The Night Wagyu Took Over Vancouver
Walking into Folietta on the evening of October 7th was not your usual occasion. Greeted by industry note worthy's and welcomed in by a smart team of hosts this was going to be something significant. The first thing you noticed was the sound. Not the usual polite hum of a restaurant in full-swing, but a full-bodied chatter that rippled through the room like a standing ovation waiting to begin. Glasses clinked, old fashioneds caught the light, and the air carried the kind of electricity that only happens when a community gathers on the precipice of greatness. Every corner of the room buzzed with greetings, handshakes, and quiet reunions. A glance to your left, and another to your right, Vancouver’s most respected chefs and culinary voices were here, shoulder to shoulder, drawn together by a single promise: a night devoted entirely to Wagyu.
The long marble bar gleamed with plates of sliced beef marbled like stone, the scent of sear and smoke rising as pans hissed and flames briefly flared. Servers wove through the crowd passing incredible wagyu canapes, glasses topped up, conversations layered with the shorthand of cooks, talk of sourcing, texture, and the right kind of heat.
In the center of it all was the team from Legend’s Haul, not just hosting a party but orchestrating a summit, the kind of industry event that feels both overdue and perfectly timed. Their name was on the door, but the spotlight belonged to the the meat itself.
Legend’s Haul has always been built on that philosophy. Founder and CEO Craig Sheridan grew up in the meat business and built his company to reconnect chefs to the people and practices behind great ingredients. When he launched the business from his truck in 2018, delivering steaks himself to early partners like Chambar, he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, he was trying to remind the industry who made the wheel in the first place. His wife, Jill, who leads marketing, helped shape the name: a tribute not to themselves, but to the farmers, ranchers, and craftspeople who form the real hall of legends.
The room at Folietta was a reflection of that ethos. Craig wasn’t on stage much. Instead, he moved quietly through the crowd, shaking hands with chefs who already knew him from the early-morning calls, the last-minute deliveries, the relationships that run deeper than invoices. Legend’s Haul connects farms to tables with a mix of scale and intimacy that few distributors ever achieve. From its 40,000-square-foot East Vancouver hub, the company serves more than a thousand restaurants and retailers across B.C., from the Island to the Okanagan. It’s big enough to move mountains, but small enough to know who raised the cattle.
As the event unfolded, education was the entertainment. Butchers broke down primal cuts on display tables. Thin slices of A5 Wagyu from Japan sizzled beside Australian full-blood Wagyu with its deeper, nutty richness. There were North American crossbreeds too, meats that tell a story of regional experimentation, of ranchers refining genetics and feed for a balance of fat and flavor that suits West Coast kitchens. Craig’s instruction was simple: “Don’t season it too much. Let it speak.”
It did. Each plate was a case study in sourcing, what happens when a company looks past the commodity model and treats meat like a craft ingredient. The night doubled as a quiet assertion that Vancouver’s food culture is ready to celebrate its supply chain as much as its dining rooms.
For the community-builders that brought this summit to life, it was more than an event. It was a statement of where Legends Haul stands after nearly a decade: somewhere between the producers who trust them to carry their product and the chefs who trust them to deliver it right. The pandemic years had already shown what that bridge could do, when Legend’s Haul pivoted from wholesale to home delivery overnight, feeding households and saving farms that suddenly had nowhere else to go. That instinct for connection became their defining trait.
By the end of the night, as the last plates came off the line and the music dimmed, the crowd was still lingering. Not because there was anything left to taste, but because nobody wanted to break the spell, a reminder of what happens when a community of chefs and suppliers pause to celebrate their shared craft. The story of Legend’s Haul began with a few steaks and a truck. The Wagyu Summit at Folietta showed what it’s become: a network of chefs, farmers, and food lovers who understand that legends aren’t born, they’re built together.
For more food stories like this, check out our weekly newsletter.
