Victoria’s Culinary
DNA CHAPTER THREE
As French chefs solidify their haute position in Victoria, a group of newcomers turn an old Chinese rooming house into one the city’s most endearing eateries. A restaurant history series by Gillie Easdon
An Industry Matures
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rom the fire and fury of Pierre Koffel at the Deep Cove Chalet to the elegance and beauty of more convenient haunts such as Chez Daniel, La Petite Colombe, Café Français, The French Connection, Chez Ernest and Micheline’s to present day Restaurant Matisse and Chez Michel, Victoria has a significant Gallic legacy. Vital to the chefs’ creations and to Victoria’s early restaurant development was North Douglas Distributors, which Armando Barbon started in 1972. What is now a huge corporation (it was acquired by SYSCO Corp., North America’s largest foodservice marketer and distributor, in 2000), began in a small, 1,100-square-foot deli, with restaurateurs sourcing quality ingredients out the back door. A year earlier, another French restaurant, Chauney’s, with a focus on seafood, was opened by past Empress Hotel banquet manager Dominique Chapheau and maitre d’ Harry de Zwager. Chauney’s celebration of seafood was unprecedented in Victoria. “One woman sent back these enormous beautiful prawns because the eyes were looking at her,” says Chapheau. “So, we cut off their heads and sent them back out. Then she was fine.” It was a time when oysters were available from the East Coast only and even then, they arrived pre-shucked in a bucket. Chauney’s, with its high ceilings and pillars and a gorgeous location across from the Empress, was the site of the “most powerful lunch in Victoria,” reminisces Chapheau. In 1981, Chapheau sold his half of Chauney’s to de Zwager and opened the stunning Chantecler, taking with him dishwasher Michael Clark, who ran the restaurant for years. George Szasz, another integral part of Victoria’s European connection, grew up in Vancouver steeped in the restaurant business. His grandparents had come over from Hungary in the 1950s and had established Szasz, a delicatessen that served up Eastern European comfort food for more than 35 years. After a few years with a restaurant in Smithers with Linda and their children, George heard through the grapevine that Daniel Rigollet was planning to sell Chez Daniel in Victoria. Not keen on returning to Vancouver, the Szasz family moved to the Island in 1997. Furthering the tradition of fine French food in Victoria, John Philips and David Reimneitz opened Matisse in 1997 with George Szasz. A year later, Daniel Rigollet sold Chez Daniel’s location to George and Linda Szasz, who opened Paprika in 1998. The two were impressed by the abundance and excellence of local produce and livestock and, George relates, “deeply moved and inspired” by the support and welcoming community of the restaurant industry in Victoria. In mid-2007, George and Linda opened Stage, a Fernwood establishment that has changed the neighbourhood, giving it a foodie destination of its very own.
Victoria Comes of Age: The Herald Street Caffe The Oswego Hotel Tel: 250-294-7500 500 Oswego Street @ Kingston Street www.oswegovictoria.com
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EAT MAGAZINE JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2009
“The French guys made the standard and then Greg came along,” says Larry Arnold, manager of Spinnakers Spirit Merchants and a wine columnist for this magazine. Let’s backtrack for a moment and revisit the landscape of Victoria’s cuisine in the late 1970s with its boats of béarnaise sauce, sweet and sour pork and chicken cordon bleu. Now pan
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