Chef Ned Bell’s Burnaby Heights Pop-Up Is Sustainable, Local and Alcohol-Free

Celebrated chef Ned Bell isn’t just known for his fantastic food: for years he has been spearheading sustainability and eat-local initiatives throughout the province. From serving as Chef Ambassador for Ocean Wise to Buy BC Chef Champion to Co-Chair of Sustainability at the Chefs’ Table Society, Bell has years of passion-driven experience under his belt. But, in all those years of working to better the way the industry interacts with local products there has been one lingering question that we, the consumers, have been asking: when do we get to eat your legendary food again?

Heeding our call, Chef Bell has teamed up with wine and hospitality consultant Kurtis Kolt to bring a sustainability-focused alcohol-free pop-up to Burnaby Heights. The limited time pop-up runs for 12 nights in April (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, April 3 to 26) and spotlights local BC farmers, fishers, ranchers and artisans. “I’ve always been all about hyper local, hyper seasonal, and sustainable seafood. About the farmers and the artisans and the makers,” says Chef Bell. “As much as it’s about seasonality, it’s not really about seasonality, it’s more about what’s in season, and really just celebrating all the things that are local.”

Chef Bell’s menu highlights those local suppliers while also showcasing some of his signature dishes, like dry aged Fraser Valley duck (served with apple jam and roasted beets), wild Pacific albacore tuna tacos (with honey miso and lime) and creamy geoduck and halibut chowder (with Salt Spring Island olive oil, smoked bacon and sumac). The dynamic menu is a return to Chef Bell’s roots: “The culinary team is all my old friends and peers from my kitchens past and we’re just going to have a ton of fun for 12 nights,” he says.

The thoughtfully constructed menu doesn’t end there, though. Kolt has put together a drink menu that is notably free of all alcohol. “[Alcohol-free] is the only beverage category globally that’s on [the rise] right now,” says Kolt. “It’s a category that can’t be ignored.” There has been a boom in artisan-style products—ones that go above and beyond their predecessors in all aspects, but most notably, taste. Kolt is dialled in on these products—from a selection of de-alcoholized wines (including one from Okanagan-based Glimmer) to pre-packaged alcohol-free cocktails (including Phony Negroni)—and a by-the-glass and pairing selection that showcases the fantastic alternative beverages available. “I’m excited to open people’s eyes to this,” he says.

Chef Ned Bell Pop-Up

Where: The Gray Olive Cafeteria
When: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays from April 3-26
Cost: $99 (including gratuity, GST and Eventbrite fees); pairing is an additional $28

Tickets available via Eventbrite.

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