Newsletter Archive

Volume 2 Spring 2002

It seems only fitting that the second installment in our Cast of Characters series on remarkable resort personalities, should be about our world-renowned Executive Chef, Timothy May.

Upon first meeting "Chef", as he is affectionately known, what is most apparent is a remarkable absence of attitude - that annoying affectation that clings to almost all of the world's great chefs.

I've known Chef since he came on board in 1998, when we recruited him from 900 West, Hotel Vancouver's formal dining room. There, he honed his craft surrounded by assistants, apprentices, and service staff. He was one of Canada's young Chefs to watch.

Eager to have his "own show", he enthusiastically signed on with what was at the time, just one resort (at Quait Bay). Chef didn't have much time to get his feet wet, so to speak, as we were planning a grand opening just a few short weeks later.

Suddenly, this classically-trained graduate of George Brown College in Ontario found himself all but alone in the wilderness with hundreds of critical mouths to feed - and what? - no dishwasher? As it happened, the young kitchen crew, fearing the purported isolation and absence of nightlife, had unceremoniously vacated Quait Bay for postings in nearby Tofino - by comparison, a mecca of social opportunity.

This is when Chef truly earned his stripes - or rather, whites. In he plunged with both hands, suds to the elbows, his trademark pearly whites clenched so tight his head ached for a week. Naturally, all of us pitched in, rescuing Chef ultimately from the perils of the sink. But the point, and this is what so endeared him to us, was that he was willing to do the dishes and whatever else it took to make his kitchen hum. And hum it does.

Chef is currently engaged to be married to Sandra Millman, a charming young woman from Vancouver who "has all of the right ingredients". Apparently those young staffers could have learned a thing or two after all.

Timothy May we salute you and your signature modern natural cuisine.