5 Things You Should Know About Forage

Credit: Aaron Barr

Forage, the Listel Hotel’s unfussy new restaurant, serves fantastic local food and drink while taking an innovative approach towards sustainability

Forage, the new restaurant in Vancouver’s Listel Hotel, which replaced O’Doul’s Restaurant and Bar, has many layers of greatness.

The food and drinks are fantastic, the room is cozy and unpretentious, the staff is gracious, and the restaurant, helmed by executive chef Chris Whittaker, is leading the way in sustainability.

Sustainability is a word that’s sometimes thrown around loosey goosey but Forage has taken a comprehensive and innovative approach to reducing its carbon footprint and supporting local producers, with the intention of working as a model for others – both customers and peers – to learn from and act on.

“Here we are at the end of a very interesting journey,” says André LaRivière of the Green Table Network, in the final video segment chronicling the transformation, “the renovation of O’Doul’s into what is now Forage, and really what has become a holistically sustainable operation.”

“I think what we have here now is an excellent template,” he says, “something that other people can emulate in their own renovations and I hope we’ll see, as the name (of the video series) implies – The Next Course – that this will be the restaurant of the future, the way future restaurants will be conceived and designed and put together. If only even some of that happens, then I think this project has been incredibly successful. I think this is a winning formula.”

The restaurant hopes to not only build an inviting gathering spot but to spread its web to the wider community. “We’re always looking for partnerships that support small local businesses,” says manager Margot Baloro, who sourced staff aprons from The Window. “The Window is a non-profit social enterprise and they support people in the DTES by selling their handmade items in the shop, and by teaching skills in sewing and textiles.”

1. What’s in a Name

“Forage represents everything I care about: respect for our food sources, using what we need without excess waste and bringing a community together around good food,” says Whittaker, who grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, began working for O’Doul’s in 2007, and was one of the driving forces behind the restaurant’s rebirth.

“Forage is the restaurant I was looking for when I packed my suitcase and headed west in 1999. I am deeply honoured to be a part of its inception,” he says.

“When we brainstormed our brand, one key word to get our minds in gear was the word “forest”. Forage came to mind quite quickly as I feel very connected to the forest with all the outdoor activities I involve myself with: hunting, fishing, foraging and hiking. The word forage just felt right.”

2. Radical Renovation

The Listel Hotel recruited the help of BC Hydro Power Smart, LiveSmart BC, the Food Service Technology Center and the Green Table Network for the renovation, with the intent to create a smaller imprint (the Stewart Stephenson Modern Art Gallery now takes up half the original space), significantly reduce energy consumption in the kitchen and bar, use sustainable, non-toxic building and design materials, and have

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