Recently opened: Wolf in the Fog, a Tofino restaurant true to its locale

Laid back and very West Coast

Just five weeks after opening Wolf in the Fog—a laid-back, West Coast-inspired eatery in Tofino—chef Nick Nutting has already changed up the menu. But when the bounty of Vancouver Island is at your fingertips and your mandate is to keep things fun and unpredictable, it’s a no-brainer. “We’ve got lots of good connections with farms on Vancouver Island and the foraging and fishing up here is pretty strong right now,” says Nutting.

READ: Q&A with Wolf in the Fog chef Nick Nutting >>

The former chef of the Wickaninnish Inn’s Pointe restaurant launched this solo venture with business manager Andre McGillivray and front-of-house manager Jorge Barandiaran—also formerly of The Pointe—to flee the often-uptight fine dining world. “The way that I cook hasn’t really changed—just the delivery to the people and the price point is a little more accessible,” Nutting says, adding that the restaurant’s collection of second-hand “granny’s old china” sucks the pretension out of the most refined meals. The open kitchen, communal dining table and fresh, playful menu also fuel the casual ambience that Nutting and his crew are cultivating. “We want people to feel like they’ve been invited over to our house for dinner” (wolfinthefog.com).