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
