If you love the food of Quebec, check out the Pacific Institute of the Culinary Arts this week: its bistro is offering set lunch and dinner menus featuring some of La Belle Province’s most popular and cherished foods.

A Taste of Quebec, a three-course prix-fixe lunch or four-course prix-fixe dinner, is available at the school’s Bistro 101 until Friday (April 12), in addition to the marinaside restaurant’s regular a la carte menu.

The French Canadian culinary event is part of Rendez-Vous Gourmet Quebec, an initiative of the Quebec government that’s taking place in Vancouver for the first time this year.

Jonathan Lapierre-Réhayem, chef of the Restaurant de l’ITHQ, designed the menu, the acronym standing for Institute de tourisme et d’hotellerie du Quebec, an esteemed vocational school.

Dishes highlight ingredients from various top-tier Quebec producers.

Have a look at the lunch menu, which costs $26 per person:

- Butternut Squash Terrine with sea buckthorn, crispy camelina, and fresh Quebec cheese
- Broome Lake Duck Magret (duck breast) with a maple-and-soy glaze, black-garlic purée, parsnip, kale, and pickled mushroom
- Religieuse à l’Érable, with sweet clover ice cream and caramelized pecan. (A “religieuse” is the name of a traditional French pastry consisting of two choux buns, one larger than the other, filled with pastry cream.) 

For lunch, the Quebec cheese-tasting supplement is available for $6 and includes three types of cheese alongside preserves, fresh berries, and crackers or bread.

The dinner prix-fixe menu, $38, includes the cheese plate. 

PICA was voted best professional culinary school in the Straight’s 2018 Golden Plates awards. Bistro 101 features food prepared and served by students. Baking and pastry students run adjacent Bakery 101, with artisan bread, croissants, muffins, scones, gourmet cakes and desserts, and grab-and-go lunch items.

Under the leadership of president Yves Potvin and his wife, Sylvia Potvin, PICA is ramping up its roster of special events, such as chef series and wine dinners. More details are at PICA.