For Chef Clayton, the journey to the kitchen began as it does for many: at home with loved ones.

Growing up, while his mother worked evening shifts a few nights a week, he and his father would spend those nights cooking dinner together, hanging out, and sharing meals.

Looking back, those quiet moments are what stand out most. They sparked a lifelong fascination with the kitchen, showing him early on how creating meals together builds a wonderful sense of community and belonging.

While Chef initially thought he wanted to be a lawyer, he quickly realized sitting still and reading textbooks all day was not the path for him. Instead, the active, boundless creativity of the kitchen captured his attention. A graduate of Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver, he brings over a decade of professional experience that spans establishments across Canada, including Osteria Savio Volpe, Lake O’Hara Lodge, Villa Eyrie and Canoe.

After honing his craft, he found his culinary home on our far west coast, where he has spent the last six years translating that dynamic energy onto the plate. He fell in love with the fact that ingredients are always changing, ideas can constantly evolve, and a plate offers a blank canvas for storytelling.

Living and working directly on the shoreline has completely shaped Chef Clayton’s philosophy. He views the kitchen not as a static workspace, but as a place of constant learning and evolution, dictated entirely by nature’s shifting rhythm. Guided by our rapid micro-seasons, Chef collaborates closely with a dedicated network of Vancouver Island farmers and independent foragers. It’s a hyper-local approach that requires the team to be incredibly nimble; when a wild ingredient has a harvesting window of only a few weeks, the menu must pivot quickly to respect and showcase it.

You can taste this raw connection to the landscape in every dish at The Pointe Restaurant.

On any given afternoon, you might find the kitchen team stepping directly onto the sand right outside our doors to hand-pick wild beach peas, coastal flowers, and sea tendrils. Because these ingredients grow wild in the salt air and ocean mist, they carry a unique, natural salinity that you simply can't find anywhere else.

Of course, bringing this vision to life is a true collective effort.

Under Chef Clayton's direction, our dedicated culinary team works tirelessly behind the scenes to execute these fast-moving menus, a program we simply could not run without their shared passion and hard work.

For our Chef, Canadian cuisine isn't a rigid concept; it is a celebration of diverse cultures, a deep commitment to zero-waste sustainability, and above all, a way to help our guests celebrate life's meaningful milestones surrounded by the beauty of the coast.

So the next time you dine with us, look closely at your plate - those fresh beach greens were likely soaking up the ocean air just a few hours before you were.