Fine dining meets sustainability in this sumptuous seafood cookbook from one of the finest restaurants in the Pacific Northwest.

Headed by executive chef Frank Pabst recently named Chef of the Year in the Georgia Straight's Golden Plate Awards Vancouver's multiple-award-winning Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar features an acclaimed menu with a focus on local and sustainable seafood.

Pabst has helped lead the West Coast food community in promoting sustainability through his support of the Vancouver Aquariumís Ocean Wise program and his creation of Blue Water Cafe's Unsung Heroes menu. Complementing Pabst's French-inspired approach to food are the Japanese traditions of Chef Yoshi Tabo, head of the restaurantís Raw Bar.

Here Pabst and Tabo share more than eighty of their exquisite recipes, including Trout with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Baby Leeks, Fava Beans and Potato Cream; Spot Prawns with Samphire and Miso Yuzu Sauce; Periwinkles with Stinging Nettle Puree and Potato Chips, and Bigeye Tuna Tataki

One of Canada’s most accomplished chefs, Frank Pabst’s disciplined technique—learned in some of Europe’s finest kitchens—is matched to the West Coast’s extraordinary catch of seafood.

Widely recognized for his creative impetus and leadership in responsible seafood practices, today Pabst leads Blue Water Cafe’s brigade of expert chefs in what has been called “one of North America’s finest seafood restaurants.”

With tenures in Michelin-starred restaurants throughout Germany and France, including La Becasse (Aachen), the historic Hotel Negresco (Cannes) and Restaurant de Bacon (Antibes), Pabst was amply schooled in the rigorous classical technique that provides the foundation for his far-ranging cooking style today.

Soon after settling in Vancouver in 1993, Pabst joined Lumière as chef de cuisine, and later opened at Pastis, securing a Gold Award for Best New Restaurant in the prestigious Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards.

Directing the kitchens at Blue Water Cafe since 2003, Pabst has consistently demonstrated excellence, both in the procurement of impeccably fresh, sustainable seafood—Blue Water Cafe is a founding member of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program—and in the execution of its cookery, showcasing his trademark “complexity without complication.”

In November 2008, Chef Pabst won the Vancouver Gold Medal Plates competition in support of our Olympic athletes. This year, Pabst and his brigade were the recipients of the Gold Award at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards for Best Seafood Restaurant.

Frank Pabst's profile page

Yoshihiro Tabo arrived in Canada in 1972 after training in Osaka and receiving certification for his culinary expertise there. In 1986, he opened his first restaurant, Shijo, followed by Yoshi, both earning rave reviews. He has headed the Raw Bar at Blue Water Cafe since 2002, and won Vancouver magazine’s silver award for Best Formal Japanese dining in 2008. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Yoshihiro Tabo's profile page