Dine Out Vancouver Festival: Vancouver World Chef Exchange - Ernest & Annalena

Tickets

Cost: $225.00
Find tickets: here

This is going to be fun!

Ernest & Annalena

includes Six-Course Tasting Menu + Snacks + Petit Fours + Beverage Pairings. Tickets are non-refundable. Due to the nature of the event, dietary substitutions are politely declined. This event is staggered seating beginning at 5:00PM. Visit the ticketing link to check available times.

Our seventh annual Vancouver World Chef Exchange! We’ve reached out to our friends in the global culinary community and have invited them to Vancouver. The result? The world’s culinary best join us for a series of delicious collaborations with our own city’s top talent. And, with the arrival of the MICHELIN Guide to Vancouver, we dive into the world of MICHELIN Star culinary teams.


About Chef Brandon Rice:
Brandon Rice cooks locally but thinks globally. The root of his cooking is simple – utilize the freshest seasonal ingredients to create distinctive food with a worldly influence.

At just 13 years old, Rice started cooking in professional kitchens in his hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. He realized early on that he wanted to make cooking his lifelong career and received an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. Rice went on to work under the tutelage of Ken Oringer at Boston’s Clio. Working closely with Ken, Rice had the opportunity to travel to Europe where he staged in three Michelin-starred kitchens such as Quique Dacosta in Spain and Noma in Copenhagen. After his year abroad, Rice came back to work with Ken at Clio before moving to the Bay Area.

Moving across the country was Rice’s introduction to Northern California cuisine, with an emphasis on local, fresh produce. He first worked at Coi before spending over five years as the Chef de Cuisine at Rich Table; Rice earned the Contemporary California restaurant its Michelin star. After nearly 18 years in esteemed fine-dining restaurants, Rice was able to establish his own voice and develop his distinct culinary style. It’s no question the natural progression for Rice was to open his own restaurant. Named after his grandfather and nurtured through the pandemic, Ernest is an elevated neighborhood restaurant with intense global influences. Drawing from his travels and experiences, Rice has created a market-driven menu that is innovative yet familiar. One of Rice’s signature dishes is the beef tartare. Rich beef from Olivier’s Butchery sits on a bed of plump sushi rice topped with succulent ikura. It’s then served with a side of toasted nori to make your own handrolls. The dish embodies Ernest at its core – a journey through Rice’s love of cooking and how he himself likes to eat. With the bounty of California farms at his fingertips, Rice is constantly evolving in the kitchen; playing with ingredients and flavors to create dishes that are both innovative and approachable.

Just as Ernest’s food invokes a sense of curiosity and comfort, the space itself mimics the same ethos. Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, Ernest is progressive without being pretentious. It’s a place where you can taste the menu over a multi-course meal with friends or simply grab a snack and cocktail at the bar. With no dress code and Rice’s favorite classic rock and hip-hop hits turned up, Ernest is unapologetically honest.

About Chef Michael Robbins:
Mike Robbins opened up AnnaLena in 2015. Named to honour his Grandmothers, Anna and Lena, the restaurant explores Canadian Cuisine through a Pacific Northwest lens. His food is influenced by a melting pot of cultures, flavour profiles and techniques. AnnaLena is consistently ranked in Canada’s 100 Best list, and most recently received its first MICHELIN star.
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