Lunch – Day 2 – 2025

Join an all-star team of chefs at CooksCamp 2025 as they present seafood-focused Sustainability Lunch. Presented by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and featuring chefs Ned Bell, Joel Watanabe (Kissa Tanto), Malindi Taylor (Fanny Bay Oysters), James Walt, Masa Onishi (Araxi), and Shoda Etsuo (Cin Cin); these masters will carry the conversation about the current state of wild and farmed seafood.

Fresh produce from North Arm Farm, fabrications from the preceeding Blue Fin Tuna butchery demo, and an array of ocean delights will form this meal. Observe from the sidelines, or jump in and get your hands in there to give a hand! You’ll be shoulder to shoulder with the pros as you learn more about this practical topic!

Ned Bell & Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

Ned Bell is a well-known Canadian culinary talent who has forged a path as a chef, sustainable seafood advocate, keynote speaker and educator. As one of the country’s leading chefs, he uses his voice, outgoing personality, and indomitable spirit to stand up for the world’s lakes, oceans, rivers, in addition to hyper-local farming sustainability through brand ambassador roles. Based in British Columbia, Ned is the co-owner of Hatch Hospitality, Chef Ambassador at Buy BC and Ocean Wise, Culinary Director at Planetary Health, Board Member and Co-Chair of Sustainability at the Chefs Table Society, and as culinary and restaurant consultant at Hatch Hospitality Inc.

Malindi Taylor, Fanny Bay Oysters

Malindi Taylor

Chef James Walt, Il Caminetto

Chef James Walt

One of the country’s leading chefs, a cookbook author and a “farm-to-table” pioneer, James Walt continues to inspire his guests, creating compelling regional cuisine based on local, sustainable ingredients. A graduate of the Stratford Chefs School, his impressive culinary career spans across several of British Columbia’s leading restaurants including a four-year tenure at Sooke Harbour House and as opening chef to sister restaurant Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver. James was also Executive Chef to the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy; an experience that helped shape the way he cooks today.

James is Whistler’s only chef to cook at the celebrated James Beard House in New York City where he has performed on three separate occasions. He has been voted best chef in Whistler by Pique Newsmagazine and was inducted into the British Columbia Restaurant Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

James continues to oversee the kitchens of Araxi, The Cellar by Araxi and Bar Oso in addition to his new duties at Il Caminetto.

James lives in nearby Squamish where he works closely with local farmers and producers and personally selects the freshest ingredients featured on the Il Caminetto menu.

Joel Watanabe, Kissa Tanto

Joel Watanabe

Chef Joël Watanabe, chef-owner of Kissa Tanto and Meo Chinatown; and executive chef of Bao
Bei Chinese Brasserie in Vancouver, BC.
Upon opening its doors in Chinatown in 2010 with Chef Joël at the helm, Bao Bei garnered
immediate acclaim with its nostalgic take on modern Chinese cuisine, earning the #2 spot on
the enRoute Magazine ‘Canada’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants’ list, among other notable
honors.
In 2016, Kissa Tanto, Chef Joël’s innovative Japanese-Italian homage to his Japanese and
Corsican heritage, claimed ‘Best New Restaurant’ in both Canada’s 100 Best and enRoute
Magazine’s ‘Best Of’ lists, going on to consistently rank in the top tier of both publications
‘Canada’s Best’ lists in the years since. Most recently Chef Joël & co. opened Meo, a stylish
cocktail and snack bar concept, situated street-level, below Kissa Tanto.
Having worked in professional kitchens since the age of 17, Chef Joël has developed a unique
approach to Asian ingredients by incorporating classic French, Italian and Japanese techniques
to imbue his dishes with signature nuance. Among his restaurants’ many accolades, including a
glowing New York Times review in which Pete Wells recognized him as “a chef who
understands that simplicity can be luxurious” and Kissa Tanto as having “imagination all over the
place”
, Chef Joël’s keen and creative leadership in and out of the kitchen proudly clinched the
Michelin Guide Vancouver Service Award for his Kissa Tanto team and was ultimately bestowed
one of the city’s first Michelin stars in 2022, which he has retained ever since for 2023 and 2024