Chefs For the Pier – Sept 12

Matthew fell in love with cooking during a chef training program at his local high school. His professional career began at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.  He was only 16 years old and the youngest employee the hotel had ever hired in their rich history. He then continued this passion by attending New York’s prestigious Culinary Institute of America in 2001. After graduating with honors, Matthew further honed his craft at famed NYC French restaurant, Lutèce. When he decided to move back to British Columbia he became the Executive Chef of Sonora Resort, where he played an integral role in achieving the coveted Relais & Châteaux designation – awarded to the world’s most prestigious hotels and restaurants. It was there that Matthew also wrote an award winning cookbook, The Tastes of Sonora Resort, which highlighted his signature dishes from his time at the coastal resort.

In 2010, he joined Cactus Club Cafe as product development chef, focusing on menu design for the casual fine dining chain.  During this time, Matthew competed on the Food Network’s Top Chef Canada, defeating 15 competitors from across the country to win the coveted title.  Not only did Chef Stowe win the title he also holds the record for most episode wins by any competitor in the shows history.

Matthew recently joined the JOEY Restaurant Group as its Executive Director of Culinary. He will be focused on continuing to refine the menu and guest experience across the organization’s 3 brands (JOEY, LOCAL and Saltlik.) He will also help lead the organization with their aggressive growth plan across North America.

With an impressive list of guest chef appearances, National brand ambassador partnerships and his appearances as a guest judge on Top Chef Canada Matthew is one of Canada’s most recognized chefs.

He lives in Cloverdale, British Columbia with his wife, and two sons.

Christophe is a Swiss trained Pastry Chef/Chocolatier. His resumé is studded with almost two decades of hard work, studying under some of Europe’s grand masters in the fine art of pastry and chocolate, both in his native Switzerland, Australia and in France. Christophe’s creations have travelled the world and was bestowed with Gold at the 2014 International Chocolate Awards World Final (London UK) in the White Chocolate Ganache and Truffle category. The success continued as Christophe participated at the 2015 World Chocolate Masters Canadian Final and won four awards. Bonzon was then nominated amongst the top five finalists at the 2015 BC Small Business Awards in the category of New Immigrant Entrepreneur. He received two finalist nominations at the Burnaby Business Excellence Awards in the category of “Business Person of the Year” and “Entrepreneurial Spirit”.

After arriving in Canada with his wife Jess, Christophe was the Executive Pastry Chef at the award-winning CinCin Restorante in Vancouver, Canada. In March of 2013 the couple opened their doors to Chez Christophe in Burnaby, BC. Bringing a bit of Swiss flair to Canada, their collection of fine handmade chocolates ranges from artistic chocolate sculptures, creative truffle flavours to signature chocolate bars, and seasonal favourites. Customers can also find an array of macarons, viennoiserie, desserts, and cakes at Chez Christophe. Due to overwhelming support, the pair moved to a larger location in 2016 with more seating, an outdoor patio, and an expanded menu with sandwiches.

2019 brings excitement as construction of a second location for Chez Chrisophe well underway at 1558 Johnston Road in White Rock. The new café will be in a newly constructed residential tower occupying a ground level commercial space of approximately 1500 square feet, featuring 30 interior seats with additional production and retail space. “This district located on Johnston Road is a popular destination because of the shopping and local businesses for residents,” says Christophe Bonzon, co-owner, head pastry chef and chocolatier of Chez Christophe.

“We are excited about the opportunity to become part of the rapidly expanding community of White Rock and South Surrey and want to bring a small taste of Switzerland through our passion for chocolate and pastry with our unique artisanal product,” explains Christophe. “Over the past two decades people are moving further away from the city centre, yet want to obtain easily accessible premium products which they previously enjoyed in downtown Vancouver and the surrounding area” says Christophe.

The interior is designed to reflect Chez Christophe’s new branding echoing the Art Deco era. This is in keeping with their new branding strategy of the past two years. This space creates a fun relaxed cosy ambiance for local residents to come out and enjoy the full product range. “The new space will be configured with an observation window enabling customers to see the Chocolatier Pastry Chef working to create the product on-site,” continues Christophe. “This will create an intimate atmosphere in our shop, whilst indulging the customers senses (see, smell and taste). With the coffee bar we hope to have customers make the pastry shop their one-stop destination for breakfast or afternoon tea.” For information about the full collection please visit, www.chez-christophe.ca.