Meeru Dhalwala, co-founder of Vij's Restaurant and Rangoli - Food Talks Volume 8 in Vancouver

This evening was organized by Richard Wolak, Vancouver Foodster.

Speaker shown in this video is:

Meeru Dhalwala, co-founder of Vij’s Restaurant and Rangoli
twitter.com/MeeruDhalwala
www.vijs.ca/

Here is Meeru’s bio, courtesy of foodtalks.ca

Meeru Dhalwala was born in India and moved to Washington, DC, at a very young age with her parents. In DC, she worked with various international non-profit organizations on human rights and economic development projects. She received her Master’s degree in Development Studies from Bath University in England. In 1995 Meeru moved to Vancouver and joined her husband, Vikram, to work at his newly opened restaurant, Vij’s. She quickly took over the menu responsibilities and has been creating new recipes since the summer of 1995.

In 2002, Meeru and Vikram opened up a second restaurant and market called Rangoli. Meeru continues to work closely with her all-female kitchen staff — all of whom hail from villages in the Punjab — to experiment with various cooking techniques and spice combinations. In addition to her responsibility for the recipes at Vij’s and Rangoli, she is also responsible for their packaged gourmet curries, which are sold at Rangoli and many gourmet markets across Canada.

Meeru’s particular interest and focus at Vij’s and Rangoli is to forge business relationships with other local businesses and farmers. She is committed to improving her business environmental footprint. In 2009, Meeru signed up Vij’s to join local CSA (community supported agriculture) farms and has started long-term business relationships with various BC farmers. Meeru’s special community project is an annual international food fair called “Joy of Feeding” that is held every summer in Vancouver. Joy of Feeding features 15 — 16 home cooks of various ethnic backgrounds and professions showcasing their family favorite comfort foods. This event is held at UBC Farm and is also a fundraiser for the farm.

Meeru and Vikram have penned two cookbooks: Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine, which won Cuisine Canada’s 2007 Gold Award for Best Cookbook, and Vij’s at Home: Relax, Honey. Meeru also wrote a regular monthly column called Food for Thought for the Vancouver Sun for over a year and was a regular Point Person for CBC radio’s 2009 national show The Point. In November 2012, Meeru opened a new restaurant called Shanik, in Seattle, Washington in partnership with Oguz Istif, who is also involved in heading finance and operations for the Vij’s companies in Vancouver.

Food Talks is an evening of expert speakers from the Vancouver Food community.

To hear more speakers from Food Talks please visit geoffmobile.com/blog/category/food-talks-vancouver
or foodtalks.ca

Food Talks Volume 8 was held in Vancouver BC Canada on June 11th 2013.

Presented by Richard Wolak, twitter.com/VanFoodster
vancouverfoodster.com

As featured on geoffmobile.com
Presented by Foodtalks.ca and vancouverfoodster.com

Videography by Geoff Peters of Birds in the House Productions birdsinthehouse.com

Filmed at the Westin Grand, 433 Robson Street, Vancouver BC Canada
www.westingrandvancouver.com

Closing music by Laundryman laundrymanmusic.com used with permission.