– by Lara Gladych –
This is the second in a six-part series of profiles featuring some of the Saanich Peninsula’s wonderful restaurants and pubs.
I was pleased to have my second visit with Ron Vincent, owner (along with his wife, Maureen) and Chef at Seaglass Waterfront Grill. It was not only an opportunity to sample three fantastic new items from their lunch menu, but also a chance to have a very funny, and very candid conversation with the guy behind the food.
I ask Ron what means the most to him in terms of feedback from customers. “Bad reviews are the most important, because if I don’t know about it, I can’t fix it. What I love the most is when someone sticks their head into the kitchen to say thanks.”
Ron orders for me so that I may try a selection of items from their new lunch menu. The breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are all new, so it’s a great time to come in to Seaglass, if it’s been a while since your last visit.
Ron is “not a super foodie chef.” “I cook what I like, what I think people will enjoy. I like to cook honest, straight-ahead food that punches you in the face.” He believes in using few ingredients to create something simple that is loaded with flavour – flavour that gets your attention. His dishes are not elaborate or complicated, but they do look pretty, he admits.
Though I don’t find Ron to be egotistical in the least, he tells me that his ego is big, but probably not big enough. The last thing he ever wants to be is a chef who is so full of himself that he no longer connects with the people he’s cooking for.
I ask him how food evolves in the kitchen, while staying the same for consistency’s sake. “Consistency is the hallmark. It has to be the same in the third year as it was in the first.” Ron keeps things fresh and interesting for both himself and his customers by changing the menu twice a year, and by creating new features daily, along with two new soups every day (which are always gluten free, incidentally).
The first of three dishes arrives: a Baby Shrimp and Goat Cheese Frittata. It’s served with wholegrain toast, and to-die-for hash browns. We have an entire conversation about the importance of hash browns, and how they should always be memorable. The frittata is light as air, and boasts sweet peppers, red onion, baby spinach, both goat cheese and asiago, and hand-pulled Oregon cold water shrimp. It’s flavourful and colourful, and not dense or at all heavy. I don’t tell Ron, but I’m not typically a fan of frittata. He has won me over.
We continue our conversation while I eat. I ask Ron what he enjoys about the Holiday season. It’s not a high point in terms of working with fresh, seasonal ingredients, but he likes the rush and the busyness, and he likes when people come in feeling festive. If they don’t arrive happy, then hopefully they at least leave that way!
Next up for me is the Italian Sausage Flatbread. I can taste everything in the first bite: the buttery, crisp crust; plump heirloom tomatoes, sweet carmelized onions, fresh basil, homemade marinara, aged cheddar and asiago (which together work really well with the sweet onions); and locally sourced Italian sausage. Like Ron says: it’s not elaborate and the ingredients are simple, but it’s so perfectly delicious!
The last course in my feast arrives promptly: a Crispy Chicken Marinara Sandwich. This is one of those dishes that I always love. It’s a breaded and fried crispy chicken breast, topped with Ron’s marinara, balsamic and olive oil marinated pepper salad, and melted asiago, all atop a chewy Portofino ciabatta.
If your mouth is watering, by all means, head directly to Seaglass Waterfront Grill.
