By Bob Groeneveld
Special to the 91原创 Advance
appears to have developed a taste for 91原创 鈥� two tastes, in fact.
The award-winning chef and 顿谤补驳辞苍鈥檚 Den television personality worked with the local Trading Post Brewery to develop a special beer and with Tracycakes Bakery Cafe to create a new dessert cake.
Trading Post unveiled a new beer earlier this week.
Vikram鈥檚 Weissen is a German-style beer created by Trading Post brewmaster Tony Dewald, designed to pair well with the Indian spices and flavours prominent in Vij鈥檚 three restaurants, Vij鈥檚 and Rangoli in Vancouver and My Shanti in South Surrey.
The new beer received a 鈥済ood reception鈥� at its unveiling, said Trading Post general manager and co-founder Lance Verhoeff. 鈥淰ikram brought some food, and was working the crowd. A lot of people brought their cookbooks and he was signing them and giving big hugs. There was lots of good energy.鈥�
Working with Vij to build the beer was a good experience, said Verhoeff. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very personable, down to earth. He can relate to anyone. He鈥檚 easy to work with. He鈥檚 very fun and energetic.鈥�
Verhooff added, 鈥淚t was really cool to be able to collaborate with someone so well known in the hospitality food industry in BC and in Canada. So we were pretty honoured to do that.鈥�
Vij met Verhoeff鈥檚 father at a charity event, Opportunity International, that Vikram was hosting at My Shanti about eight months ago.
When Vij learned about the brewery in 91原创 鈥渁nd how we really focus on the beer and the food, because of our restaurant in Fort 91原创,鈥� said Verhoeff, 鈥渉e really connected to that. He had always been wanting to do a beer in collaboration with a brewery.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been wanting to create something very special with a local brewery for some time now,鈥� said Vij, 鈥渁nd along with the team at Trading Post, we鈥檝e created a beer that is a great partner to any dish, but especially to a fantastic curry.鈥�
Trading Post was 鈥渢he right fit, with core values and with culture, and also for size and ability to create the beer,鈥� said Verhoeff, and the proximity to My Shanti made it 鈥渁 bit of a perfect fit.鈥�
Vikram鈥檚 Weissen beer is a German-style beer modelled after a Storm Brewing made by a friend of Dewald鈥檚 in the 1990s, Lightning Wit, but 鈥渨ith a bit of our own twist on it鈥� to meet Vij鈥檚 needs, said Verhoeff.
鈥淸Weissen] is a wheat beer with orange and coriander flavours to it,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 really easy-drinking five per cent beer.鈥�
It will be available in all of Vikram鈥檚 restaurants, as well as at the Trading Post Brewery and at the brewery鈥檚 Tap House Eatery in Fort 91原创. It also will be available in some local liquor stores, 鈥淢ainly in 91原创 and Vancouver as well,鈥� said Verhoeff, who attended Trinity Western University about a decade ago and now calls 91原创 his home.
Dewald lives on a farm in Aldergrove.
鈥淲e try to hire as many local people as possible,鈥� said Verhoeff.
Trading Post opened at #107 20120 64th Ave. in February 2016, and the Eatery鈥檚 opening at 9143 Glover Rd. in Fort 91原创 that May.
While Trading Post was fashioning a special beer with Vij鈥檚 input, Tracycakes was heading in a more solid direction.
The bakery cafe鈥檚 founder, Tracy Dueck, partnered with the celebrity chef to deliver a custom Tracycakes鈥� dessert available exclusively at My Shanti.
After a chance meeting at a business event in 91原创, Dueck pitched Vij on a South Asian inspired dessert that would blend Tracycakes鈥� signature decadent cakes with the flavours of India for a unique dessert creation.
That creation became a custom cake, The Sultan鈥檚 Jewel, an ultra-moist chocolate cake infused with a silky coconut and cardamon infused custard, and crowned with a rich dark chocolate cinnamon ganache and an exotically-spiced almond-cocoa masala crumble.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to add Tracycakes鈥� delicious new cake to our dessert menu,鈥� said Vij. 鈥淭racy has done a wonderful job of blending traditional Indian flavours into a rich chocolate dessert for a tempting finale to My Shanti鈥檚 eclectic Indian fare.鈥�
For Dueck, the chance to collaborate with Vij was a dream come true.
鈥淎s a successful restaurateur, author and TV personality, he is a true Canadian culinary icon,鈥� she said, 鈥渟o to be able to develop a cake especially for one of his restaurants is an incredible honour.鈥�
Vij鈥檚 culinary expertise as a restaurateur is globally recognized, and his is the recipient of numerous awards.
He also has a successful line of frozen packaged Indian meals, Vij鈥檚 At Home, available at grocery retailers across Canada.
Vij was a guest judge on Top Chef Canada three years in a row and was also a judge on Chopped Canada, Recipe to Riches, and 顿谤补驳辞苍鈥檚 Den.
Making a connection with someone with as high a profile as Vij provides a 鈥渉uge鈥� boost, added Verhoeff.
鈥淔or us to get together in collaboration with someone like that is big for our brand,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut also it鈥檚 special to be able to collaborate with someone that is passionate about local ingredients as we are, and our local community.
鈥淔or us it was a lot about the core values of each business matching together in terms of focusing on our local community, as much he is in South Surrey and we鈥檙e really close to that really fits. We were really excited when the opportunity came around.鈥�
