Sometimes, working in an excellent award-winning restaurant isn’t enough for a young chef. Cooking great food and watching people enjoy it is rewarding when you’re in the hospitality biz (it’s kind of the whole point of running a restaurant — there are certainly easier ways to make money) but executing another owner/operator’s vision doesn’t always satisfy the soul. This is why chefs Sandro Chinea and Jaden Kanomata and restaurant wiz Kayla Blomquist left their jobs at the popular D.
O.P. to try their hand at ownership with a new restaurant called Bar Gigi.
Stepping into proprietorship can be daunting, so Bar Gigi’s partners have wisely chosen to keep things fairly intimate for their first venture. The 22-seat restaurant sits in the former Halibut Hut/Halibut House on Edmonton Trail, and while the interior has been overhauled, the independent spirit and sign (which is now overlaid with a little neon “Bar Gigi” script) remain intact. The new crew has transformed the fish and chips joint into a beautiful blue jewel box of a restaurant, ripping out the service counter, installing a stylish tiled floor, and revamping the kitchen (which, compared to the nook at D.
O.P. must feel palatial to the chefs).
Make no mistake, Bar Gigi is a hip restaurant, but there’s no intimidation factor at play — it is elegant and pushes the envelope, but it also feels homey and personal. “We envisioned it being a neighbourhood restaurant and being a spot in the neighbourhood whe.
