A veritable "cook's tour" of the very best seasonal cooking inspired by fresh ingredients from local farms, forests and oceans and prepared by the award-winning chefs of Bishop's Restaurant.

 

Restaurateur John Bishop and chef Dennis Green are justifiably renowned for their insistence on organically grown, locally sourced produce and sustainable seafood. Their menus reflect the seasons and the local bounty, from Fanny Bay oysters to Fraser Valley lamb, Okanagan peaches to Cascade Mountain chanterelles.

 

Fresh brings together more than 100 of John Bishop and Dennis Green's award-winning recipes and some of the stories behind the ingredients. Sumptuously illustrated, it is an exquisite homage to local, sustainable food and the committed growers who raise it.

John Bishop's love for cooking began when he was a child growing up in Newton Powys, Wales. Starting out by helping in his mother's kitchen to eventually as a young man learning the formal requirements of traditional French food preparation at a hotel school. After working as a chef in Great Britain, Bishop moved to Vancouver in 1973. At the urging of friends and investors during the recession of 1985, John opened Bishop's. Since then, Bishop's has consistently been one of the city's top restaurants. Annually the restaurant receives top grades from local as well as all the respected North American guides.

Bishop has authored four cookbooks with Douglas & McIntyre: Bishop's, Cooking at My House, Fresh and Simply Bishop's.

John Bishop's profile page

Dennis Green was born in Alberta, though his family has lived in British Columbia for five generations. After extensive travels with his parents, he returned to BC when he was seven years old. His love of cooking led him to apprentice at the Avenue Grill in Vancouver, and he went on to serve as the chef at Barbara-Jo’s Restaurant. He has a passion for regional-style cooking using organic, Fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. He joined the team at Bishop’s in 1993 and was chef there from 1997 to 2007.

Dennis Green's profile page

Dawne Gourley was born in Vancouver, where she has worked in restaurants for twenty-five years. In 1999, Dawne joined Bishop's as pastry chef, where she creates new recipes every week, inspired by the changing seasons and the restaurant's focus on the best ingredients available. Dawne has contributed to both Simply Bishop's and Fresh.

Dawne Gourley's profile page

Gary King, with his wife, Naty, ran Hazelmere Organic Farm in the Hazlemere Valley, just north of Vancouver, where everything is grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. It was their farm, and the quality of their produce, that inspired John Bishop to become a proponent of cooking with organic vegetables. Gary passed away in April 2009, but his work in promoting organic farming and food, continues to inspire those in the community.

Gary King's profile page

"Fresh encourages us to become more familiar with the food we eat, where it comes from and the concept of seasonality...Fresh brings together award-winning recipes inspired by each season's fresh ingredients and the people who produce them."

Western Living

"From the single, perfect beet decorating the cover through the sauteed shiitake mushrooms topping up crisp spinach to spears of gleaming roasted parsnips and beets, [Fresh] is a cookbook of tempting West Coast favourites that we easterners can share."

Montreal Gazette

"You don't often see a group of people waiting in line with big smiles on their faces, but that was the scene...[when] sixty-five people lined up for the opportunity to meet Vancouver-based chef John Bishop...Bishop praised local growers and producers for their amazing quality and diverse range of products."

Comox Valley Record

"Spring salmon roasted in corn husks, steamed asparagus in orange butter sauce, roasted-tomato soupwith sage-and-apple biscuits -- tell me if there's one dish there you wouldn't love to eat. And this joyous book has dozens more...Bishop's insights on sustainability in the kitchen are written with his usual quiet modesty as he suggests 'small actions.'"

Georgia Straight

"At today's top restaurants, ingredients are the stars, not the chefs, not the owners, not the celebrity diners. And as corollary, the producers of these ingredients are edging into the limelight...Hazelmere Farm was a big part of that transformation and the recently-released Fresh, Bishop's fourth cookbook, celebrates his relationship with the farm."

Vancouver Sun

"Seasonal ingredients inspire Bishop's simple menus, and recipes showcase the garden's bounty in its almost-naked glory. No gastro-porn here, just simple, pared-down preparations that let the natural flavours shine through. Fresh takes us into the garden and inspires us to bring the harvest home to our tables."

Granville Magazine

"More than a sound collection of easy to execute recipes (smartly arranged by season), [Fresh] is also a book that salutes the place of local farmers, fishers and livestock. And it's a timely tome that should be on the desk or in the kitchen of every cabinet member as they contemplate tinkering with the Agricultural Land Reserve, the fate of the UBC Farm, or -- dare we say -- consider any convenient 'conversion' of critical arable land for convenient profit."

Vancouver Courier

"Bishop's remains the embodiment of good things local. And the man himself has been quietly green about it since the beginning of time...Bishop likes is simplicity elegant though, and it shows. And tastes. What's most compelling about the man and his deeply felt passion about food is that he never seems to get militant about any of it. He remains gentle, easy-going, a bit of a food-whisperer among all the shouting."

Vancouver Lifestyle Magazine