Words: Mark Busse
The sold out October 2012 edition of CreativeMornings/Vancouver welcomed renowned chef, sommelier, restauranteur & author Vikram Vij as our speaker. We were proud to partner with Eventbrite to produce the breakfast event with the support of ongoing co-hosts W2 Media Café & GDC/BC.
Vikram Vij is from India, but studied the culinary arts abroad, eventually moving to Canada in the late 80’s. In 1994 he opened a humble little Indian restaurant on Broadway he called Vij’s. I lived in the neighbourhood back then and it was OK. Not bad. It was when his wife arrived a year later and together they started creatively collaborating on the menu, moved into the location on 11th & Granville and everything changed. Next came Rangoli, retail pre-packaged curries, the books, TV appearances.
To say that Vikram is among Vancouver’s gastronomic royalty is an understatement. Various magazines and travel guides have repeatedly judged Vij’s to be the top restaurant in Canada, and NYTimes food critic Mark Bittman (and others) have called Vij’s one of the best Indian restaurants in the world. How does he do it? Among other things, he is driven by passion and creativity. A passion for not cutting corners or compromising, and the creative bravery of an artist, willing to try anything—even if there’s a risk others will judge or reject him. He’s not driven by ego or fame, but a desire to make people happy by creating the best quality, most authentic mix of traditional Indian cuisines using sustainable, local & seasonal ingredients and serving it in a room as comfortable as your own living room.
Vikram shared with the sold out crowd his perception of creativity and the role it has played in his kitchen, his food, and his life.
http://vimeo.com/51267825
NOTE: CreativeMornings/Vancouver is entirely produced by unpaid volunteers, including the video production which is done on borrowed equipment which have recently suffered some technical issues and we need your help to purchase a new camera and laptop: tinyurl.com/9lqz5h5
Like CreativeMornings/Vancouver on Facebook for updates on upcoming talks as well as videos of the ones you might have missed.
