The food at any resort can make or break the stay. Thanks to travel blogs and online review sites, guest opinions spread wider, and carry more weight than ever before. The tipping point for many reviews is the dining experience. Food, good or bad, is often a guest’s measuring stick for the value of their stay; a menu makes the difference between an Inn or Resort surviving the season or shutting down-permanently.
Chef Victor Barry and Event Planner Rebecca Wise, are set to INNvade with a master plan. In each episode, the pair is called-in by one desperate resort owner, in need of a menu revamp and dining room rejuvenation. Together they devise a course of action guaranteed to attract new patrons and keep current guests coming back for more.
Victor is a real force in the kitchen, but you wouldn’t think that from looking at his Teddy Bear appearance. He has a reputation for running the toughest and most traditional French kitchen hierarchy in Toronto. At the ripe old age of thirty, Victor has worked his way to the top, and now owns the famous Toronto favourite, Splendido. He’ll bring his intensity and expertise to these rustic resort kitchens.
He’s a control freak who obsesses over both process and product. He won’t stand for subpar cuisine and believes in taking everything to the next level. There is always room for improvement. Always. Up north, he’ll remain true to his prerogatives and uncover nearby quality food sources, and the hidden gems of cottage country, to design new, specialty menu items. He’ll exchange tips and tricks with local foodies and farmers. After shaping the new dishes he’ll show the culinary staff how to execute his creations, and oversee their preparation for a dining event set to take each resort to the next level.
Rebecca, event planner extraordinaire, will inject some new life into these dining rooms and the people working in them. She’ll set the mood with an atmosphere to match Victor’s stellar cuisine. With her eye on everything, from service to silverware, she’ll make sure the entire experience lives up to Victor’s menu. Rebecca has a sweet, yet stern, approach and wants things to go her way. If she can dream it, it has to happen. Used to attracting bees with honey, she’ll barter and bargain and up-cycle trash into treasure, to create the ultimate dining ambience. With each INNvasion, Victor and Rebecca will breathe new life into a tired menu and space, to create the ultimate cottage dining experience!

REBECCA WISE

EVENT PLANNER

Rebecca Wise is a Toronto event planner with a flair for functions both abroad and close to home. As the creative director of Event Wise, Rebecca has been planning gorgeous parties for over 10 years – from weddings and corporate functions to fashion shows and charity events. In addition to being featured as the event expert on CTV’s “The Social,” her designs have been featured in high-profile publications such as Grace Ormonde online and Elegant Weddings Magazine and are coming to resort dining rooms this fall on Cottage Life’s “Dining INNvasion.” Rebecca’s personal approach to client relationships, her keen eye for design, and her industry knowledge, synthesize into the perfect event time after time

VICTOR BARRY

CHEF

Victor Barry’s culinary endeavor was inspired at the early age of 13, working alongside his uncle at a small pizzeria in his hometown, Niagara-on-the-Lake. Progressing from the simple means of a weekend job, Victor next pursued a high school co-op placement at the Prince of Wales Hotel where he worked under the tutelage of Executive Chef, Lee Parsons. Victor refined his basic skills in the kitchen with Lee Parsons and thus, a new chef was born.

With experience comes opportunity, and so Victor migrated overseas to spend 2 years as Chef de Partie at the 2 Michelin Star rated Gidleigh Park Hotel in Devonshire, England. Making 6 different breads starting at 6am each day with Executive Chef Michael Caines taught Victor the values of discipline, accuracy and precision.