With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1199442
( quality time ) O FF T H E C LO C K NIK WEST FEBRUARY 2020 BCBUSINESS 69 D on't ask Jason MacIsaac where he likes to surf. Apart from "mostly on Vancouver Island," all he will say is that surf culture is territorial and protective of its locations. As it happens, for nearly two decades MacIsaac lived in Jordan River, a small com- munity west of Sooke known for the sport. What brought him there was a job as a chef at Point-No-Point Resort in 2000, but he'd surfed since moving to the Island 10 years earlier. "It's one of the most difficult things I've ever had to learn to do," MacIsaac confesses. "It's always challenging, but it's also enjoyable." Born in Nova Scotia, MacIsaac relocated with his family to Alberta at the age of three. He grew up and com- pleted most of his schooling in Fort McMurray, attending Grade 12 in Victoria, where the MacIsaacs moved in 1990. Af- ter graduating from Dubrulle French Culinary School in Vancouver three years later, he studied with master chefs locally and abroad, reading cookbooks and experiment- ing with recipes to develop his own style. MacIsaac cooked Sheringham Distillery co-owner and recreational surfer Jason MacIsaac catches waves off the coast of Vancouver Island by Felicity Stone W E E K E N D WA R R IOR WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT Sheringham Distillery takes its name from the small community west of Sooke on southern Vancouver Island where the business was founded in 2015. The area was originally called Sheringham, shortened to Shirley to fit on a postage stamp in 1893, when the first post office opened there. The location also plays a role in the ingredients for the distillery's spirits. Former chef Jason MacIsaac, who co-owns the business with his wife, Alayne, sources agricultural products from local farmers. In 2018, Sheringham Distillery expanded and moved to a new facility in nearby Sooke. Last Febru- ary, the U.K.-based World Gin Awards judged the company's Seaside Gin the best contemporary gin. The distillery's newest product is non-alcoholic Bright Light Alt-Gin, available since November at select private liquor stores and specialty food markets. –F.S. TICKET TO RIDE MacIsaac learned to surf after moving to Vancouver Island as a teenager A Real Swell Guy O FF T H E C LO C K