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As part of our pre-coverage of Terroir Symposium 2015, we interviewed Beast restaurant’s executive chef and co-owner Scott Vivian. On Tuesday, May 12th, his restaurant would host one of six dinners from the Terroir Collaborative Dinner Series, generously supported by Samuel Adams Brewery and the RANL (Restaurant Association of Newfoundland). This dinner is aptly called the “Rock Stars” dinner, with chefs from Newfoundland collaborating with Beast’s chef de cuisine, Colin Moise.

Introducing the Rock Star chefs

The featured chefs from the Rock are Courtney Howell from Grates Cove Studio, Chef Katia Hayes from the Boavista Social Club, and Chef Shaun Hussey, from Chinched Bistro. Together with Moise, they created a menu that celebrates the culture and cuisine of Newfoundland. The first course was a Newfoundland sushi, making use of Atlantic snow crab, lemon candied scrunchions (cured salted pork), dried caplin, and fancy molasses eel sauce. The second course was a charcuterie board that used Newfoundland game meats. This course was paired with Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

The third course was a delicate potato-wrapped cod, perfectly complemented by the very flavourful salt meat pave. The fourth course was my favourite of the night – a moose bolognese cavatelli. The meat was not gamey at all, and the parmagiano bread crumbs added a nice bit of crunch. Most guests were eagerly awaiting the fifth course – the seal loins; for many this would be their first time trying this meat, including myself. The flavour and texture was not something I’ve tried previously – it was almost a cross between meat and fish. The meringue, vanilla parsnip puree, and blueberry gastrique added sweetness and tartness that went well with the loins.

Finally there were the dessert courses. There were chocolates from the Newfoundland Chocolate Company. There was also a bread pudding with screech sauce, and a partridge berry crème brûlée. Screech of course is a famous rum alcohol from Newfoundland. Dinner ended with a great cheeseboard from Five Brothers Cheese. With these dessert courses came Jost Vineyards‘ (Devonian Coast Wineries) maple wine and Newman’s Celebrated ruby port. The previous courses also had wine pairings from Jost Vineyards or Niagara’s Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery.

The dinner truly did celebrate Newfoundland, with a successful collaboration between Beast’s Moise and Howell, Hayes, and Hussey – the visiting chefs from the Rock. Thanks to Terroir, Samuel Adams Brewery, and Beast restaurant for hosting a delicious evening. We look forward to seeing what Terroir has in store for next year’s collaborative dinner series.

For more information:
http://www.terroirsymposium.com
Twitter: @TerroirTalk #Terroir2015
Instagram: @TerroirTalk #Terroir2015

Photos by John Tan