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by Michaela Garstin It's no false reality – the Peninsula has a knack for spawning TV talent. Indulge looks at some of our most celebrated reality-show personalities.
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estaurant magnate Vikram Vij isn't used to failure. Even with culinary talent, charisma and unbound energy catapulting him into Canadian celebrity status with three restaurants and a handful of judging roles on national television, producers of CBC's Dragons' Den made him prove he has what it takes. The task – to join forces with the reality TV series' most powerful venture capitalists. Kevin O'Leary, a blunt business tycoon, and internet mogul Bruce Croxon were set to depart from the show after last season — and leave behind big shoes to fill. Two years and several auditions later, Vij was still waiting to hear if he was chosen for the coveted spot.
6 Summer 2014 INDULGE
"CBC did so much research and due diligence in finding out whether I had what it took to be a Dragon," says Vij in his usual energetic tone. "It was like auditioning for a major role in a movie." But when the lengthy process was complete, Vij got the news he was yearning for – he would be one of five Dragons to star in the ninth season, along with Jim Treliving, Arlene Dickinson, David Chilton and fellow rookie "finance bad boy" Michael Wekerle. "It will be the funnest season you have ever seen," he tells Indulge on his way to last month's Eat Vancouver, a culinary festival where he showcased his famous Indian creations. Born in Amritsar, India, Vij immigrated to Alberta in 1989 after a Canadian hotelier invited him to experience Western Canada's culinary possibilities. He opened his first restaurant, Vij's, five
years later in a trendy South Granville neighbourhood. The authentic cuisine and strict no-reservations policy led to nightly lineups down the block. Vij is proud that even VIPS such as Martha Stewart, Pierre Trudeau and Harrison Ford had to wait with the crowd to be seated. In addition to their second, more casual restaurant, Rangoli, Vij and his wife, Meera Dhalwala, recently opened My Shanti in South Surrey, a few minutes from a 28,000-squarefoot food processing plant where their readyto-eat meals are made and packaged. The curries are sold in grocery stores throughout the Lower Mainland. But all this wasn't enough for the spirited entrepreneur. In addition to the Dragons' Den, Vij is a judge on three other reality shows: Food Network's Tops Chef Canada and Chopped Canada, as well as CBC's Recipes to Riches. "I can easily talk about food because that's