CHEF’S TABLE
H
iro Takeda once fed his sister live ants. It wasn’t
a prank; they were a garnish on a dessert he
made: a cheesecake with baked meringue,
Douglas fir kombucha, and seasonal berries, to be
precise. “They have a very citrusy flavour to them,”
Takeda explains. “A very soft lemon flavour. A lot of
people use ingredients like that just for wow factor…
but ants is one of those ingredients where it has a very
distinct and really delicious flavour.”
Takeda foraged the ants near Hope, BC, where
he is chef and owner at 293 Wallace Street restaurant.
The collection process is simple: “You put a piece of
parchment paper on top of the hill, and you take the
ants off of the parchment paper…When it’s really nice
and sunny out they’re a lot more active, so that’s when
you want to get them.”
His ant dessert was inspired by dishes served
at Noma, a prestigious restaurant in Copenhagen,
Denmark. “They were using the ants whole to put
on raw langoustines. Citrus and seafood go very
well together, so that was a play on that.” Last year,
Takeda was one of 120–130 chefs selected for an
internship at the award-winning restaurant. Close to
5,000 people applied.
Rene Redzepi, the head chef of Noma, is known
for his commitment to showcasing northern ingredients. “He did a lot of foraging,” Takeda explains.
“His menu represents everything Nordic. Coming
from a landscape and a region where the growing
season is very short, and there’s not a lot there, he’s
transformed some of the humble ingredients into
stars of the plate.”
The approach seems to be working: “They do a
maximum of 45 guests in their restaurant for lunch and
dinner, five days a week, and they charge I think just
a little bit less than $300 a person. They’re booked
three months in advance, full every day, and they have
people who come from all over the world to eat there.
Some make special trips just to eat there, and they’ll
leave the next day.”
Before leaving for the internship, Takeda needed
to fundraise for the trip. He held a fundraising dinner,
and in the spirit of Noma, he decided to use foraged
ingredients in his menu. He connected with local forager Justin Brown, one of the owners of Wild Forest
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WEST COAST WILD HARVEST
HIRO TAKEDA
Collecting ants for a unique culinary experience
A cheesecake with baked meringue, Douglas fir kombucha,
seasonal berries, and wild ants
HIRO TAKEDA