Markus Wieland
"Cooking is about combining creativity with skill and discipline. I consider myself more a Craftsman than an artist". - Chef Markus Wieland
Markus was born in 1965, in Mexico City to German parents. His mother being the avid in-home culinary genius that she was, introduced Markus to beautiful food in her Mexican/German fusion dishes. Dining out was their families past time and as a child Markus dined in many fine restaurants all over Mexico and Europe. In these food-formative years, he decided that he never wanted to have to eat bad food and decided he would have to become a chef to make sure good food was a plenty.
At 22 years of age he started an apprenticeship, that lasted 4 years, in Konstanz Germany, at “Seehotel Siber”. After his apprenticeship he cooked in Switzerland, at “Petermann’s Kunstuben”, Italy at “Sole di Ranco” and Southern France, at the “Hotel Metropole”. When Markus immigrated to Canada in, 1992, he opened his own restaurant, the "Alabaster" in Yaletown in Vancouver. In 1996 he decided to start a private chef catering business that led him to be a private Chef in Cuernavaca, Mexico for 3 years for a private family. Upon returning back to Canada he decided to open another restaurant but in a smaller community where he could have a garden and a more simple lifestyle. Markus chose to renovate a small seaside fisherman's cottage overlooking the Sooke harbour and 7 years later is still loving his little restaurant in Sooke!
Markus says he is so happy to have the restaurant here in Sooke for many reasons. The first is that Sooke offers a clientele that are loyal and hold the same food ideals. He enjoys the challenge of feeding our large, repeat customer base that say the food is better each time they dine with us... and we have been feeding them for 7+ years!
The second equally important reason is the access to fresh ingredients from the sea and the ground. Not only are there many local organic farmers, mushroom foragers and fisherman but also the opportunity to have a garden to grow produce on site for our diners- a luxury not possible to many restaurateurs in large city centers. To read more about Markus' garden please click on "Our on-site garden".
Tatum Claypool - co-owner and Sommelier
“I love my work because every night I get to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, engagements and date nights with happy people. I get to share their lives for two hours in the intimate experience which is eating. It is pretty special!” - Tatum.
Tatum was born and raised in small town Saskatchewan. On a horse’s back as soon as she could hold her head up as a baby, Tatum was more concerned about what the horses were eating and drinking than what she was. After high school Tatum moved out to Lumby, B.C to train with Olympic show jumping rider Robin Hahn. In a horse stable in Lumby (of all unlikely places) she met Markus, thus commencing her culinary journey.
With learning about food, came learning about wine. After opening the restaurant with Markus, Tatum decided to study to become a Sommelier so that there would always be a wine guide in the dining room for their guests. Horses are still in the picture and continue to be a large part of her life.
