Team

Bobby Milheron
Executive Chef

Bobby Milheron first discovered his passion for the culinary arts on the East Coast, where he graduated from The Culinary Institute of Canada, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island — which would lead to joining established kitchen brigades at restaurants in New England and Nova Scotia. Bobby then headed west and joined the team under Executive Chef Quang Dang at Vancouver’s Diva at the Met in 2008.

After stops on the line at Nu Restaurant and La Brasserie, he was reunited with Chef Dang as Sous Chef at West Restaurant in 2012, where he spent two more years honing his craft before joining the opening team at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar as Senior Sous Chef. During this time, Bobby went on to assist Executive Chef Alex Chen’s climb to the top of the podium at the 10th annual Gold Medal Plates regional culinary competition in Victoria in 2015.

A highly driven and creative talent, Bobby is an ardent supporter of local and peak-of-season ingredients and cultivates lasting relationships with farmers, ranchers, foragers and fishermen in his own backyard. He loves to provide his guests with fare that is both informed and defined by the bounty of fresh ingredients available to chefs working in the Pacific Northwest.

Owen Knowlton
Restaurant Director + Wine Director

Owen Knowlton moved from his native Ontario to Lake Louise, Alberta to follow his love of skiing; after joining the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise he quickly became enamored with the hospitality industry and his enthusiasm for wine began to grow.

Since then his career path has traveled through Australia’s prestigious bars, restaurants and wine regions before heading back to Canada to Banff’s renowned Rimrock Resort Hotel, where as Maitre’d & Sommelier, he was responsible for developing the highly acclaimed wine collection. Moving on to Vancouver, Knowlton was led by a desire to explore Canada’s hottest dining city and joined the long established Le Crocodile, as Maitre’d of the French fine-dining restaurant.

At West he now enjoys being part of the team who run one of Vancouver’s most progressive and celebrated restaurants. As Wine Director, Knowlton nurtures and grows the acclaimed selection adding carefully to the five hundred label list, always conscious to pass on value, quality and diversity when selecting new wines. His ambitions are to develop the wine list and educate the service team to assist guests in discovering new food and wine combinations that will ultimately heighten the dining experience at West.

Sommelier of the Year, Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, 2011

Giovanni Giardino
Restaurant Manager

Giovanni Giardino started in the hospitality industry in his hometown of Winnipeg before going west to Vancouver in 1992, he landed at South Granville’s Carnegie’s Bar and Grill where he tended bar until the turn of the century. Giovanni then set his sights on one of the most critically acclaimed and highly awarded restaurants in Vancouver, West, where he tended the cherry wood bar for five years. In 2005 he enriched his development as the Barman at Le Crocodile with the inimitable Michel Jacob.

In 2008, Giovanni was invited to join the opening team at Campagnolo Restaurant as Bar Manager. Giovanni’s extensive knowledge and gracious approach to customer service earned him the coveted Vancouver Magazine ‘Premier Crew’ service award in 2011. Giovanni’s expertise was further recognized when he accepted the position of General Manager at Campagnolo Restaurant in 2012.

Giovanni took over as GM at Campagnolo Roma in the fall of 2013, and celebrated winning best Casual Italian restaurant at the Vancouver Magazine awards in 2014. That same year, Giovanni seamlessly rejoined Owen Knowlton’s team as Restaurant Manager, where he continues to enrich guests’ dining experiences nightly, utilizing one of the finest brigades in Vancouver’s stellar dining community.

Stacey Ackerman
Bar Manager

Stacey Ackerman grew up on a Saskatchewan farm and attributes his love of all things fresh and seasonal to his upbringing. Today, he relies on herbs and fruits for tincturing his compelling cocktails at West.

Although he started his career in the hospitality industry as a cook, Stacey draws from 25 years of bartending experience gained at a wide range of restaurants. For a decade, he was head bartender at Kitsilano’s legendary Urban Well. Since 2007, he bartended at the Bacchus Bar at the Wedgewood Hotel.

Now Stacey enjoys running one of the finest bars in Vancouver and developing a distinctive cocktail program of his own, finding inspiration from the diversity of cultures, styles, and flavours abundant in the city.

Stacey’s goal at West is to create an air of excitement at the bar, which many consider to be the most beautiful in the city. “I love the diversity of people that I meet in Vancouver, many of whom have become my friends and guests. I love chatting with them across the bar. This is my life’s passion.”