For the month of February, Ocean Wise is celebrating their sustainable seafood partners all over Canada with the Ocean Wise Festival.
From creamy chowders to take-home pies, Toronto’s establishments are kicking things up a notch for the sake of our oceans. After you’ve tried a few, make sure to cast your vote for your favourite dish!
Ocean Wise Festival
Since 2007, the annual Ocean Wise Festival has been bringing together Canadian chefs to raise awareness for sustainably sourced seafood.
The first festival was a small event hosted in Vancouver, where chefs competed for the title of “Chowder Champion.” By 2011, their chowder festival had grown to involve chefs across Canada.
This year, Ocean Wise is going beyond chowders and challenging chefs to cook up an assortment of seafood dishes for the festival.
“We are very excited to have over 400 locations participating across Canada so more people than ever can get involved in the festival,” says Nathalie Graham, Accounts Manager of the Ocean Wise Seafood Program.
“This year’s variety of dishes is also drool-worthy; from fish pie in Toronto to seared salmon in Montreal, and classic fish and chips in Vancouver, there’s something for everyone.”
With a wealth of offerings from their seafood partners this year, Ocean Wise hopes to show how easy it is to make responsible choices for the ocean’s health, and how these choices can in turn encourage businesses to continually improve their seafood sourcing.
Holt’s Café
Since 2016, Holt’s Café has been an Ocean Wise partner with a 100% sustainable seafood menu.
“Supporting sustainable food is still quite difficult for businesses and consumers at home, but it’s truly one of the best ways for us to move forward,” says Steven Smith, Manager of National Operations at Holt Renfrew.
“It’s an uphill battle to change the tide towards sustainable practices, but we’re glad to be a part of it.”
For the festival this year, the Holt’s Café on Bloor will be offering a dish specially created by Chef Souheil Badran: Poached Halibut with Parsnip Textures. Using sustainable, wild-caught Nova Scotian halibut, the fish will be finished in butter emulsion and paired with roasted parsnips, parsnip crisps, a parsnip-grape purée, and parsley-pear sauce.
At their Yorkdale location, you’ll find Chef Adam Alguire’s classic Spaghetti Vongole, featuring farmed Manila clams from Vancouver Island, house-extruded spaghetti, house-fermented chili, and persillade sauce.
Holt’s Cafés across Canada will each be creating their own dishes for the festival. You can find a full list of their entries on the Ocean Wise Festival page.
“We’re glad to see the Ocean Wise Seafood program continue to grow and build more awareness,” says Smith.
“Come support a great cause and taste delicious and lovingly prepared seafood dishes at any of our Holts Café locations!”
360 The Restaurant at The CN Tower
The CN Tower’s 360 The Restaurant has been certified with the Ocean Wise stamp since 2018.
For Executive Chef John Morris, sourcing sustainable seafood is about preserving the ocean for future generations by setting a good example within the food industry.
“Sustainability should be a core commitment in any culinary operation,” says Morris. “Chefs are very often driving trends that trickle down into the retail sector.”
“The selections on our menus can affect what is stocked on grocery store shelves and 360 Restaurant is a beacon that aims to transmit the importance of sustainability and lead by example.”
Chef Morris’ Ocean Wise Festival dish this year will be a Crusted Fogo Island Cod served with seared baby potatoes, wilted cabbage, and a caper beurre blanc.
The Fogo Island Cod, Morris tells me, is a hand-line-caught fish, meaning each fish is taken from the ocean one by one, ensuring no other species or habitats are destroyed in the process.
“We can’t make decisions today that will jeopardize that future,” says Morris.
“I believe that most people would make the sustainable choice given the right information, and the Ocean Wise stamp provides that reassurance.”
The Fogo Island Cod dish at 360 The Restaurant will be on their menu for the rest of the month. A portion of proceeds from every order of this dish will be donated to support Ocean Wise.
Coast Café Bar
As a seafood restaurant, Coast Café Bar is dedicated to promoting sustainable consumption while bringing high-quality ingredients to their diners. Since 2020, they have been a partner of Ocean Wise to help deliver the vital message behind their mission.
“Toronto is a major North American hub and nowhere near an ocean, so it takes many elements to get special, fresh ingredients to customers,” explains the Coast team.
“Given our city's cultural diversity and our accessibility to such a rich food scene, our methods must also reflect the importance of maintaining integrity while sourcing products.”
For the Ocean Wise Festival this year, Chef Eduardo’s entry is a creamy “Ciao” Chowder packed with sustainable ingredients, including Saltspring mussels from BC, PEI clams, North Atlantic cod, and Selva shrimp.
“We like to remind our friends and customers that ensuring high quality comes in many forms. Given the beauty and vastness of our waters, we must cherish its bounty and help sustain it any chance we get.”
Fresh City Farms
With a focus on "groceries you can feel good about," Fresh City Farms has long been an Ocean Wise partner.
"Overfishing is one of the largest threats our oceans are faced with today," says the team.
"Providing our customers with sustainably sourced seafood is at the core of our values."
For this year's Ocean Wise Festival, Fresh City Farms will be offering a take-home Fish Pie featuring tender fish in a rich cream sauce, and topped with a golden, flaky pastry by Mabel’s Bakery.
You can get your Fish Pie delivered to you on their website, or pick it up in store at The Healthy Butcher and at select Mabel's Bakery locations.
The Sweet Potato
From the Junction, natural foods grocery store The Sweet Potato is making a take-home Atlantic Salmon and Leek Pie as part of the festival, available for pick-up or delivery.
De La Mer
One of Toronto’s favourite fish markets, De La Mer, will be offering a Goan-inspired Curried Chowder. Made with a rich tomato-coconut base, the dish features a handful of sustainable seafoods including clams, crab, shrimp, tilapia and salmon.
Stamp’s Lane
Chef William Smeaton at seafood bar Stamp’s Lane will be participating with their famous Clam Bake for this year’s festival. Enjoy a hearty feast of sustainable seafood goodness, including clams, mussels, shrimp, and lobster, all prepared in their delicious house lobster confit.
The Ocean Wise Festival is the perfect way to show your support for sustainable seafood, and a chance to educate others about the importance and ease of sourcing food sustainably.
Graham tells me there are still common misconceptions surrounding sustainable seafood that need to be corrected, including a fear of higher prices.
“There are plenty of sustainable seafood options for all budgets. Seafoods that are lower down the food chain, like bivalve shellfish or seafood products, are examples of options that can be very wallet-friendly,” says Graham.
If you think wild seafood is more sustainable than farmed, you’ll also want to reconsider.
“Just because a seafood is wild-caught does not guarantee that it’s sustainable. That’s why Ocean Wise has key criteria we measure for wild and farmed seafood to determine if they’ll be recommended.”
The Ocean Wise Festival will be going on until the end of February. Support Toronto’s restaurants and stores by voting for your favourite dish.
Learn more about how you can support ocean issues through the Ocean Wise website, and follow their Instagram to stay up to date with their many initiatives, including their latest, “seaforestation.”
