Sustainability and who has a new cookbook called LURE that has just been released. It's a fun event where the Judges judge but also the attendees get to place their votes.

And the Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown Champion is......

For the second year in a row, a judging panel of food-savvy media, chefs and industry leaders selected Chefs Chris Torgis and Joel Gray as the 2017 Ocean Wise Seafood Chowder Chowdown Champions. The Thornbury-based restaurant presented chowder lovers with their patriotic Canada 150 Coast to Coast Chowder . It featured a mélange of sustainable seafood, including Ontario farmed whiteleg shrimp, Gulf of St. Lawrence crab, Lake Huron smoked whitefish and wild Pacific ikura, complemented by local corn velouté, wild leek pesto and pickled roots and left the judges wanting more. The attendees voted Scout’s Cannery as the People’s Choice Award winner, selected for their Scout’s Scullery Soup, made with clams, mussels and haddock.

Chef Ned Bell

Chef Dave Mottershall

Judges included:

     Brad Long, Owner and Executive Chef, Café Belong

        Martin Kouprie, Executive Chef

      Kristin Donovan, Co-Owner, Hooked Inc.

      Joseph Chiaravalloti, Sustainability Specialist, Seacore Seafood Inc.

        Rita DeMontis, National Food Editor, Sun Media

 

 Even though the Chowders are served in little bowls, there were 14 of them so I think  I only tried about half of them.  My favourite was the not very Chowder like Thai Tomato by SOCO Kitchen.  I just loved the balanced flavour and a kick of heat at the end but it was very far away from a traditional chowder so I can see why they chose a more traditional chowder by Bruce Wine Bar with their National Seafood Chowder.

2017 Ocean Wise Restaurant Finalists

The Beverly on Locke
Chef Rory O'LearyCatfish and Caviar Chowder

Bistro '67Chef Raul SojoOyster and Bacon Chowder

Bruce Wine Bar
Chef Chris Torgis and Chef Joel GrayNational Seafood Chowder

Centennial College: The Local Café and Restaurant
Chef Nick MooreSmoked Seafood Chowder

Cluny Bistro & Boulangerie
Chef Murray McDonaldCod Chowder

Distillery Events and Archeo
Chef de Cuisine Joshua Dyer
Wampanohog Chowder

Le Sélect Bistro
Chef Laura MaxwellSnow Crab and Smoked Clam Chowder

Loka
Chef Dave MottershallPEI Potato Mussel Chowder

PORT RestaurantChef Samantha JoyceClam Chowder with Bacon and Grilled Clams

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill
Chef Danny Chae
Asian Inspired Clam Chowder

The Restaurant at Peninsula Ridge Winery
Executive Chef Matt Hemmingsen
Chowder with Lobster Grilled Cheese

Rodney's Oyster House
Chef Rodrigo de Romana
Bahamian Seafood Chowder

Scout Canning
Chef Charlotte Langley
Scout’s Scullery Soup

SOCO Kitchen + Bar, Delta Toronto
Chef Keith PearsThe “TTC” Thai Tomato Chowder

These Chowder Chowdown events are held in Toronto and Vancouver and for more information you can check out their website: Vancouver Aquarium 

The Ocean Wise seafood program began as a grassroots movement in Vancouver in 2005 and is now Canada’s most recognizable sustainable seafood program. What started as an initiative involving 16 chefs has expanded to include more than 700 partners with locations from Victoria to St. John’s.  

Chowder Chowdown sustainable Chowder battle

CHEFS CHRIS TORGIS AND JOEL GRAY OF BRUCE WINE BAR TAKE HOME TOP PRIZES AT VANCOUVER AQUARIUM’S OCEAN WISE® CHOWDER CHOWDOWN

It was a hot night at the Fermenting Cellar in The Distillery District, as top chefs from 12 Ocean Wise partner restaurants put their best ladle forward at the Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown. This annual event, which takes place during Ocean Wise Month, brings together some of the region’s culinary heavyweights as they vie to have their chowder recipe be crowned the winner.

This year, a judging panel of food-savvy media and esteemed chefs selected Chefs Chris Torgis and Joel Gray of Thornbury’s Bruce Wine Bar as the 2016 Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown Champion. The judging panel was wowed by the chef team’s New England Corn and Smoked Whitefish Chowder. Featuring fresh herbs, pickled potatoes, whitefish roe and a corn tortilla ash, the chowder had the crowd buzzing and their mouths watering.  Bruce Wine Bar also took home the People’s Choice Award, selected by hundreds of chowder lovers who cast their vote.

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I can't believe I actually missed trying the winning Chowder, probably because there were so many people around their table that we didn't get near it.  We tried every other Chowder except for the the GeoDuck,  sorry guys,  I wasn't feeling that adventurous.  We literally worked up a sweat with all the hot Chowder sampling.  But I have to say that our favourite was the very first one we tried and then we went back for it again for our last one just to make sure.  That one was from the Chase Fish & Oyster. 

To cool down after the hot chowders there was a delicious selection of beverages including bright white wine from Whitehaven Winery and the perfect, sustainable caesar from partner Walter Caesar.

 Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown in Toronto showcased 12 top Ocean Wise chefs in total, who all joined the sustainable seafood movement by bringing the heat to this friendly competition. Chowders featured an impressive array of seafood, from octopus to geoduck. A list of participating chefs and beverage partners can be found he​re.

 

This year’s panel of distinguished judges was:

·         Chef  Martin Kouprie, The Globe Restaurant

·         Chef Brad Long, Café Belong

·         Liora Ipsum, Food Editor, The Daily Hive

·         David Ort, Post City Magazine

Ocean Wise began as a grassroots movement in Vancouver in 2005 and is now Canada’s most recognizable sustainable seafood program. What began as an initiative involving 16 chefs has expanded to include more than 675 partners with locations from Victoria to St. John’s.  In addition to Chowder Chowdown in Toronto, Ocean Wise Month is being celebrated with similar events in Vancouver, Calgary and Wolfville and partners across Canada are sharing their stories about sustainability using the hashtag #OceanWiseMonth.

This year’s Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown in Toronto was made possible with the support of Seacore Seafood Inc. and Distillery Events. 

The reason I was really excited to go was because I think that Ocean Wise has been doing some great work getting the message about how important it is to think about buying Ocean Wise approved sustainable fish.  Why is it so important?  They research the species that are in danger of becoming over fished to the point of forever changing the balance of the Oceans and having all of the different species survive which keeps the planet in good health.  It is all connected.  The Ocean's eco system has been slowly eroding and if we don't change a few of our habits we will lose species of fish and cause other factors that contribute to Global Warming.  Yes it's real and if everyone makes conscious choices about what they eat it could make a huge difference.

For more information about Ocean Wise visit their website:  www.oceanwise.ca
For information about the Vancouver Aquarium:  www.vanaqua.org