Bib Spotlight: Vancouver's Farmer's Apprentice

Conceptualized to highlight local producers and seasonal ingredients, it's no wonder that this neighborhood gem is home to some of the most innovative dishes in Vancouver. "Our approach to food and cooking has always been to maximize flavor and to try and utilize the whole product as much as possible," says Chef Alden Ong.

That ethos, along with the team's collaborative approach with incorporating cooking techniques from different cultures results in mouthwatering plates like the shrimp-crusted striped bass with XO sauce or radish and Sieglinde potato salad with chili-miso-tamarind vinaigrette. 

But don’t take our word for it, check out what our Inspectors have to say here, and below, learn from the team about what you need to know before you go.

What is the dish to order at Farmer’s Apprentice?   

The menu is always changing but the egg yolk potato rosti sando is a classic snack that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The cabbage, with all its renditions, is probably the second longest menu staple – lots of guests tell us they never thought they would like cabbage so much.

The egg yolk potato rosti sando is a small snack of two pieces of crispy house-made potato rosti cooked in brown butter sandwiching an egg yolk jam with house-fermented mustard, jalapeno, lime relish. It is topped off with maple and sherry cured Yarra Valley salmon caviar from Australia. Our primary seafood purveyor presented us with this salmon caviar as an alternative to locally produced because the roe is extracted from the salmon and the fish is re-released.

The cabbage dishes can be the poster child of what we do best at Farmer’s. We take a humble vegetable like cabbage, and we treat it with the same care and approach as one would approach proteins. For example, for our current cabbage dish, we will blanch it, smoke it, then roast it slowly until its super tender and unctuous before garnishing it with a burnt coconut sauce (inspired by the Pianggang burnt coconut chicken dish from Mindanao Philippines), some toasted coconut with a spicy sofrito, a preserved fruit pickle, cilantro, dill, and puffed wild rice.

It’s treating an ingredient with the same approach as an expensive protein but through our diverse culinary backgrounds, our personalities, and our creative approach, we are able to turn a humble cabbage dish into something unique, delicious, and with great value. 

What price range can customers expect at Farmer’s Apprentice?   

Our set menu comprised of seven courses is currently $125 per person. A la carte; smaller plates are in the $18-22 range and proteins are usually around $50.

When is the best time to stop by?

We are open Monday – Saturday from 5pm. Reservations are encouraged but we always have a few tables set aside for walk-ins.

What is your goal with Farmer’s Apprentice?   

We strive to make the most delicious food featuring local, seasonal ingredients as the principal components of dishes. We highlight heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables and put the farmers center stage. We also support distributors of ethically sourced fish and meat proteins. We incorporate cooking techniques and culinary perspectives from different cultures and cuisines to bring out the best qualities of these amazing products.

How would you describe your approach to food and cooking? 

Collaborative – we have a culturally diverse kitchen team and try to work together to create new dishes. By encouraging individuals to come up with new dishes we help them grow as chefs and make sure the food is always new and interesting. 

Our approach to food and cooking has always been to maximize flavor and to try and utilize the whole product as much as possible. We look at seasonal vegetable produce, how it resonates for us, and find ways to highlight it as the star of the dish. We try to research and learn from different cuisines and their perspectives so that we have the tools to highlight an ingredient versus if we only had our own cultural and culinary lens. Sometimes we can get enamored by an idea and we don’t have objective eyes on it, so we always ask the whole team (FOH and BOH) what they think of a dish and how to improve it (yes, we ask our newest cooks as well). Having different perspectives on a dish helps opens up conversations and possibilities for improvement of a dish versus just having one’s own perspective.

How did you conceive of a menu that is delicious, yet good value? 

When we think of a menu, we always strive for balance. Highlighting lesser-known fish and seafood as well as ‘less popular’ varieties of vegetables has been our approach since the start. Working closely with local farms also helps – people are always inclined to help when they know their produce and ingredients are going to be treated with the respect they deserve!

Most of these ingredients won’t have the premium prices as wagyu, lobster, and caviar will have so our cost of ingredients is generally lower. That means we must be more creative with our approach to creating dishes and that goes back to tapping into other cuisines for inspiration and for their culinary perspectives to help us create deliciousness but with great value.

How have you been able to maintain your standards with the cost of ingredients going up? 

We have always strived to make the most of what we bring in. Vegetable tops become the base for green mayonnaise or pestos, etc. Preserving, canning, dry-ageing, and fermenting the products when they are in season gives us a chance to continue having great products on hand even when the season is over. We maintain our standards as the standards are always to cook the most delicious food, we can out of the seasonal products we have. When the costs of ingredients go up, we look for less known, less expensive but still amazing ingredients to create dishes from. That rarely happens as we usually amp up our creative juices so we can create more delicious products out of the same ingredients even if the cost went up. 

Hero image: Jamie Lee Fuoco / Farmer's Apprentice