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Chef de Cuisine
The Wickaninnish Inn & Pointe Restaurant
by Madelyn Miller
It was an injured arm that got Rodney Butters wielding a knife.
Instead of heading off on a scholarship to the University of Indiana to
play baseball and study, Rodney's professional sports ambitions were cut
short. He was forced to reflect on what appealed to him most in his
life, to what he was drawn from a very young age. And that was cooking.
Even at seven years old his favorite thing to do was to get up before anyone
else and make a pancake breakfast for his family.
Rodney Butters came to The Wickaninnish Inn from the Pacific Palisades
in Vancouver, where he created an identifiable style at the Monterey Lounge
& Grill for Vancouver foodies. His food is fresh, healthy and
imaginative . . . truly West Coast.
Prior to this, Butters shared the kitchen with such admired chefs as
Kerry Sear at Four Seasons Hotels and Bernard Casavant of Château
Whistler, whose similar philosophies of using local farm-fresh products
and their own home-grown herbs and vegetables influenced him greatly.
Now on the west coast of Vancouver Island, "Coming to Tofino and the
Wickaninnish Inn", says Butters, "gives me the perfect environment to create
Canadian cuisine." In the words of food and arts critic Jurgen Gothe,
Butters "is the consummate Canadian-born, Canadian-trained, Canadian chef,
the kind that will eventually- and not all that far down the road - create
what we'll come to call Canadian cuisine."
Reveling in all that is produced in this corner of the world to bring
to the table, Butters' shopping excursions include visits to the local
goat-cheese maker, oyster farms, the crab docks and the Coombs farmers'
market. As quoted in Vancouver Magazine on the occasion of the 1997
Restaurant Awards, "Šin a scant seven months Rod Butters elevated The Pointe
at Wickaninnish Inn to prominence,-not just in Tofino but throughout the
Pacific Northwest."
Butler's food is showcased in a glass-enclosed, gazebo-style room
on top of a rocky promontory, the 100-seat The Pointe Restaurant and On-the-Rocks
Bar look out to 240 degrees of oncoming waves of the open Pacific ocean
leaving the dramatic impression that the waves may enter the room!
Butters has elevated the West Coast dining experience bringing guests his
applauded version West Coast Canadian cuisine, showcasing coastal foods,
the farm-fresh ingredients of Vancouver Island, and the wines of the Pacific
Northwest.
After less than a year in operation, The Pointe took a silver award
for Best Out-of-Town Restaurant in the 1997 Vancouver Magazine Critics'
Poll.
LAYERED YAMS by CHEF RODNEY BUTTERS
Makes four portions
Chef Butters' love for root vegetables shows up throughout The Pointe's
menu and this easy recipe is delicious, maybe even better the day after.
Enjoy as a side dish for fresh salmon, grilled and barbecued meats or with
other vegetables as an excellent vegetarian entrée. Variations can
include layers of different colored potatoes (purple, white) and beets
for a
pretty and tasty dish.
4 whole yams - large size
1 whole yellow onion
3 tbsp lovage (fresh) or tarragon - chopped
250ml whipping cream
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1.) Peel and slice yams and onion to 1/3 inch thick
2.) Spray baking pan with non-stick spray
3.) Layer potatoes with onions and lovage and salt and pepper.
Spoon whipping cream over each layer alternately. Do this sparingly
so as to save a good amount for the top layer as it aids in browning
and nicely melts down to the remaining layers.
4.) Cover pan with tin foil and bake at 300 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes
or until tender all the way through.
Remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking to slightly brown top of potatoes.
You may wish to turn the broiler on for a few minutes and the addition
of a few pats of butter to make it more golden is optional.
Rodney J. Butters,
Chef de cuisine
The Pointe Restaurant
THE WICKANINNISH INN
-Updated 2-18-98-
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