BCBusiness

March 2015 Where to Buy in 2015

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.

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march 2015 BCBusiness 77 nik west; illustration: mark atomos pilon General manager Stephen Rough- ley is so tickled with recent changes at Fire & Water, tucked to the side of the lobby in an airy, wood-panelled room, that he hopes to soon pull down walls to make it front and centre in the entrance of Victoria's Mar- riott Inner Harbour Hotel. Take a forkful of the 11-year- old restaurant's latest culinary incarnation to see why. Its executive chef Dave Roger has segued from heavier plates to a lighter "comfort" menu. Steaks are still key—after all, Roger was recently chosen to represent the chain nationally at the opening of the Riyadh Mar- riott in Saudi Arabia with a Cana- dian steak theme—but there's plenty on the "water" side, too (Arctic char, tiger prawns and clam chowder, all with sustain- able Ocean Wise accreditation to boot). "This is not a steakhouse of darkness," Roughley enthuses. "It's a chop house of light." (marriottvictoria.com) • For 30 years Vancouver expat richard Foley imported fine chocolate to california and distributed it to chocolatiers around the world. one of his customers was wade pugh, who made custom chocolates for the hospitality industry through his company chewter's chocolates in richmond. now the two are partners in chocXo bean-to-bar chocolate cafés, which launched last December with one location in richmond and two in california. since pugh already had a fac- tory that could produce and pack- age finished chocolates, Foley sold his distribution company and set up a factory in california to make chocolate from beans on a large scale. it produces about a ton of artisan chocolate a day, shipped north to chewter's to be made into chocolates for sale in the chocXo cafés and wholesale to gourmet food stores. at the richmond chocXo, café patrons can observe the process from roasting cacao beans to finished chocolates. each day the lab produces 30 or 40 kilograms of chocolate for treats and hot drinks that are sold in the adjacent café along with coffee made from beans roasted daily by chocXo. (chocxo.com) — Felicity Stone At a Richmond café, everything begins with beans Fire & Water Fish and Chop House ChocXO Chocolate Café BesT TABLe the tables by the window are perfect for people watching. the spot's a magnet for both locals and the time-crunched crowd at the nearby convention centre. try the "cove" table tucked neatly behind a partition wall for confidential conference discussions. MusT-TRY ORDeR savour chef roger's mediterranean steak and mesclun salad or the signature lamb burger, which oozes with triple-cream cambozola blue cheese and red onion marmalade (topped with onion rings). Just add defibrillator. DRinK uP make yours a rob collins. it might be sacrilegious to tinker with the classic cock- tails—it's the love child of rob roy and tom collins—but this is a gin-based sharp'ner with st-Germain elderflower liqueur, soda water, a dash of orange bitters and lemon juice. insiDeR TiP squeezing lunch in between conference talks? ask for the business express three-pronged soup, salad, sandwich ($15). as for those sea-salt crusted bread rolls on the table? thank local european bakery portofino. A cozy Victoria restaurant lightens up by Lucy Hyslop hotel Comfort Surf and turf has a new, cozy home in Victoria. P o w e r L u n c h R e c e n t l y O p e n e d

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