Mark Best of Sydney’s Marque Restaurant will join forces with West’s Quang Dang for a commonwealth collaboration between the two most unaffordable cities in the world!

Best Kitchen Basics CookbookThere’s no subtle way to put this—Chef Mark West is sort of a big deal. Sitting here in Western Canada you’re permitted to not know that 12,500 kilometres away his Marque Restaurant has been one of the anchors of Sydney’s dining scene since its opening half a decade ago. Or that he blends classical French technique learned at L’Arpege in Paris and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in the UK with the sort of no-BS approach we want from our Aussie brethren (Mark worked as an electrician in the gold fields of Western Australia before taking up cooking, so he’s got that angle covered). All you really need to know is that in the midst of the economical wonder that is Dine Out Vancouver (Western Living is a sponsor of this great event) there’s a real jewel of a culinary opportunity when Chef Best does a one-night only collaboration with Quang Dang of West, another chef who can breeze between haute cuisine and harkening back to his youthful stints as a cook at Earls in Calgary with ease. I think it’s safe to call it now—this is the event of Dine Out and a heck of lot cheaper than a ticket to Australia. Tickets are here.And in order to prove our above thesis, we’ve secured two recipes from Chef Best’s upcoming cookbook, Best Kitchen Basics (it comes out in March) that prove beyond any doubt that missing a dinner with him would be a mistake.Click here for Chef Best’s Beef Tartare.Click here for Parsnip Pie (trust us , it’s revelatory).Parsnip_Cake1648-e1452714160941 And a quick PS – Mark’s Instagram is off the charts good: follow him at @markbest