West Coast Culinary Bliss

OK, real talk: Tofino is my spiritual birthplace.

Actually, Langley is my birthplace, but (no offense to Langley) my heart lives in Tofino. The prehistoric super-size of the rainforest plants, the smooth, fog-shrouded beaches, chance encounters with whales gliding through aquatic kelp-jungles … and Sobo. No trip to Tofino would be complete without visiting Sobo, one of my longtime favourite restaurants (and former food truck) and home of amazing fish tacos with tropical-fruit relish, inari salmon pockets and polenta fries I think I’d order on death row. Chef Lisa Ahier has a passion for high quality ingridents, and whether she’s cooking with locally foraged seaweeds (for a great tahini salad) or fat Port Alberni blueberries, she picks (and profiles) people truly connected to the food they provide to help her stock her kitchen. I can’t get out to Sobo nearly as often as I’d like, but I was super excited to hear about the launch of its new cookbook, aptly named The Sobo Cookbook: Recipes from the Tofino Restaurant at the End of the Canadian Road. Full of charming anecdotes, great photography (shot by a trained surfer rather than food photographer for a localized element) and recipes for everything from maple-glazed quail to an udon noodle soup beloved by wave riders, this book is going to be an instant classic.

Head over to the VIP Room for an exclusive Q&A with Sobo chef/owner Lisa Ahier, in which she touches on everything from berry foraging to her penchant for celebrating 4:20 on the beach. Plus, your chance to win a copy of The Sobo Cookbook. —Adrienne Matei