Vancouver, BC (January 13, 2014): Do too many chefs spoil the broth? On day one of Dine Out Vancouver Festival, the public will decide for themselves.

To celebrate the start of Canada's largest restaurant festival on Friday, Tourism Vancouver organizers have created a free, brand-new public event: the Chef Soup Experiment.

In the wee morning hours of Friday, January 17, some 50 Dine Out chefs - including Rob Feenie of Cactus Club, Chris Whittaker of Forage, and Darren Brown of Oru - will convene on Granville Island and toss one ingredient each into a simmering pot. For the next five hours, student chefs from Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts will mind the brew, stirring and seasoning to perfection.

And then it's judgment time. Starting at 12:30 pm, the public are invited to drop by the culinary school to sample the soup and raise a spoon to the start of the 2014 Dine Out Vancouver Festival.

"Dine Out gave my students a huge challenge: prepare a vat of soup in a matter of hours using 50 diverse ingredients brought by chefs around the city," said Julian Bond, executive chef at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. "But we're definitely up to the task! It'll be a fun and festive day, and we encourage everyone to come down to Granville Island on Friday and taste the finished product for themselves."

"The Chef Soup Experiment is a perfect way to kick off the festival," said Tourism Vancouver's Board Chair, Robert Lindsay, who also owns LIFT Bar Grill View. "Dozens of chefs each chose an ingredient specifically for the soup, and combining them in a communal dish beautifully illustrates Vancouver's exceptionally creative and multicultural culinary scene. It's a celebration of all of Vancouver's hardworking and talented chefs who have made our city one of the world's most exciting places to eat."

Vancouver's chefs, culinary leaders and festival organizers have spent months dreaming up inventive menus and coordinating show-stopping events for Dine Out Vancouver Festival - and the time has finally come to taste the fruits (and meats, seafood and desserts) of their labours. Let the feasting frenzy begin!

About the Chef Soup Experiment:
January 17, 12:30 pm onwards, outside of Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (1050 West 2nd Ave), Free
To kick off Dine Out Vancouver Festival, some 50 chefs will each add one ingredient to a soup pot. Over the next few hours, student chefs from Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts will chop, season, stir and cook the ingredients to perfection, then dish out samples free of charge. Everyone is welcome to have a taste - but get there early. The kitchen shuts down when the soup runs out

!

About Dine Out Vancouver Festival:
Produced by Tourism Vancouver and presented by American Express, Dine Out Vancouver Festival is a city-wide celebration of eating out, attracting tens of thousands of local and visiting foodies to Vancouver's exceptionally diverse collection of restaurants for 17 days. Now in its 12th year, Canada's largest restaurant festival allows diners to sample menus from hundreds of restaurants around the city, all for a prix fixe cost (price points are $18, $28 and $38 per person) and many with suggested BC VQA pairings (available at an additional cost). Dine Out also features special hotel room rates and packages starting at $78, plus a menu of 31 unique food-themed events, seminars and activities. Enter the Dine Out for a Year contest by posting your photos to social media. Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2014 runs from January 17 to February 2. Wines of British Columbia is a festival partner, and supplier partners include All You Need is Cheese and OneCoffee. dineoutvancouver.com 

Tourism Vancouver's focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists.  The organization's brand essence is about "exceeding expectations".

                                                           - 30 -

High resolution Dine Out Vancouver Festival logo and images, as well as updated Fact Sheet, available here.

Media contact:

Sonu Purhar
Travel Media Relations Specialist
Tourism Vancouver Phone:
604.631.2873
Email: spurhar@tourismvancouver.com

Join the conversation! @DineOutVanFest #dovf #MyDineOutStory