Shannon Ronalds is in harmony with the ocean. Growing up on Vancouver Island established his foundations of respect and understanding of sea life and accountability in fishing. The passions of his sustainable teachings are matched by his affections for the joy of wine and food. After moving to Vancouver, Shannon pursued education and experience in hospitality – always with a keen eye to our ecosystem. He was part of the opening management of C Restaurant, a dining room that embraced his own beliefs in balance between culinary class and seafood sustainability. His ambition bred opportunity to travel the world of wine, leading to time spent as Sommelier at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverley Hills, California. Shannon’s is a life spent most happily in hospitality, but he also has a message for us, which is unmistakably clear: we need to make responsible choices about our seafood.
The School of Fish Foundation (SOFF) was built to represent all that is dear and vital to Shannon – a floating testament to culinary excellence, the pleasures of food and wine pairing and the importance of a responsible consumer conscience. Beyond the extraordinary educational dining experience it provides, the particular mission SOFF intends is to implement sustainable seafood courses into global culinary curriculum. Such a course would be a graduation requirement for any aspiring Chef; spawning a new generation of eco-savvy professionals into the marketplace. Further to promoting such specialized education, SOFF goes so far as to partner with fine dining restaurants, which offer preferential hiring consideration to aspiring professionals who have successfully completed this course.
The dining room itself is constructed entirely of renewable, recycled, reclaimed and/or re-purposed materials. 1,700 rescued plastic pop bottles provide floatation, while representing just one of the manageable threats to marine life. Shannon’s devotion to his cause has inspired incredible support by way of donations of products and materials to build the dining room and provide every level of service. Anything not charitably contributed, was purchased out of pocket – putting his money precisely where his mouth is.
^ Scallop and mushroom appetizer
Shannon’s partnership with Harry Kambolis is a vital one to this ambitious project. The location of the floating dining room is ideal, nestled in False Creek between Kambolis’ two creek-side establishments (Nu & C Restaurant). The magnificent surrounding vista only serves to make the experience onboard even more ethereal. C’s inimitable Chef Robert Clark designs the nightly menu – featuring the freshest, best prepared and most intelligent seafood choices.
Every course has a story behind it and a wine to partner with it. The journey begins with BC Spot Prawns done with “sunomono” styled julienned radishes and cucumber garnish – the organic vegetables sourced from UBC botanical gardens. At the time of this dinner, Spot Prawn season had since passed and these delicate little crustaceans had been revitalized from a frozen state. The lesson behind this approach was to show that by allowing these special prawns to enjoy a full life-cycle before harvest, they would reproduce and enjoy a less obtrusive effect on their eco-structure. The culinary stumbling block with freezing the delicate prawns is the supposed compromise to quality of texture (frozen product tends to become mushy when thawed). Rob Clark demonstrates that a little know how in the kitchen retains structural integrity, while offering an uninterrupted lifestyle to the shellfish. Mud House Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand is Shannon’s smart choice to reflect the fresh flavours and bright personality of the dish. This was just the first example of an evening rife with integrity of intention.
The evening continues in delicious and eye-opening fashion. The table is seated with individuals already savvy with fine food and the concepts of sustainability. School of Fish serves to elevate our thinking to a significantly higher level of conscience. Courses continued, while Shannon provided insight and described intention with affable integrity. Wild BC Coho Salmon was grilled to perfect texture and temperature, then wonderfully paired with fresh yet buttery and Bio-dynamically produced Benziger Chardonnay. The finest pairing of the night was farmed Indonesian Tilapia with local Lobster in creamy saffron-seasoned ragu, masterfully matched with luxurious local Twisted Tree Marsanne Rousanne. Chef Clark broke his own rule against farmed fish in his kitchen so Shannon could share the concept that farming is fine so long as sustainability is achieved – as it is successfully done with Indonesian Tilapia. The teachings of School of Fish are not limited to BC; it is a world concept.
There is no mistaking how personal a project this is. Shannon is a genuine and endearing host, while he and his team create an elegant experience with precise, purposeful and professional execution and sharing obvious affection for everything imparted. School of Fish continues in False Creek until September 18th, then hopefully the rest of the world might be lucky enough to enjoy it’s future locations. I cannot give higher recommendation for a truly local and comprehensive dining experience. It is an inspiring and enlightening project – satisfying on every level and vitally relevant to everything we enjoy, embrace and too oft take for granted.
Never endeth the lesson.
For reservations, please call 778-997-6977 or email contact@schooloffishfoundation.org.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Stylish, well written piece that also is well thought out. Great job.
The pictures are also terrific
I would be very interested to hear where the Indonesian Tilapia was sourced from. Generally Asian Tilapia is grown in sub-standard conditions but if someone is doing things differently, I would love to hear about it!
William Wall
William
You have hit the nail on the head here and also demonstrated how safe guards such as pocket guides on sustainable fisheries often use broad generalizations to categorize a species from a specific region.
All too often, southern Asian farmed Tilapia is produced in an unsustainable way yet after consulting with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), they recommend I get in touch with Regal Springs Tilapia company on account of their sustainable practices.
Amongst many other elements, they are using 100% of the fish which includes making Tilapia scale belts and powering their fleet of truck on bio diesel made from the fish oil.
In addition to this, they also monitor water quality levels for things such as nitrates. If levels go above a certain level, it is an indication that the ecosystem in that farm is maxed and if they want to expand distribution, they will need to construct a new farm in another body of water.
Their farms are all on public water ways so anyone with a canoe can come right up and see what’s going on.
They were a major factor in developing the Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogues (TAD) under a program pioneered by the WWF. It has taken over 5 years but there are now guidelines and standards in place so that other producers can also be recognized as sustainable.
So yes, generally speaking Tilapia from this area can be bad and should stay on the pocket guide “alert” list so we must start to teach our chefs that in aquaculture, there needs to be brand recognition.
Instead of ordering Tilapia from their distributor, they need to order Regal Springs Tilapia (this is all part of our envisaged course curriculum). This will present an opportunity to non-sustainable farmers out there; to change their methods or risk losing market share on account of inaction.
Hope this helps.
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