Edible Vancouver Island Design 2022

e great dreamer Walt Disney once said, “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” is is so true—my kitchen looks the best when it’s lled with friends and family. Many of my favourite childhood memories are in the kitchen. My dad loved to cook, and my mom was a baker. Family dinners not only brought me joy but activated all my senses—the smell of the spaghetti sauce or fresh baked bread, and the way my mom would combine vintage china, pottery, modern dishes and fresh owers to set an enchanting table. e kitchen is a place of gathering, but it’s also a place of

PUBLISHER + EDITOR IN CHIEF Karen Elgersma

ART DIRECTOR Danika McDowell EDITOR Danielle Steiner-Janzen

COPY EDITOR Trish Weatherall SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Jenny Leung PHOTOGRAPHERS Angela Drake Danika McDowell Janis Jean Stephanie Seaton AD DESIGN Leanne Von Hollen

healing, a lesson I learned as a teenager. My cousin (who was more like my aunt), and her family moved into my neighbourhood, and I remember how her home centred around the kitchen, where anyone, anytime was welcome to sit down and enjoy a warm bowl of chili— she literally always had a pot of chili simmering—along with a good chat, a cup of co ee or a game of cards. I would often bike to her house when I was having a bad day and just drop in, and she would just love on me around that kitchen table. Twenty- ve years later I found myself designing my own kitchen and home. When I sat down with my dear friend and designer Cydney Hellier (who wrote the Small but Mighty Spaces article on page 16), she asked me what I wanted my home to look like. I told her about my cousin, whose home had wrapped me in love all those years ago. Cydney somehow knew what I meant because she designed a house that has become a place of welcoming. When I come home at the end of a long day of work, my kitchen and home embrace me like a friend. But even more importantly, this house has been a place of refuge and laughter, and of hundreds of gatherings lled with food, love and an abundance of good memories. I hope this special design issue inspires you as we all start to gather again and welcome people back into our homes. Many of my favourite designers and food experts have come along to help us launch the rst ever Edible Vancouver Island Design Issue, lled with inspiring ideas that will have you wanting to create your very own Pinterest board of ideas for your next dinner party or future kitchen reno. Karen Elgersma

ADVERTISING Dawn Postniko

Inga Liimatta Nikki Beach Peggie Terry ediblevancouverisland.com/advertise CONTACT US 140-4392 West Saanich Road Victoria, BC, V8Z 3E9 info@ediblevancouverisland.com TO SUBSCRIBE Visit us online at ediblevancouverisland.com Edible Vancouver Island is published four times a year. Subscription rate is $35 CAD annually. LETTERS We welcome your feedback. To write to the editor, use the address above or, for the quickest response, email: editor@ediblevancouverisland.com

Edible Vancouver Island magazine is published ve times per year by Karen Elgersma Media INC. 140-4392 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 3E9

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I’d like to dedicate this first Design Issue of Edible Vancouver Island to those whom I have lost; you helped me truly understand the gift of sitting around the table enjoying a good meal in a home that is welcoming and beautiful. Dale Modry, who taught me the gift of hospitality, and her son Derek, who was a gifted chef; David Swan, who taught me the gift of generosity; Matthew Yeudall, my cousin who loved family gatherings as much as I did; and my brother Grant Jonasson, who taught me how to cook and introduced me to the joy of entertaining. May you rest in peace and may you all be together enjoying a heavenly meal filled with love.

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On the cover: Setting the Table—read the story on page 18. Photo by Janis Jean.