Team
| Executive Chef: | Todd Howard |
| Pastry Chef: | Christophe Bonzon |
| Restaurant Director: | Ricardo Ferreira |
| Restaurant Manager: | Richard Luxton |
| Bar Manager: | Colin Turner |
Todd Howard
Executive Chef
Todd Howard’s leadership in the CinCin kitchens, first as chef de cuisine and now as executive chef, speak to his prodigious culinary talents as well as his strong team-building skills.
Todd’s resumé saw him earn top marks at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (SAIT) Culinary School before landing at two leading Calgary restaurants. But it was a two-year posting in London that saw him grow into his potential. In 2004, Todd joined the restaurant Angela Hartnett at The Connaught Hotel, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, while also performing stages at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck and London’s iconic Le Gavroche. In 2006, Todd returned to Canada to join CinCin’s sister restaurant West, and then as head chef he opened Watermark Restaurant in the British Virgin Islands.
CinCin recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary, and Todd’s new menus, which have updated classics while drawing on the storied legacy of the restaurant’s wood-fired cucina, have drawn both critical and popular praise.
Christophe Bonzon
Pastry Chef
Christophe’s resumé is studded with a full decade of intense apprenticeships and coursework in the fine art of the first and last courses—bread and dessert—both in his native Switzerland and in France. Amongst many other institutions, he has studied under some of Europe’s grand masters at Zurich’s Chocolate Academy, and at l’Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona in France.
Various professional postings followed, including as pastry chef at Confectionery Schneider in Switzerland, and more recently, at Choux Café in Western Australia.
For the meticulous Christophe, his art lies in “the freedom of creativity and my passion for creating artistic sculptures with sugar and chocolate—the opportunities to transform are endless.”
Ricardo Ferreira
Restaurant Director
Ricardo Ferreira brings over 15 years of hospitality experience amassed in leading restaurants throughout Vancouver and the UK to CinCin.
Previously, Ferreira was the Restaurant Manager of CinCin’s celebrated sister restaurant Blue Water Cafe, where he was an integral member of the front-of-house team since 2002. For three-and-a-half years prior, he worked for Vancouver's Relais & Chateau designated Wedgewood Hotel.
Early in life, Ferreira developed a passion for food and wine from the defining kitchen of his childhood home. Part of a traditional Portuguese family, dinner was, and is, always an event, with many people and vibrant conversation. Cooking and enjoying food remains a central vehicle for communication and entertainment.
"The culture of food and wine is incredibly gratifying," says Ferreira. "Few environments are as dynamic and rewarding to be a part of." Ferreira strives to deliver unrivalled experiences afforded by a combination of exceptional cuisine, commitment towards an exemplary wine program and his own insistence on industry-leading service standards.
Richard Luxton
Restaurant Manager
Richard’s engaging personality and passion for people have seen him work in virtually every restaurant position, both as a front-of-house server, bartender and manager, but also as a line cook and expediter.
That diversified background is a useful tool for “understanding and facilitating all of the elements that make for seamless service,” he says. As bar manager at Vancouver’s Lumière, server at CinCin’s sister restaurant West, and restaurant manager at Market by Jean-Georges, “I’ve been part of the choreography for years, and now I can really help direct it.”
Born in Oakville, Ontario but raised in Vancouver, Richard’s culinary enthusiasms follow the seasons: “I love spot prawns in May, summer salmon, and locally-foraged mushrooms a little later. But my favourite is autumn truffles—so CinCin is the ideal venue for me!”
Colin Turner
Bar Manager
Colin Turner brings nearly two decades of hospitality experience to CinCin having managed restaurants and bars throughout Greater Vancouver, Ontario and beyond. Welcoming guests to the bar energizes him and he encourages their active participation – watching drinks being made, asking questions, and sharing details of their lives. Well-versed in liqueurs and mixology, Colin has a passion for creating custom cocktails based on guests’ taste preferences, rewarding the curious with a unique concoction well-suited to their palates.
A leader in Vancouver’s premiere bartending community, Colin is an active director of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association, enrolling in numerous competitions and seminars annually. He insists on the importance of getting informed in order to “have better knowledge for delivering memorable guest experiences”. Words to action, Colin recently returned from the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail where he experienced the science, taste distinction, and history of bourbon.
Colin is proud to work with the talented lineup of chefs, sommeliers and service staff at CinCin. He is inspired by the strong professionalism and commitment of the CinCin team, noting that “people work here because they are fulfilling their passion, creating a collective thirst for learning, growth and the pursuit for excellence.”
