Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118157
MER M C Y . . SU 1 10 ❂ U LI NA R M y B i g Fa t G r e e k S h i s h K e b a b by Jeff Topham Kitsilano, Vancouver, B.C. The 3200 block of West Broadway is still known by long-time Kitsilano locals as Greektown. Now in its 25th year, the neighbourhood's 10-day Greek Fest continues to enthusiastically deliver on its invitation to "live a day the Greek way" over the Canada Day weekend, in celebration of some 100 years of Hellenic culture in the city. One still finds Athenian old-timers at its sidewalk cafés drinking strong coffee and debating politics and football. And when gathering the ingredients for summer's culinary highlight, the backyard lamb roast – at iconic local import delis such as the Parthenon and Minerva's – I remain convinced that I've stepped across time into the sun-drenched markets of Santorini and Corfu. Like much of Vancouver, though, this old world is changing. And the new world that's moving in is diversifying the neighbourhood's cultural mix while tapping in to the newest culinary travel trend: roadtripping to the farms where food is grown for a sit-down meal. One of the most popular spinoffs? The move to bring artisanal farms and their organic, sustainable practices to the city's culinary classrooms, through workshops in oldworld skills such as canning, preserve making and charcuterie. Luckily for me, one of these Kitsilano upstarts is accepting new students, too. At 3209 West Broadway, the Honest Butcher is giving lessons in meat: from how to carve a shish kebab to the fine old art of sausage making. And what could be better than learning to prep lamb in Kitsilano's historic Greektown? The driving force behind The Honest Butcher is David Ritzer, a mountain of a man whose Mohawk and heavily tattooed right arm could easily net him a gig as a punk-rock bassist. The once-aspiring chef and former welder finally gave in to his passion for food nine years ago, when he apprenticed at a small meat shop in Winnipeg. Basically, he "learned to cut meat" from a butcher named Rex Fish – "the ultimate Englishman," says Ritzer, "a 70-year-old in a bowler hat and tie, there every morning at 7 a.m." Today, Ritzer's longshoreman toque and tattoos might not pass muster with Rex, but his pristine new shop and expert cuts of meat arrayed behind the glass counter would no doubt make the ol' Brit proud. It's a sparse and immaculate workspace, furnished with big solid tables and expensivelooking knives. It could be an art studio or a movie set: a model for the simplicity movement. It's also right in line with the old-time aesthetic that's on the rise in Vancouver. Barbers, butchers, even cobblers are putting out their shingles in a throwback to the salt-ofthe-earth pioneers and explorers who founded this city in an era that revered craftsmanship, and whose time has apparently come again – with the food industry no exception. In these days of the organic revolution, it's not enough to just know where our food is coming from. Folks want to know the artisans who are growing and producing it; they also want to learn how to do it themselves. So on a warm Kitsilano night, along with a few other backyard BBQ wannabes, I set out to add some novel new skills to my culinary toolbox, courtesy of Ritzer's beginner butchery class. THE HONEST BUTCHER, aka Dave, greets me warmly with cold beer (locally brewed, small batch, of course) and a plate of piping-hot bone marrow straight from the oven. I've not met many men who can wax eloquent on the nuances of marrow, so I'd say we're off to a fine THE LAMBASSADOR'S MISSION Bone in, skin on, heart open. Such is the mantra of David Ritzer, Kitsilano's Honest Butcher, who believes organic, whole animals are the key to conscious meat mongering: (right) Ritzer's hip new Kits space and (second from top) roasted bone marrow in chimichurri sauce. (The Honest Butcher, opposite) Jeff Topham, (right, from top) Andrew Topham, Jeff Topham, istock, Jeff Topham, istock p38-41_Cooking.indd 39 WESTWORLD >> S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 39 4/26/12 11:31:12 AM