An Interview with Head Chef David Cox

Award-winning chef David Cox, who has traveled the globe with his chosen profession, says his cooking style is influenced by a mostly French technique but it's lighter and more playful.

He is renowned in culinary circles for making fresh, local and ecologically sound ingredients a priority in his kitchen.

In the following interview, David tells us what he plans to bring to the table with his new posting as Head Chef at THE RESTAURANT at Painted Boat.

Q. Vibrant. Approachable. Healthy. These are words that have been used to describe your brand of cuisine. Tell us about what distinguishes your approach in the kitchen.

A. I'm drawn to cuisine rooted in countries such as Spain, Italy and France. I use lots of greens in my food. I'm partial to bright, fresh, clean flavours.

Essentially, I like to take the lessons of the classics and update them. These days, you can't approach the dining experience without taking into consideration what is healthy for people and for the environment.

Q. Talk to us about what it means, in your opinion, to be an ecologically sound restaurant.

A. I really believe in buying and using local produce. Throughout the summer, for example, it's prawn season. We can buy directly off the boat. It's incredible. I can buy a trap of prawns that are still flopping around in my truck and then, hours later, I will have used them for a beautiful soup.

I've found a local tomato grower here on the Sunshine Coast. I get honey from nearby Robert's Creek. My experience is that people want to connect with what is around them.

In the end, running a restaurant this way is good for local economies and for the environment. You feel like you're doing your part and you feel like you're helping your neighbour.

Q. How would you describe the atmosphere of THE RESTAURANT at Painted Boat?

A. They grandfathered the restaurant plans off the property's old boathouse, which means we are directly on the water. When you're sitting in the dining room, you see everything. You've got a beautiful vista of the tide changes and sunsets that change between gorgeous oranges and pinks.

The dining room itself feels like it could be in Gas Town, Vancouver or on Seventeenth Avenue in Calgary. The locals tell me that when they come, they feel like they've taken a trip to the city. In a way, it's like we've taken a piece of the Vancouver dining scene and dropped it into a sleepy coastal town.

Q. Tell me about the style of restaurant service people will find at THE RESTAURANT at Painted Boat.

A. We are contemporary casual. We give our patrons a modern take on food. We don't want this to be the most fancy restaurant in town. We want our servers to act like themselves and to be super friendly. But we also want to ensure that they are informed about the wine and food they're serving.

This is the management style of Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts the company that manages Painted Boat and this restaurant.

Q. How do you want your patrons to feel after an evening at Painted Boat?

A. I want everyone to leave feeling like they got what they wanted and that they've been taken well care of. Some days we have people walking in with their life jackets on just coming in from kayaking and wanting to warm up with a glass of quality wine. And yet there are other guests here at the same time who are dressed in their Sunday best.

We've created an environment where difference doesn't matter. Our goal is to offer a restaurant where you can have a business meeting taking place next to a couple who is celebrating their anniversary.

Hopefully, because their dining experience with THE RESTAURANT at Painted Boat was exceptional, our patrons will feel closer to the people they were dining with. I would argue that this is the goal for all quality restaurants. Of course, my wish would also be that they've enjoyed the restaurant so much that when they leave, they're already thinking about when they can join us again.