Fantastic Food: The Winner

NOWNESS received over 500 submissions to the Fantastic Food competition, which invited our readers to upload their own photos of inspired dishes to be voted on by the NOWNESS community. Our illustrious panel selected a unanimous winner from the ten most popular images: Vancouver-based AJ Smith, for his photograph of Mei May ginger-scallion pork dumplings served with a chili oil soy sauce and cilantro-infused vinegar (pictured above). The dish comes from the Keefer Bar, a sleek apothecary-style cocktail haunt in the Canadian city’s Chinatown district. Smith’s friend Anna Ticktin conceived the Asian tapas menu for the bar’s opening last year, and Smith was there to photograph every piquant bite she sent out. “Dumplings do not usually look very exciting, but Anna’s idea to serve them in graphic Japanese newspaper really makes the dish pop,” says the aspiring food and portrait photographer. The recipe was gifted to Ticktin by a friend: “We got it from her mom on the condition that there was to be ‘No! Written! Record!’" she says. For now, we’ll be content to look, if not replicate. To view all NOWNESS reader submissions click here.

The top ten most popular submissions have also been included in a NOWNESS guide on Foodspotting.com. See these and more inspiring dishes from our featured chefs here.