Meet Emily
Emily is your island activity coordinator. Having grown up on Salt Spring Island, Emily has insider knowledge of what to see and do on the island and she is your go to person for any questions or requests you might have before you arrive or during your stay with us. Emily is also your physical activity leader offering a variety of daily yoga and fusion classes in the Delphi.
Whether you’re looking for a challenging workout or a relaxing deep stretch you can choose to participate in as many or as few classes as you like. Emily’s classes incorporate options for all levels and her light-hearted approach to teaching creates a fun, inclusive, playful experience.
Meet Kris
Your chef, Kris lends his creative vision and talents to any project he is involved in. He has cooked at restaurants all over Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and London. Over the years Kris has developed a handful of other talents beyond cooking: he worked as a chocolatier for Chocolate Arts, and in 2002 he was the head pastry chef for Michelin restaurant Chez Bruce in London, U.K. In 2013 he moved out east to Toronto to work as Chef De Cuisine at Toronto’s URSA restaurant.
He has worked as executive chef at Lucy Mae Brown and chef de cuisine at Parkside here in Vancouver. As well as owning and operating award winning restaurants Latab and Mis Trucos.
Kris has experience as a private chef and prides himself in his ability to please all guests no matter the request. Kris believes in pushing himself to learn new skills and techniques, he has staged at the prestigious Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester as well as Luksus in Brooklyn. Kris is deeply interested in healthy living and produces exceptional quality food full of flavour with an eye towards balance. He is well versed in french classics and can easily pull from his repertoire to please the most discerning palates.
Meet Patricia
Patricia is your painting teacher. She is a local Salt Spring artist who uses various media, her preferred being egg tempera. Egg tempera is an ancient technique which uses ground pigments and egg yolk, and is therefore very environmentally friendly.
Patricia has been an exhibiting artist for over fifty years and her work is collected internationally. She has taught private and group lessons, as well as creating and teaching multi-disciplinary art camps. She is excited about the prospect of helping participants find a way to express themselves.
Meet Van Doren
Van Doren is your sommelier and beverage coordinator. Working alongside your chef’s menu to provide pairings to elevate your culinary experience. Van Doren started her culinary career in the kitchen. She worked her way up to Pastry Chef, honing her expertise at a number of Canadian restaurants including the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver and the noted Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island.
It was at the latter location that she learned to use and source only local sustainable and organic products within 100 miles and gained her passion for wine and eventually transitioned to the front of the house and became a Wine and Beverage Director at Opus Hotel, Restaurant Manager and Sommelier at Hawksworth Restaurant, Wine Director and General Manger at Le Crocodile.
Following her passion, she worked at organic and biodynamic farm and vineyards in France, Germany and Canada where she learned about wine making, viticulture and the significant of relationship between farmers, producers and buyers. Her career mission is to promote and gain awareness the importance of sustainable relationship and practice from farm to table and from vine to glass.