As he shutters his eponymous restaurant ‘for good,’ many would rather John Bishop was wishing us ‘au revoir’ rather than ‘adieu.’ However, Bishop had planned originally to close at the end of 2019. He stayed open longer, mainly to help keep his staff employed through an immensely challenging period. But this time it’s for good.
After 36 years, a period in which he was instrumental in transforming the Vancouver scene, John Bishop leaves a monumental legacy.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s it was he who spearheaded the seasonal / regional / organic movement; and ultimately helped bring it to its prominence today. Always at the fore, Bishop understood clearly the need to connect with growers such as the King family’s Hazelmere Farms, in South Surrey. He was among the first Vancouver restaurateurs to use local micro greens and other organics—when many simply dismissed the idea as crazy.
Often regarded as the consummate host, he was also happy to share his recipes and techniques, along the way publishing several cookbooks, including Bishop’s, the Cookbook, and Cooking at my House. Easy to read, underscored by a friendly tone, with straightforward recipes that always emphasized local ingredients, they epitomized Bishop’s mantra.
An early warning on GMOs
Then there was his role in the movie exposé of GMOs in global food production, Deconstructing Supper. It was a trail-blazer in identifying chefs’ responsibilities, covering the politics and ethics of food from the US to the UK, India and beyond. Also significant, Bishop was one of the first and most vocal opponents of open-pen farmed salmon.
The genesis of ‘Farm to Table’
Hamming it up, John Bishop: one of the movement’s most effective and vocal supporters, TP photo
John Bishop also helped shift what was once a primarily Eurocentric dining scene to reflect a broader diaspora. But his main role was to emphasize the need to make better use of BC’s natural bounty.
Looking back to the mid 1980s, he once told me, “When I started in fine dining,” he recalls, “you wouldn’t ever change your menu—in fact seasonality really didn’t play into it at all. You might get strawberries from Richmond and you might get apples from the Okanagan…”
Indeed, when he opened Bishop’s there was little interest in local ingredients, other than shrimp (usually served as scampi) and Dungeness crab. Steak (usually from Alberta) highlighted most menus of the day as seafood had yet to come into its own. The main reason being that much of it was still processed in bulk for canning and export. How ironic that salmon—abundant at the time and anything but ‘threatened’—was so often dismissed as ‘down market’, little more than tourist fodder, essentially considered “low-brow”, according to Bishop.
However, the owner chef (who had left a solid post with rising star Umberto Menghi) was convinced his timing was right; and the considerable risk was worthwhile. After a few difficult months getting started, the small Kits room became a destination for locals, then, later, visitors from well beyond our borders. Within a few years Bishop’s and its most gracious of hosts was a fixture—a true destination room and an example for others to connect with local growers, fishers and farmers.
In 2019, Bishop told me, “What I know is that younger chefs trained in this part of the world know the value of using local and seasonal ingredients. That trend has stayed strong despite economic factors. Sometimes it’s easier to shop purely on price. But overall it’s a wonderful trend of local chefs refining local cuisine.”
The chef says that people take organics for granted now. It’s one of the reasons they come to Bishop’s. As for the biggest change since when he started? People are much more open now to letting the chef do what they like. Also, the emergence of seasonality put an end to menus set in stone that never changed.
John Bishop the tireless mentor
John Bishop and former Bishop’s chef Andrea Carlson (now owner of Burdock) , H. Attie photo
Behind-the-scenes Bishop was active in helping to build key organizations such as the Chefs Collaborative which grew into the Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia.
A passionate mentor, the list of respected chefs and maitre d’s in whose careers he’s played a role is formidable. A ‘who’s who’ of today’s culinary leaders, it includes: Vikram Vij, Adam Busby, Jeff Van Geest, Andrey Durbach, Chris Stewart, Mark Filatow, Anne Milne, Carol Chow, Scott Kidd, Michael Allemeier, James Walt, Dennis Green, Geoff Kit, Bradley Goine, Michael Kanter, Geoff Van Hassel, and Andrea Carlson.
I’ve really only scratched the surface. Likely there are many more. But few other people have nurtured so many of BC’s top Vancouver chefs and owners; or contributed so much to our vibrant, now internationally respected, culinary scene. And few anywhere have hosted so many stars of stage or screen or world leaders with so little fanfare and so much discretion … But that’s another story.
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From today’s release:
“After nearly two years of Covid uncertainty we thought we had made it, but a new landlord and a whopping rent increase made it impossible to continue,” said John Bishop, who championed the farm-to-table movement that has become synonymous with Vancouver’s restaurant scene.
“It turns out Vancouver isn’t just an expensive place to live, it’s also an incredibly expensive place to do business. Every restaurant and neighbourhood business knows that first-hand. With the help of our staff and customers, we made it through the worst of the pandemic, but a hefty rent increase, particularly these days, made it impossible to think about continuing.”
Bishop said his restaurant, which opened in 1985, had a terrific run, thanks to loyal customers from across the lower mainland.
“Regulars are everything in the restaurant business, and we had some of the most loyal customers in the province,” explained Bishop. “We were not just a place to come for a special occasion, we had locals drop in throughout the week because they knew us and we knew them. I can’t say enough about our wonderful customers and also our terrific staff who made Bishop’s such a success for so many years.”
What a beautifully written commentary. So many culinary accomplishments in his life, that some of us were privy to try. The restaurant industry has lost a major player.
Thank you so much, Dawn. Yes, we are all lucky to know him and have been able to dine there!
John is a legend. Thank you for this testimony. I’m sorry I was unable to have just one more fine meal with John and his staff but I’ve been away for a few years. John if you ever find yourself in Anguilla, please let me know.
[…] were other pioneers, of course, including John Bishop, Harry Kambolis (Raintree, C), Mark Potovsky (Cherrystone Cove), Sinclair Philip (Sooke Harbour […]