Vancouver Island Fine Dining

Contemporary Coastal Gourmet Cuisine

It’s true that one cannot play well, sleep well, or be well without dining well. In the Cookhouse kitchen, ‘well’ is defined by local, sustainable, and seasonal Vancouver Island fine dining—prepared by Executive Chef Michael Pataran and an extraordinary team of Relais & Châteaux chefs.

Cuisine is fine, luxurious, and comforting—rooted in sustainable ingredients, sourced, foraged, and harvested almost entirely from Clayoquot Sound and Vancouver Island, and delivered daily to the resort by boat.

Locally-Sourced Culinary Delights

Fresh greens, vegetables, and herbs are grown in a small vegetable garden and greenhouse on the property. The Tofino Ucluelet Culinary Guild also provides the resort with fresh, organic produce sourced from local Vancouver Island farms like Codes Corner Organic Farm in Duncan and the Tatlo Road Farm in Crofton.

Local fishermen and fishmongers provide fresh, Oceanwise© Dungeness crab, scallops, salmon, halibut, and cod from the cold, deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. Local foragers, well-versed in the language of food traditions of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation, source more than 100 wild foods from the rainforest and foreshore.

The Perfect Pairing

A robust beverage program features wine, beer, sake and spirits which are thoughtfully sourced by Chef Pataran from both local and international producers alike. Spirits from over twenty British Columbia distillers are used to handcraft inventive cocktails with fresh garnishes and housemade syrups, bitters and tonics.

View our Wine List

Faith Tasting Menus

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort is proud to offer the “Faith” tasting concept to those seeking a more adventurous and intimate culinary experience. Chef Michael Pataran developed these specialized chef’s tasting menus to utilize the freshest and rarest seasonal ingredients that often have a limited period of availability. The Faith menu is only offered to ten guests per evening at the kitchen tasting counter and changes on a nightly basis.

The concept of “Faith” is just that - the diner leaves the entire menu in the hands of the chef. This is where the chef shines and works his magic by showcasing his unique methods and techniques; conducting the menu course by course, navigating the guest through the entire evening. The journey begins with a meticulously chosen wine and then moves outward; all the flavours, aromas and textures in the food, need to accompany, amplify, and balance the wine in order to make it the perfect pairing. The diner is offered an array of taste and texture sensations that may never be presented again. 

It is a dramatic and euphoric experience not to be missed, perhaps the most pure and true way to savour and experience the parameters of food.