At an age when most kids are preoccupied with video games or soccer practice, Robert Cassels was learning to cook. The Victoria, British Columbia, native chef cut his teeth in the kitchen at his godparents’ French restaurant at 12-years-old, and has been cooking ever since.
Now the owner of Saveur in Victoria’s Chinatown district, Cassels shows off his seasonally inspired, artfully plated dishes. Dim lighting casts a cozy glow on the narrow space with its exposed bricks, quartz countertops and crystal chandeliers, and diners revel in Cassels’ creative, five-course dinners, whose creativity is complemented by inventive cocktails and a well-curated wine list.
After staging in Paris and then working under revered – and feared – chef Charlie Trotter in Chicago, Cassels returned home to launch Saveur.
“I wanted a restaurant that was a reflection of my journey as a chef,” Cassels says. “When I first saw this old brick-walled empty space I envisioned its potential and got to work, physically building most of the space myself.”
At the time, Cassels noticed no other restaurants in town were offering tasting menus, so he set about becoming the first to do so. Diners can choose from an ever-changing a la carte menu, or take a more adventurous tack and opt to be surprised with whatever Cassels whips up for the five-course tasting menu. Every night, he builds two menus: one for meat eaters and one for vegetarians.
And unlike many other restaurants where vegetarian options are afterthoughts, Cassels’ meat-free dishes are just as thoughtful – and just as outlandish. Many ingredients come from the rich farmlands not far from town.
“I’ve always been passionate about cooking vegetables,” Cassels says. “Veggies are always overlooked I find, I try to cook them with as much effort and respect as protein. Working with local farms makes it easy to become inspired when I create a dish.”
Cassels’ ingredients take unusual forms, reflecting his modernist leanings. Recent dishes have included pasta made from wild-harvested bull kelp, parsnip puree incorporated into dessert’s profiteroles and plenty of powders, purees and playful elements. But there’s always substance behind each element so carefully tweezed or squeezed onto the plate, likely stemming from Cassels’ ardent commitment to local sourcing.
“I wanted people to know that when they came to Saveur they would be taken on a culinary journey and would experience the highest level of food and service we could offer,” he says.
