Chef Vish Mayekar designed the kitchen at ELEM to the specifications he wanted to execute his creative dishes. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
Some travellers remember their experiences through photographs or journal entries — Vish Mayekar does it with recipes. The Mumbai-born chef is not only candid about his travel bug when he speaks, but also when he plates his dishes at ELEM, his imaginative restaurant on Vancouver’s Main Street that has been one of the city’s hottest tables since it opened in November 2024.
The inspirations come from the ingredients he’s tasted in Europe and Asia as well as the experiences he has had in different locations, particularly in France, where he has been the executive chef for the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival for the past five years. Those inspirations blend with his upbringing in India, which is never far away from his mind or sense of flavours. The ELEM hallmark is a grilled lamb skewer that takes more than four days to prepare. Mayekar softens the meat, finishes it with a Medjool date glaze, and serves it with a ginger labneh. The taste is almost like a tenderloin. It’s ingenious and there’s intent with it. “Where I come from, lamb is beloved. We have it all the time. When I came to Canada, I was shocked that people didn’t like it. I wanted to change that. I wanted people to see how great this product can be,” Mayekar says.
The Lamb Skewer at ELEM, served atop a ginger labneh, is the signature menu item at the restaurant on Vancouver’s Main Street. It’s topped with pickled radishes and puffed buckwheat. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
The lamb skewer is indicative of Mayekar’s ambition. He covets a Michelin star (the 2025 Vancouver announcement is scheduled for October 2) and is dedicated to continuing his ascent on the culinary landscape in Canada, a path that started in 2013 when he arrived to study at Niagara College in Ontario.
“I never came to Canada to immigrate. I loved my life back home. It was just for my purpose of travelling and exploring that I chose Niagara. I did my culinary studies there for a couple of years, then decided to come to Vancouver because I just knew I would love the west coast,” Mayekar says.
ELEM’S Dungeness crab is served with bisque, made from the crustacean’s shell, and toast. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
He worked at the Cactus Club and then the Fitzpatrick Winery in the Okanagan Valley, returning to Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic. His star launched with his appearances on season 10 of “Top Chef Canada” in 2022, where he placed fifth, and impressed with his creativity and passion. When it was time to open his own restaurant, he wanted to dig deeper into his world knowledge rather than lean on the comfort of cooking Indian food.
“I could have easily stuck to what I knew from growing up. Can I make a mean curry? One-hundred percent, trust me on that. I’m proud to be where I’m from and proud of my culture, but the flavours of my cusiine are globally inspired and I want to express that,” he says.
The restaurant’s name is short for “Elements”, the guiding theme for Mayekar and his staff. The cocktail program, a creation of beverage director and ELEM partner Winnie Sun, is divided into sections of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. The food menu isn’t so delineated but the ethos comes through in dishes like the grilled lamb, the Dungeness crab toast, and airy Chicago Mix popcorn. ELEM’S name also connotes Mayekar’s environmental concerns. He wants the restaurant to have a zero-waste footprint, which he admits is ambitious but the pursuit of the goal makes a statement.
The Mango Rasmailai cocktail is one of ELEM’s subtle nods to chef Vish Mayekar’s Indian heritage. Made with gin, the cocktail includes clarified saffron milk and white chocolate paint on the glass. The drink on the left has the mango inside, which results in the bright colour. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
“Winnie is from China, a place with 1.4 billion people, and even though we live in a world with a surplus of food there isn’t enough food to go around. In India, it’s the same thing,” he says. “As humans we’re so wasteful. It’s so easy to take a piece of fish and carve out the best pieces and throw away the rest. But why not turn the bones, the fish head, the other parts into a stock? Why not take the tomato peels that get tossed and instead dehydratre them so they are turned into a powder? Those are the kind of thoughts that go through my head. Always, the focus has been to be as sustainable as possible.”
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A shining example is how the restaurant takes the juice from the beets it boils and sends them to the bar, where Sun can use it in place of simple syrup in old-fashioneds or other cocktails. Vancouverites have taken notice of the creativity, ambition, and ethic. Tables are often full and frequently more than 100 diners are hosted a night in the 76-seat space, which was a former sofa retailer that Mayekar completely renovated to his style. Steadily, ELEM is welcoming a broader cohort of diners as word spreads about the quality of the cuisine. Among them are acclaimed international chefs.
Chef Danny Lledó of Washington, D.C.’s highly regarded Xiquet visits Vancouver in October to cook at ELEM as part of the Visa Infinite Dining Series. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
On October 15, the restaurant’s celebration of global flavours will include some Spanish lavishness. ELEM will host a collaboration dinner with Danny Lledó of Xiquet, often recognized as the best restaurant in Washington, D.C. When I dined at Xiquet in June, I was impressed by Lledó’s desire to elevate the tastes of Valencia, a city in southern Spain that is often overshadowed by the culinary magnets of Barcelona and San Sebastian. Lledó serves the best version of Valencia’s signature dish, paella, I’ve ever eaten and his empanada filled with Iberico ham is another standout. His cuisine, known for its elegance and intricate flavours, is a fit for Mayekar’s precise cooking.
“I’m excited to try some local ingredients and adapt them to our interpretation and with our techniques. Where we get our flavour profile from seems to be so different from ELEM and their flavour profiles. When you have a chef like Vish who uses a lot of bold flavours and then you have so much of our Spanish influence, it will be a lot of fun to share with the guests,” says Lledó, who will be visiting Vancouver for the first time when he participates in the Visa Infinite Dining Series dinner.
Among the highlight dishes at Xiquet is the paella, served here with Mediterranean lobster and caviar. The socarrat, the charred rice that sticks on the bottom of the paella pan, is delivered separately on a spoon. Diners in Vancouver will experience a version of the dish when Xiquet collaborates with ELEM. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
Following the collaboration dinner, Mayekar looks forward to hosting the most important person to patron ELEM — his mother. She couldn’t attend the opening of the restaurant in 2024 because of complications with getting a visa issued in time, but she is hopeful of making it to Vancouver for the first anniversary dinner on November 19.
“Last year when we opened it was both the greatest day of my life and the saddest because she couldn’t be there. I remember looking over at Table 1 and thinking that my family was missing. So this year will be very special,” Mayekar says, noting that one of his fondest childhood memories is sitting next to his mother while they watched Food Network shows that sparked the idea of a culinary career.
Chef Vish Mayekar plates his duck breast for ELEM diner DeNon Brijbassi, the author’s wife. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
That spark ignited a global journey of education, discovery, and recognition. While Mayekar awaits the Michelin announcement in Vancouver, his restaurant continues to land on notable rankings and his stature keeps rising (Niagara College has invited him to be part of its alumni speaking program). I was introduced to ELEM by Daniel Klintworth, the restaurant’s sommelier and a respected member of Vancouver’s culinary community. Originally from Germany, Klintworth has been impressed by Mayekar’s ability to integrate flavours from different parts of the world.
“What draws me in is the creativity and the openness to not be stuck in one field. He’s quite talented to be working with different flavours and making them his own,” says Klintworth, who also appreciates the restaurant’s minimalist design, a nod to Europe. The restrained decor allows the food and the cocktails to be the focus of the experience.
The wine list leans lighter, as does Mayekar’s food. Klintworth prefers to pair the grilled lamb skewer with a pinot noir from German producer August Kesseler.
That pursuit of harmony in all aspects of the ELEM experience is among the reasons it is winning over diners on the west coast. For a chef who loves to explore the world and its flavours, there may be nothing better than his new home base.
MORE ABOUT ELEM
ELEM’S fig kulfi is a delicious and elegant ending to the restaurant that’s a fresh star on the west coast. (Adrian Brijbassi photo for Vacay.ca)
Address: 2110 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia (see map below)
Website: www.elemvancouver.com
Xiquet Collaboration Dinner: The dinner takes place on October 15 and is only available to Visa Infinite card-holders. The cost is $250 per diner, and includes cocktails, wine pairings, and gratuities. For more details, visit the Visa Infinite Dining Series website.
