How we got here.
Shani and Penny met in London, lived in Beijing for a decade, and together decided to move their family to Vancouver Island. What started as two people in a small kitchen has grown into a family operation with over 6+ employees now helping.
The founders
Shani & Penny
Three kids, three continents, and a kitchen on Vancouver Island. What started as Shani and Penny has grown into a family operation with their kids and a small crew.
London. Beijing.
Vancouver Island.
Shani trained as a young chef in London, then moved to Beijing where he ran his own restaurant for nearly a decade. Penny worked at the British Embassy. Together they built a life across three continents — and raised their kids along the way.
When they decided it was time for a change, they chose Vancouver Island. The rivers, the mountains, the coastline — they fell in love with it and never left.
The food problem
he couldn't let go.
Every camping trip and hiking weekend ended the same way. Open a freeze-dried pack from one of the big brands, add water, and try not to be disappointed. Salty, mushy, full of stuff you'd never put in a real meal.
Shani knew exactly what hot food was supposed to taste like. So he started experimenting in the kitchen at home. Real recipes, scaled down, freeze-dried and tested on his own family until they were good enough to send out the door.
Real food shouldn't fall apart the second you leave the kitchen.
Shani, head chef
Still made by hand.
Every meal you order from us still gets cooked from scratch in our small commercial kitchen in the Cowichan Valley. No factory line, no third party. Shani still writes the recipes, and now all three kids are involved — along with a small crew that's grown around the family.
That's why our menu is short. We're not trying to stock the whole grocery store. We're trying to make a few meals so good you'll order them again.
See what he's cooking.
Real meals from the Cowichan Valley, shipped right across Canada. Built to put up with whatever you put them through.