Interview with David Hawksworth, Executive Chef of Hawksworth Restaurant
The following interview was made possible by the NW
Tastemaker, a culinary travel publication forthcoming from Northwest Travel
Magazine. To read more interviews with the best chefs in the Pacific Northwest,
visit Northwest Travel Magazine and
TableTalkNorthwest.com.
David Hawksworth, Executive Chef of
Hawksworth Restaurant
As one of Canada's best chefs, Chef David Hawksworth has masterful technical skills and an unflinching demand for the best local products. His namesake restaurant, located in Downtown Vancouver, serves contemporary Canadian menu, with such dishes as Butter -Poached Lobster with Iberico ham risotto, fennel, spring onion, and crispy manchego, in an elegant and modern dining room.
Chef Hawksworth's culinary background includes stints in some of Europe's best restaurants. These include the European Michelin-starred kitchens in Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, L’Escargot and The Square. Recognized by Western Living’s “Top 40 under 40,” Hawsworth was the youngest chef to be inducted into BC’s Restaurant Hall of Fame. In addition, he is the recipient of the 2012 and 2013 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards for Restaurant of the Year and Chef of the Year.
1. How do
you describe Northwest cuisine?
For us
here in Vancouver, Pacific Northwest cuisine generally means Asian influences,
including the emphasis of light, acidic and addictive flavors. Plus there is
the inclusion of an abundance of sustainable seafood on everyone’s plates and
fresh local produce.
2. Who are
6 of your favorite purveyors, whether farms and ranches or hot-sauce, salt, or
olive-oil producers?
Two Rivers
Meats for coppa and duck
Mikuni
Wild Harvest for wild mushrooms
Organic
Ocean for spot prawns and salmon
Kuterra
for the best inland farmed BC salmon
North Arm
Farms for vegetables
3. When
you go out for a nice meal, what are two or three of your favorite spots?
My
favorites would be La Quercia, on Vancouver’s Westside, for Italian. A definite
classic would be Vij’s on 12th Avenue for his spin on Indian food. I’m also an
avid skier and try to spend lots of time on Whistler Blackcomb during the
winter, so Sachi Sushi is the go to place up there.
4. Who are
two other Northwest chefs that you admire?
In
Vancouver, there are a couple of standout chefs, Lee Cooper and his team has
been doing a great job at L’Abattoir, since it opened in 2010. A role model for
me has always been Michel Jacob of Le Crocodile, for his longevity and
consistency in the fine dining industry.
5. In your
opinion, is there an area of Northwest cooking that doesn't receive enough
attention?
Not
necessarily. In the past few years we’ve noticed the public paying more
attention, in a positive way, to many different areas of Pacific Northwest
cuisine, including sustainable seafood, responsible cultivation of beef, and
most recently, a strong emphasis on vegetables taking the leading role on restaurant
plates.
6. Looking
toward the future, what about Northwest cuisine most excites you?
What
always excites me is the freshness and accessibility of Vancouver’s waters—things
like spot prawns, Dungeness crab and oysters that are sitting on our doorstep.
We are working on a new restaurant opening later this year, and I am hoping to
create a new style of menu for Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest region. More
details to come!
Hawksworth
Restaurant
801 West
Georgia Street, Vancouver
BC V6C 1P7
Canada
Located at
the Rosewood Hotel Georgia
604-673-7000
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