Vancouver, BC - December 8, 2009.

Douglas & McIntyre is thrilled to announce that two of their recently published cookbooks have won "Best in Canada"; titles in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant (978-1-55365-367-7, $45.00 CDN), by James Walt, takes home the title of Best Chef Book in Canada, and culinary team Frank Pabst and Yoshihiro Tabo take home the title of Best Fish & Seafood Book in Canada for their cookbook, Blue Water Cafe Seafood Cookbook (978-1-55365-368-4, $45.00 CDN).

Both cookbooks will now compete in their respective categories internationally for the title of "Best in the World."; The results will be announced at the Paris Cookbook Fair on February 11, 2010.

James Walt has been recognized by the Globe and Mail as "one of the top seven chefs in the country."; He spent four years at Sooke Harbour House http://www.dmpibooks.com/get/img/book/L1336.jpgbefore joining Araxi in 1998. After opening Blue Water Cafe, he was appointed executive chef to the Canadian embassy in Rome and has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York City several times. He lives in the nearby Pemberton Valley.

Frank Pabst has trained in Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany and France. He arrived at Lumière as the chef de cuisine and later opened Bistro Pastis to critical acclaim. He has run the kitchen at Blue Water Cafe since 2003, and won the Georgia Straight's Golden Plates Critics' Award for Chef of the Year in 2008. He lives in Vancouver, BC.

Yoshihiro Tabo arrived in Canada in 1972 after training in Osaka. In 1986, he opened his first restaurant, Shijo, followed by Yoshi, both earning rave reviews. He has headed the Raw Bar at the Blue Water Cafe since 2002, and won Vancouver magazine's silver award for Best Formal Japanese dining in 2008. He lives in Vancouver, BC.