The Courtney Room is the kind of place where you can enjoy a casual brunch, a cocktail-inspired happy hour or a fine dining experience – and for that the six-month-old establishment was named one of Canada’s 10 best new restaurants by enRoute, the in flight travel magazine from Air Canada.
Nestled inside The Magnolia Hotel and Spa, The Courtney Room only just opened in April, but word is catching on fast.
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Fresh off the plane from Toronto where she accepted the award on the restaurant’s behalf, assistant food and beverage manager Anna Romeyn said the honour was something the opening team had set their sights on.
“We’re so happy to be chosen, just being such a new restaurant on Vancouver Island,” says Romeyn, who is also a sommelier and the restaurant’s wine director.
Chef Sam Harris comes to The Courtney Room from Agrius Restaurant, also named one of the country’s best by enRoute, and with him is chef de cuisine, Chris Klassen.
The pair’s vision was to make food that was “ingredient-driven” sourcing local when possible and partnering with local farms, breweries, vineyards and suppliers.
“It’s the responsible thing to do,” Romeyn says. “We work with a lot of foragers on the mainland and the Island but are inspired by classic French cuisine. We’re so blessed with what we have at our fingertips here.”
While business has been booming “mostly by word of mouth,” Romeyn says the team is excited to see who this most recent news brings through the door; the operation marks the first time The Magnolia has run it’s own in-house eatery.
“We are a hotel restaurant so I think with that comes some predetermined idea that it’s a corporate set up but we’re locally owned,” Romeyn says, adding it’s a local clientele The Courtney Room is after as well as visitors to Victoria.
“We’re so excited.”
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