Chef Connor Butler Makes Local Dreams Happen

In June, 2007 Dom Repta from the Markets team talked with Chef Connor from Restaurant Connor Butler, a local food gem located at 6th and Granville in Vancouver, BC.

DR: What or who got you interested in seafood sustainability?
CB: I grew up fishing for dungeness crab, bass, trout and the like here on the coast. I think that we live on one of the last "frontiers"... a city on the edge of a vast wilderness, but as we are blessed by our nature's unbelievable bounty, we are also charged with the responsibility of our impact upon it. I love this place, so protecting it just feels right, but growing up with Suzuki's "Nature of Things" and working with Robert Clark over at 'C' made lasting impressions on me as far as what one person can do when championing a good cause.

DR: How have you seen customer knowledge evolve over the various seafood issues?
CB: Yes. My customers expect that my products and especially sea foods are procured with great cognizance. Both where and how they are harvested (and not overly so) from the sea, the impact upon other species and the environment beyond. Salmon farming here is the greatest example of public awareness into poor environmental impact in the name of big buck exporting.

DR: When did you open your restaurant?
CB: I opened in last November (2006) after almost thirteen years in the industry cooking locally. Almost every restaurant I've worked in was specifically seafood driven in some way, with a couple exceptions that still employed many seafood entrees!

I love working with fish because of the obviousness of its quality—I can tell in a second if it's fresh or not!—and its powerful nutritional value.

DR: Do you think your customers are aware of the differences between farmed and wild salmon?
CB: Absolutely! And thanks to the efforts of groups like the Friends of Clayoquot Sound and others, the awareness is rapidly gaining pace and strength. It's great to be part of a community that gets as involved in the environment as Vancouver does. We're all very lucky here! We can't EVER take that for granted.

DR: With the profile of chefs increasing, how do you see your role as an educator?
CB: Well, it's not my responsibility to educate my guests in as much as it is better to guide them gently into the correct choices so that they understand that it is not difficult to make a hard stand against environmentally disastrous products, like farmed salmon for example, in their daily lives.

DR: What's your favourite summer ingredient?
CB: I love the tomatoes summer brings... you can prepare them a million ways: savory, sweet, tart, crunchy, soft... with a million textures, colours and flavors to choose from! The wild sockeye salmon coming from my friends up north is great right now too... blood red, firm and handled with intense care!

DR: Do you have any connections with local fisherman/wild salmon purveyors?
CB: Oooo… the million dollar question. Of course I do! I have really enjoyed working with Mary Anne Charles over at Fresh Off The Boat, Gigi with Iron Maiden is great, but if someone wanted to, they could just as easily meet any of these guys by going down to the wharfs and talking! Good fisherman love the ocean and what they do and it is remarkably simple to hook up with a great source of local stuff caught properly. Just ask, and tell them how they harvest is very important to you.

DR: With all the issues with farmed salmon do you see this product ever being sustainable?
CB: Some fisheries should just be shut down. It's a hard thing to say, because many people are affected, but look at Cod in the east... those people just had nothing one year, with all the same warning signs. Here we are decades later, alarms ringing AND testing nature's patience with possible escapees, mites, lice and the like, too many down sides, with current profit being the only good... It's a tough situation.

DR: Does your restaurant have a philosophy around sustainability? Is it a challenge to be sustainable and successful at the same time? What are your secrets?
CB: Local, small harvesters that care about the environment. No, it is financially viable and delicious way of running a business! Meet those on the front lines, make your opinions known... one guy can impact a lot of people, consciously and inadvertently!

DR: Besides Restaurant Connor Butler, what's your favorite restaurant?
CB: After dining around the world, and experiencing what I have, to choose a favorite seems 'immature'. This is a tough industry and anybody working their butts off to make quality memories for others gets a nod from me! Paul Bocuse (Lyons, France) was amazing, and El Cellar de Can Roca (Girona, Spain), as was Alex, The Mansion & Bartolotta. Vegas is the new place to eat!