Sobo (Sophisticated Bohemian) started out in 2003 as a purple food truck
in the parking lot behind a surf shop, way before food trucks were cool.
Despite its remoteness, it attracted rave reviews from food media across
North America, with the likes of Saveur magazine calling it: "perhaps
the most exciting lunch stand in North America". The back of the staff's
t-shirts read: "Quite possibly the second best thing you can do in a
parking lot"--and that same fun, authentic West Coast vibe weaves
throughout the stories and recipes in this book.
Sobo has since become a destination restaurant, having outgrown its food
truck beginnings, with visitors making the pilgrimage to the west coast
of Vancouver Island just to taste chef Lisa Ahier's cooking--which is,
to use Tofino slang, simply "killer". The restaurant's menu focuses on
locally-sourced, seasonally-inspired ingredients from family-owned
producers. The dishes are shaped by Lisa's Tex Mex and Southwestern
culinary roots, and her experience gained across several US states,
including her stint as executive chef of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Texas.
The Sobo Cookbook includes over 100 of the restaurant's all-time
favourite recipes--recipes that have fed surfers, hungry locals, curious
visitors and die-hard foodies alike.