Chefs' Wellness: Fable's Trevor Bird

Trevor Bird is chef and owner of Vancouver's outstanding Fable Restaurant, located in Kits. He was runner-up on the second edition of Top Chef Canada. Shoulda won. He nails the farm-to-table concept on his ever-changing menu and manages to fit in regular exercise despite his gruelling schedule.

 

 

What do you do to stay physically and mentally healthy?

 

Being healthy is a very important thing to me--to live a happy and as balanced a life that I can. 

I try and be active every day for at least 30 minutes. I start my day off by stretching and doing some push ups for about 20 minutes with a coffee every day (maybe one day off a week) to get the blood flowing. 

I am involved in running, yoga, CrossFit. If I weren't, I would be fat as hell. I run two times a week, an average a 8- to 10-km each time, and I try and go to CrossFit twice a week. And I try for yoga once a week. The other two days are random, depending on the weather, my mood, and life.

I've been drinking 3 litres of water a day since the New Year, and I would really like to keep that up. It feels great.

I eat one salad a day; yogurt and fruit and chia seeds for breakfast 28 times a month. The other days are usually eggs of sorts. Dinner is the killer. 

We don't eat at precise times during dinner because of service. so I usually eat very late at night, and it really depends on what's around, I try and stick to vegetables and salads, but it can't always be that way.

I'm addicted to chocolate--really good, high-quality chocolate. I eat some every day, without a doubt. 

What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your overall well-being?

 

The biggest challenge is the chocolate and the unpredictability of the restaurant: staffing, maintenance, running a business. You are always "on", there's very little down time--one of my 10 cooks will get sick, or something will break, and playing damage control takes up a ton of time.

Why did you choose this dish to share?

 

This quinoa salad will be hitting our lunch menu. It's exactly how I like to eat.

 

Trevor Bird's Quinoa Salad

 

Salad

 

Quinoa, cooked                      1 kg

Salt                                            4 g

Craisins                                    100 g

Almonds                                    100 g

Raisins                                      100 g

Grapes , halved                       Handful

Baby spinach                           Handful

Avocado, diced                       1

Kale                                           Handful

Hard-boiled egg                      1

 

Vinaigrette

 

Honey                         100 ml

White-wine vinegar      100 ml

Olive oil                      300 ml

Salt                             5 g

 

Mix everything together and dress with vinaigrette.