VANMAG.COM MAY 2017 39ILLUSTRATIONS: AARON SACCO
Lisa Haley landed on the
West Coast a few years
ago, bring ing w ith her
some Montreal savoir
faire, a passion for
natural and authentic
wines, and a scholarly
bent. She fi rst dove in to
the wine scene at the natural
w ine temple that is Burdock and
Co. before leav ing to launch Boulevard’s
ample and serious wine program.
These days you’ll fi nd her managing the master-
fully concise list and elite team at L’Abattoir. A great
champion of her staff and customers, she walks the
fl oor with calm assurance and no-nonsense style.Sommelier
of the Year
Lisa HaleyComplexity without being
complicated. It’s Sabrine
Dhaliwal’s mantra when
crafting a drink, and
her refi ned, intellectual
approach to cocktails has
vaulted her well beyond
bartending’s traditional
gender imbalance into the
local and global spotlight.
Dhaliwal has developed
an ineff able grace and ease over
the course of her career. From early
stints behind the wood at Refl ections
at Rosewood Hotel Georgia and West to her current bar
manager duties at Uva, creating individually memorable
experiences for her guests has always been a top priority.
As a Certifi ed Spirits Specialist with a Level 3 Wine and
Spirits Education Certifi cate under her belt, she brings
an elegant sense of balance to her libations that charmed
this year’s judges.
The bartending world sat up and took notice of
Dhaliwal in 2015—as the only female fi nalist, she won
top honours at Belvedere Vodka’s international martini
competition. Now the Canadian brand ambassador for
Belvedere, she’s also a “Bitter Babe” ambassador for
Vancouver-born producer Bittered Sling. Yet Dhaliwal’s
future is looking sweet as she continues to enlighten
people about the intricate wonders of spirits, one
beautifully nuanced cocktail at a time.Bartender
of the Year
Sabrine Dhaliwal
GROWING UP IN Ottawa with early onset alopecia
(an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss),
Joël Watanabe faced constant teasing from the
age of six and often swung back with his fi sts. “I
wasn’t afraid to stand up for myself,” says our
Chef of the Year, shortly after returning from
Toronto, where he scooped yet another national
award for his Japanese-Italian knockout, Kissa
Tanto. While it might be diffi cult to reconcile this
portrait of a young scrapper with the “gracious,
humble” culinary artist hailed for his “quiet
confi dence” and “lack of ego”—both in person
and on the plate—it is kind of funny that one
of our judges described the chef’s breakout
moment, the 2010 launch of Chinatown’s Bao
Bei, as “a big, hair y deal for Vancouver.”
That Taiwanese-Shanghaiese brasserie was
“borderline revelatory” in the way it modernized
traditional Chinese dishes by grounding them in
classic French techniques and local ingredients.
Still, those delicious handmade dumplings and
steamed mantou buns stuff ed with free-range
meats and organic produce were also misunder-
stood. “There was a backlash,” recalls Watanabe,
who was again forced to defend himself. “People
said, ‘This isn’t Chinese.’ I had to say, ‘Look, I’m
not cooking your grandmother’s food.’”
The transition from Bao Bei to Kissa Tanto,
where Watanabe now has some skin in the game as
one of three owners, was a smooth progression that
brought the chef closer to his roots, both person-
ally (his heritage is half Japanese, half Corsican-
Italian French Canadian) and professionally (the
refi ned fusion cooking—“humming with clarity,”
“honesty,” and “elegance”—is a better refl ection
of his classic training in French, Italian and Japa-
nese fi ne dining).
“In every dish, he is able to fi nd a thread of what
the two disparate cuisines are trying to communi-
cate and distill it into a cohesive whole that never
feels forced,” says one judge. “There is aha-ness
in his food,” adds another. This time, there hasn’t
been any blowback from customers. “We’ve had a
lot of compliments from Italians,” says Watanabe.
“Japanese people think it’s odd, but they love it.”
And the chef is feeling much more relaxed, as he
rightly should. “I love to cook. That’s why I’m here.
There’s not much need for me to be angry.”CHEF OF
THE YEAR
Joël Watanabe