At the end of the Trans-Canada rainbow
March 22nd, 2015
Lisa Ahier’s The SoBo Cookbook: Recipes from the Tofino Restaurant at the End of the Canadian Road (Random House 2014) was an unexpected bestseller upon release, into its third printing in less than a year. Tofino’s SoBo (Sophisticated Bohemian) restaurant in downtown Tofino began operations in 2003 from a converted purple food truck in a parking lot. Given that Tofino is situated at the end of the Trans-Canada Highway, the number of tourists who visit scenic Long Beach nearby and also come to Tofino is high, resulting in an array of excelling dining choices. SoBo reflects the area’s penchant for originality combined with relative informality. Ahier and her co-manager husband had a cookbook in mind for years but insisted upon undertaking the design themselves, in keeping with their own rigorous standards. Hot dishes had to be photographed hot; cold dishes had to be photographed cold. The slow germination process for their book–distributed by Random House, but mostly controlled and produced by SoBo–mirrors the approach taken by their unique restaurant. The book was nominated for a B.C. Book Prize in 2015, a rarity for a cookbook. Lisa Ahier continues to be the Chef/Owner of SoBo.
BOOKS
The SoBo Cookbook: Recipes from the Tofino Restaurant at the End of the Canadian Road (Random House 2014) $29.95 978-0-449-01585-8
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