30 » OpenRoad Driver
Quang Dang, currently executive chef at
Araxi in Whistler. After leaving The Met,
his career took another turn when he
became a private chef aboard a yacht. He
jumped at the chance to travel the world
and stepped out of his comfort zone.
Ironically, his penchant for getting seasick
limited the experience to one year.
Salimian returned to BC and, together
with his partner Jen Peters, worked at
a fishing lodge in the Queen Charlotte
Islands. It was only a 90-day contract,
but proved to be an amazing experience.
The restaurant served high-end food that
featured locally foraged ingredients such
as mushrooms and berries, local fish, and
delicious sea urchin when the tide was
low. One of the biggest turns in Chef Salimian’s
career occurred when he was asked to open
The Apron at The Westin Wall Centre
in Richmond. He was warned against it.
Starting a restaurant from the ground
up is a huge undertaking. It would have
been far easier to take a position at an
established restaurant, but the experience
of opening a restaurant would be critical
in his growth as a chef. Blessed by the
opportunity, he faced the challenge head
on, given complete autonomy as long as the
restaurant was profitable. At The Apron he
had creative license to experiment. This is
where I first tasted Salimian’s classic Puffed
Foie Gras. It requires technique and skill to
take something so decadent and rich as foie
gras and succeed in transforming it into a
light and airy masterpiece.
From the fishing lodge, Salimian took
a turn south to Vancouver Island. The
Westin Bear Mountain Resort was
looking for an executive sous-chef under
chef Iain Rennie. Salimian snapped
up the opportunity to oversee four
freestanding restaurants. With a large
crew to manage, and taking care of
the business side, he gained valuable
knowledge and experience that he would
draw upon in the future. Often a journey can lead to a familiar place.
By then, Quang Dang had worked his way
up to executive chef at The Met, and upon
his departure, he recommended Salimian
as a replacement. The Met was nearly
full circle, with Salimian going from line
cook years ago to executive chef. Shortly
afterwards, Salimian’s career literally came
full circle with an opportunity to share his
experience and knowledge as an instructor
at Vancouver Community College. The
Noodles are created with pine mushroom,
served with veal cheek and parmesan broth.
student had now become the teacher.
From the basics of reading food labels
to serving a gourmet multi-course meal,
Chef Salimian now teaches his students
both the cooking and business sides of the
restaurant industry. It brings him great
pleasure to see a student progress from
sandwiches to carefully prepared delicate
quenelles.
What other turns are left for Chef
Salimian? Plenty, apparently. Along with
his partner Jen, he is currently developing
a business called Nextjen Gluten Free. As
a celiac, Jen wants to enjoy baked goods
and pasta without compromising taste
and texture. She has perfected the recipe
now found in their hassle-free, all-purpose
baking flour. Salimian is putting all his
passion, knowledge and experience to the
test with Nextjen, and it shows in the final
product.
So what is next in his career? If his journey
is any indication so far, there will be many
more turns filled with excitement and
success.
Hamid Salimian was the captain of
Culinary Team Canada 2013-2016.
SHERMAN CHAN
A l w a y s i n s e a r c h o f t h e b e s t e a t s i n Va n c o u v e r a n d b e y o n d , S h e r m a n C h a n h a s b e e n
t h e f e r o c i o u s a p p e t i t e b e h i n d t h e p o p u l a r f o o d b l o g , S h e r m a n’ s Fo o d Ad v e nt u r e s .
From fine dining to dives, he will eat almost anything head to tail.
His food
adventures have spanned a decade, with many more experiences to come.
shermansfoodadventures.com