“Sold out” was the word yesterday at Organic Ocean‘s dockside spot prawn sale, but I didn’t leave empty-handed. Recently re-transplanted Vancouver, B.C. chef David Gunawan was there to pick up a bag of spot prawns he’d reserved, giving me some dish on his new kitchen gig — the soon-to-open “Wildebeest.” On his iPhone he showed me a few photos of the hand-made ceramic dishware that will provide the stage for the minimal preparations he’s planning — not more than three components per plate.

Spot prawns, for instance: “I’d serve them with just some salt and oil. There’s no need for us to be out there when the ingredient speaks for itself.”

He’s assembled a vendor network of about 30 local farms that will supply all the ingredients. “The farmer does all the work. It’s my job not to fuck it up,” he said.