2008-02-05 - Vancouver Sun
By: Mia Stainsby
Feenie joins Cactus Club
VANCOUVER - High-profile celebrity chef, Rob Feenie announced today that he's back in the game after leaving his position as executive chef of Lumiere and Feenie's restaurants last November.
His new role will be food concept architect of Cactus Club restaurants, he said in an interview with The Sun.
"I just signed the deal last night," he said, sporting a broken right hand from a hockey injury. "It's not just menu and concept development, I'll be working with each one of the chefs in each of the locations."
Feenie said he sees the future of restaurants as heading in a more casual direction and seems genuinely excited about his new position. It might be difficult for fans of his exquisite cooking to swallow but he says he's been hired on for two years; when asked what he plans to do after that, he said: "I'm here for the rest of my life, hopefully."
Three months ago, Feenie left Lumiere (which he opened in 1995) citing a breach of contract by David and Manjy Sidoo, who became the majority owners of both Lumiere and Feenie's restaurants in recent years. He said they had sidelined him and that the food at Lumiere no longer represented him.
"I'm no longer with the company because, most importantly, my role as chef was taken away," he said at the time.
He would not comment on anything to do with Lumiere or the Sidoos. Asked how he feels about gearing downwards from his international acclaim as exec chef at Lumiere, he says won't be losing his identity as a great chef.
"I won't let it happen. I'm not saying the white tablecloth is out the door but this is more of what the future of food is about. I've kind of looked at things. I wanted my future to be in casual, high-quality food so I decided to join Cactus Club."
He says the restaurant trend is to casual, high-quality food.
"I keep in touch with people like Wolfgang Puck; he was in a boardroom meeting at MGM in Las Vegas and they'd just been talking about going towards more casual and funky as opposed to high-end white tablecloths. Even Daniel [Boulud] just opened a new bar in New York City," he says. [Boulud is one of the top high-end chefs in NYC.]
In Vancouver, Nicos Shuermans, a talented Vancouver chef who has worked in three-star Michelin restaurants in Europe, preferred to open a casually sophisticated spot in an unsung part of the city. Chambar opened and wowed the city with great value food.
"The new generation doesn't want to eat that way anymore," he said, referring to white tablecloths and formal dining rooms.
"You'll see the change in Europe, too. No one wants to spend $200 a head. Some people just go to these places to show off their money and feel good about spending money in restaurants where there is a 300 per cent markup in wine. I have a customer who wishes my food were more expensive so he could bring guests in for his business. I told him I can make a menu and double my prices. That's the pretentious part of fine dining. Most of my friends don't want to go to high-end restaurants, even if we have the money. We don't want to dress up and not feel comfortable," Shuermans, 32, said.
"We don't want to go to stuffy restaurants. I do go to them; the food's good but you want to go out after you eat, go to a bar, have fun. I try to keep my priority which is quality of food. You don't need tablecloths, you don't need to over-serve guests. I wanted to open my door to everyone. A person can come here before the opera or on an 18th birthday."
He's surprised, though, that Feenie is going to Cactus Club.
"It's not going to bring out his talent. It can't be too creative. Creative isn't what people want there. They want a properly done burger."
But Cactus Club president and CEO Richard Jaffray says creativity is exactly what he hired Feenie for.
"I'm here to push the envelope with Rob. What I want from Rob is the opportunity to get him involved in the entire concept. What I'm looking to do is give him the freedom to play. His talent is beyond just fine dining. He has a real love for casual dining. One of the reasons we looked at this opportunity is we believe in quality. I'm all about creating good value. Even though this is a casual market, people appreciate quality.
"What's going on in Vancouver is unique. It's a leader in North America and possibly the world in high quality food at reasonable prices. I challenge anyone else in the world to get the same quality for the same dollar. It's starting to happen in other markets and we're starting to see some of the bigger chefs play in the casual sector. It's about atmosphere, not just food. It's really an emerging sector. Vancouver and B.C. are probably the most advanced.
"I know what Rob is capable of. I've been a long-time customer of his. I'm looking forward to his food, looking forward to tasting his dishes but right now I'm in the same position as everyone else. What's beautiful about this partnership is, he can really excel at what his talent is. I like to think that what we're doing currently is at the very high end of this casual sector."
Casual seems hardly appropriate for restaurants that are costing millions of dollars per store to develop. The Cactus Club flagship will be opening as a stand-alone glass structure at Bentall Five this year. That's a $6.5 million project. The Yaletown store cost $4 million nearly four years ago.
Earl's, Milestone's and Joey's are in a similar league. They started very casual and funky and evolved to swanky lookers serving affordable food.
"Five years ago, spending $6.5 million in the casual dining sector, I'd have thought I was off my rocker," Jaffray says.
The more recent of his 11 Lower Mainland Cactus Club restaurants feature real leather upholstery, Italian tiles, hand-crafted woods and, as Jaffray says, "quite a large art collection."
He's invested about a million dollars in art, including the edgey art of Jean Michel Basquiat (not yet on a wall) and the iconics of Andy Warhol.
The first Cactus Club opened 20 years ago in North Vancouver when Jaffray was 23-years-old. When I refer to the 17-location restaurants as a 'chain', Jaffray is uncomfortable.
"I'd prefer calling them a 'collection,'" he says, laughing when he realizes the pretence.
Feenie says he has no immediate plans for the restaurant.
"It's a matter of finding my way around first. It will take a little while to understand the Cactus Club process. Richard and I have known each other for a long time and what they do now is already fantastic," Feenie said.
"I haven't thought about it so far. This is new. I'll have to meet the teams, the various people and then go from there. You won't see stuff from me right away. It will probably be in the spring."
As for fans of his high-end who might be disappointed, he says he hopes they'll be looking forward to his new venture.
"Cactus Club has come a long way since I used to go to their old location in Burnaby. I wouldn't consider this if I didn't know Richard. We'll be taking it to the next level."
Feenie says he and his family (with an addition to his two children coming in July) eats at Cactus Club often. Asked what his favourite dishes were, he said the Cajun chicken burger and the spicy green beans.
"We are excited and thrilled to have one of Canada's top chefs join our team," Jaffray said. "Chef Feenie shares our vision and passion for excellence in the restaurant industry. Our team of chefs and management is looking forward to working closely with Chef Feenie to create and exceptional food and dining experience for all of our customers."
There are 17 Cactus Club locations in B.C. and Alberta. In 2008, they were named one of the top 25 companies to work for in B.C. by BC Business Magazine for the fourth year in a row.
