The critical difference between the foods we buy now and our bags of groceries even a few years ago is that we want to know their background. We eyeball labels and signage not just for calorie count or fat content—and what types of fats—but to learn where that tomato grew up or whether that chicken led a merry free-roaming life, and especially whether the seafood we’re planning to serve tonight will be just one more kick at Mother Nature.

Many local restaurateurs with a conscience are already committed to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program, which encourages responsible and sustainable choices. Also a member is new Finest at Sea Seafood Boutique & Bistro (FAS), a place where you could happily buy blindfolded because all the fish sold there is wild and caught in B.C. waters using a line or a net. These guys don’t scoop up everything that moves (and chuck overboard what won’t sell). As for honesty about ingredient origins, on the rear wall, a flat-screen TV runs fishing videos including a Quentin Tarantino–esque one of a huge kite-shaped halibut being hauled aboard and bled. Imagine if McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken followed their lead. On second thought, don’t.

Okay, ownership. Bruno and Sally Born have lived and breathed restaurants in Vancouver for 25 years: Bruno’s, Le Coq d’Or, Sausi’s—all theirs. Also on the team is Ian Angus, director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation; long-time Vancouver Island fisherman and FAS fishing-fleet owner Bob Fraumeni; and, also from FAS, Paul Chaddock plus chef Michael Wiese. Make the obvious deductions and you realize this venture is equal parts attention to taste and concern for sound environmental practices.

Tucked into a mini mall in Arbutus Ridge, FAS is handy for upper Kits, lower Kerrisdale, and Shaughnessy. You can eat there too. A long display case holds salmon, black cod, and lingcod, all resting on ice and gleaming with freshness. Black cod (aka sablefish) are caught in traps; halibut, snapper, and albacore tuna on hook and line; and, to preserve flavour, everything is immediately frozen onboard. Whole, fillets, steaks, whatever, you get a choice of free marinade—Japanese, Provençal, tamarind, or one made with orange and sweet chili. Tanks hold Dungeness crabs, clams, mussels, oysters, and, occasionally, small green sea urchins. Lemons, limes, garlic, and salad greens with free dressing—you can march out of there with the makings of supper. The Web site ( www.finestatsea.com ), complete with seagull and spume sound effects, has recipes with wine pairings, videos, and a list of the restaurants FAS sells to. (Take a salmon fillet or some smoked tuna home and you’re in classy company with high-enders like Bishop’s, West, Lumière, and Tojo’s.) Given the quality, prices are more than fair. Seafood bisque for two, aioli included, is $5.99; fat pan-ready crab cakes are $3.99 each.

The takeout side also has crab shepherd’s pie in the shell, “firecracker” and Rockefeller oysters ready to go into the oven, octopus and tuna salads, and other tempting dishes (including, for those who drool over them, a gorgeous deep-crimson beet terrine). For the deli shelves, Bruno Born has signed his name to a line of spices, preserves, and bottled peaches and pears in syrup that’s so light he says it’s thinner than apple juice. He’s also scooped up a global selection of olive oils, vinegars, and salts. Got Australian salt? He has, as well as eight varieties of capers, large tins of Thai green-curry paste, rice for paella, and a brand of Hungarian paprika that I haven’t seen since a friend brought me some back from Hungary.

Glimpsed between the Puy lentils and herbes de Provence is an open kitchen and, near the window, a small “bistro” area for on-the-spot sustenance. Looking like West Coast Mondrians, bird’s-eye–view shots of the catch on the boat deck hang above a long counter made of recycled wood (as are the yellow cedar tabletops). Have the fish and chips and experience that stomach-gurgling anticipation, malt-vinegar bottle at the ready, as splutters and sizzles come from the kitchen. Salmon, halibut, sablefish, one piece or two—no tampering with the classic formula, just moist flaky fish, thin crunchy batter, and hot crispy frites. And I ask you this. When did you last have tartar sauce made from scratch with recognizable nuggets of onion and pickle in it, or freshly made coleslaw? Figure about $20 for two, whether you eat at your place or theirs.

FINEST AT SEA SEAFOOD BOUTIQUE & BISTRO 4675 Arbutus Street, 604-266-1904. Open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.