BY SUZANNE CHIN-LOY
Executive chef Clayton Fontaine’s culinary creations are as breathtaking as the views from The Pointe Restaurant in the renowned Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, B.C. His passion for local ingredients and innovative techniques have elevated the restaurant to new gastronomic heights, drawing from the diverse flavours and cultures around him.
Fontaine has fond childhood memories of spending time in the kitchen, cooking dinners with his father and sharing meals with his family in Abbotsford, B.C. “There was a point in my childhood when my mom worked nights. After school, my dad would be home, and we’d cook together,” he says. “Looking back, I remember always sharing food with my family. It’s something that makes sense.”
At 16, Fontaine began his culinary career at a Greek restaurant. He then worked at Earl’s before attending the Northwest Culinary Academy, a professional culinary and pastry school in Vancouver. There, he learned the value of time management. Fontaine recalls, “Those time constraints and goals were super valuable and taught me more about how to work in a kitchen.”
He would later apply these skills during his time at Savio Volpe. “I worked there for about a year. [The experience] taught me how to operate in a busy restaurant, think on your feet, and be very adaptable and fluid day to day, and that set me up for success.”
His career path led him to work at various restaurants, ranging from the remote Lake O’Hara Lodge in Lake Louise, Alta., to Canoe Restaurant and Bar in Toronto before accepting a position at the Wickaninnish Inn. “I was at the Wick for about three years as a sous chef and left for five to six months to help out a friend before returning [as executive chef] in April 2023.”
Since taking the reins as executive chef, Fontaine has meticulously sourced ingredients from local farmers, fishers, and foragers, ensuring that every dish showcases the freshest seasonal produce and supports sustainable practices. He emphasizes that “the environment and food go hand in hand” and that, combined with Canada’s rich tapestry of cultural influences, including French, Italian, and Asian, now form the cornerstone of his cooking philosophy.
One of Fontaine’s strengths is blending traditional techniques with a modern flair by “using familiar or unfamiliar ingredients to highlight different flavour profiles and present them in both new and traditional ways. By fermenting woodruff and harvesting spruce tips that grow all over the property, [you] can base a curry around those two ingredients, [using] them to mimic and then make it make sense. It’s like presenting a little corner of the world [with] the personality of the team.”
The Pointe features two menus. The first is a three-course Table d’Hôte with a choice of appetizer, main and dessert that changes every six weeks ($115 per person). The second option is a five-course tasting menu that changes every two weeks ($275 per person), which includes wine pairings.
Although Fontaine has elevated the restaurant to new culinary heights, he “is most proud of creating a more collaborative environment where people can feel free to learn, take risks, share ideas, and give feedback. He says, “This past year has focused on important things — creating longevity in an industry [where] people want to work in rather than fleeing. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
