At the same time that Felix and Jasmine Schellenberg’s Pasture to Plate venture is expanding to include a new restaurant opening in Vancouver, it is also getting closer and closer to home thanks to their innovative vision of growing and producing more of what they use, starting with their own certified organic grains, on their own ranch.
Pasture to Plate Grill Broths and Deli will open soon on Denman Street in Vancouver, featuring things like hamburgers, beef dip, steak sandwiches, kabobs and hot dogs, according to owner Felix Schellenberg. “Everything will be made with certified organic ingredients: quick food with excellent quality and exquisite in every respect,” he explained, adding that Vancouver is a wonderful market and that people really appreciate their product.
All permits were submitted in March and the project is waiting to go. “OT Timber Frames will do all the renovations — they are all poised with a crew ready.”
He added that the new restaurant will be renovated in the style of their Kinikinik Restaurant in Redstone. “There will be tall tables with tall stools, timber frame construction and paraphernalia connecting it to the ranch, such as movies, décor and photos,” he continued. “We’re very excited about this: we love the location.”
The new restaurant deli will also have eggs from the ranch, organic beer and wine and Kombucha by Ethical Soda, Schellenberg’s daughter Barbara’s company. The deli will have frozen meals, prepared with certified organic ingredients in the Kinikinik Restaurant’s commercial kitchen.
The Schellenbergs also own Pasture to Plate Whole Animal Butcher Shop on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. “We’ve been open five years now; it’s gone very well,” Felix noted. “We have a very good, knowledgeable butcher in management there –—it’s an old style ‘real butcher shop’ experience.”
He said that the inspiration behind the Pasture to Plate concept is still the reason they continue to work hard and the reason they continue to grow and expand.
“Vertical integration is in the back of our minds all the time — you produce from pasture to plate and all the steps in between,” he explained. “That includes grass and land management, finishing the animals on grass, a respectful harvest, butchering, processing and preparing the meat.”
He said that they have also built a fodder station where they germinate certified organic whole barley, sprout it and feed turkeys, chickens and hogs while they’re in pasture.
Wool from their sheep is shipped to Alberta and made into socks of four different colours and one natural. These socks are sold in the Kinikinik Restaurant, will be for sale in the Commercial Drive store this week and will be available in the new store on Denman Street when it opens.
Also new at Pasture to Plate are two new pivoting irrigation systems, a job contracted out to Bryce Baliff of Baliff Enterprises. “This includes field preparation, burying of pipes and taking care that no top soil is wasted,” Felix continued. “He is decisive, hard-working and gets the job done — he’s wonderful.”
He said that the biodynamic organism is working well. “We’re getting more and more self-contained,” he added. “We’re going to start growing our own grains, starting with barley and looking into hard wheat.
“At Kinikinik we make our own bread and pasta using certified organic grains — we’d love to grow it here,” he said.
“We could eventually grow some fruit for Bella Coola and pull the circle even closer; it’s vertical integration: you can feel the excitement. The products are high quality and the grass-finished process is getting perfected all the time.
“We’re working on a sustainable self-contained food system in a large area and we want it to get closer and closer to home,” he said.
“We’re getting there.”