Vancouver's best-kept restaurant secrets

Dining with Diabetes a Delicious Affair: "It's just that easy"

By Jason McRobbie (Photos: Tracey Kusiewicz)
Posted November 11th, 2006

Shell Busey knows the home improvement industry like no other. With decades of experience, he has spent a lifetime helping others build and better their varied dream projects. While he might be now best known as the host and co-producer of Home Check, Busey has been talking the walk he knows so well since he was first approached by CJOR radio in 1983 to discuss building supplies and home improvement.

Shell was so busy helping others improve their lives, it was not until a visit to his doctor that drew his attention to matters of personal health. A long time fan of the quick snack, Busey was presented with a decision: lose the weight, change your diet or face a lifetime of diabetes.

Busey proved as avid a listener as a teacher and in the space of a single year has shed 50 pounds, changed his relationship with food and never felt better. Along the way and in keeping with his good nature, he has become an advocate for both healthier eating and the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Seeing as November is Diabetes Awareness Month and that recent statistics show two million Canadians have diabetes, while another four million like Busey have pre-diabetes, it seemed an ideal time to chew over the benefits of a balanced preventive diet.

In keeping with such healthy-minded bonhomie, Busey and his wife Frankie joined the foodvancouver.com crew at Yaletown's award winning Blue Water Cafe. Blue Water Cafe is one of Vancouver's top fine dining restaurants and a mecca for premium seafood preparations including Yoshi Tabo's exquisite sushi and sashimi at the Japanese raw bar and innovative, west coast dishes featuring wild, fresh seafood from Executive Chef Frank Pabst.

(left to right) Maria Thomas, Frankie Busey, Shell Busey and Frank Pabst.

(left to right) Shell Busey, Kevin Freeman, Frank Pabst and Melissa McConchie.

Pabst created a special menu for the evening while admitting that creating a 'diabetes-friendly' dish was no great challenge for his kitchen. One of the great fortunes for anyone living with dietary restrictions is that almost nothing has to be sacrificed in terms of taste so long as some fairly basic precepts are followed.

On this night in question, both the main dish, a delicious fillet of halibut from the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the dessert platter, a sumptuous trilogy of Canadian artisan cheeses, are ample illustration of the flexibility of a restricted diet.

Restricted, but not restrictive: Busey has been following some fairly simple guidelines for the past year, and loving every mouthful.

"In many ways, I don't even notice it," said Busey. "The key is cutting down the quantity, taking what you would normally eat at a sitting and cutting it in half. It's just that easy."

Such measures, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association, go a long way towards maintaining a healthy diet, and coupled with daily exercise, greatly reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Busey had a gym put in at his office for just that reason and has embraced healthy eating and exercise with the same gusto he does with home renovations.

Steering clear of high fat foods, white flours and heavily sugared food and drink has been far easier than Busey imagined. Fish has also become the primary protein for both Frankie and he at home. Cutting down on carbohydrates, choosing whole grains and seeking out plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables has brought them into closer contact with both their food and themselves.

Both Buseys brim with energy and neither begrudges the minor sacrifices they have made. Meals may have changed, but only for the better and neither think of their dietary choices as anything other than delicious and smart.

In keeping with the Busey's new approach to the kitchen, the Canadian Diabetes Association offers its recipe for good health through the popular Cooking for Life! Program. Co-taught by a registered dietitian and cook, the hands-on, four week cooking and nutrition program helps participants discover healthy food choices, and more variety to what they eat and take home recipes that they can really integrate in their daily lives. For more information on class schedules, visit www.diabetes.ca or call the Canadian Diabetes Association at 604-732-INFO or Toll Free at 1-800-268-4656.

Even for those not living with diabetes, the dietary philosophy espoused is well worth taking to heart.

Check out Execute Chef Frank Pabst's Queen Charlotte Island Halibut with fennel, zuchini, artichokes & capers recipe.

About the Author:
Jason McRobbie is a Vancouver resident, freelance writer and previous editor of BC Restaurant news. You can contact Jason at jasonmcr@telus.net.

About the Photographer:
Tracey Kusiewicz is a Vancouver-based photographer specializing in food and beverage photography. You can contact Tracey at tracey@foodiephotography.com, or go to www.foodiephotography.com.