IT BEGAN WITH FEEDING PEOPLE
Before opening Mon Pitou, I spent nearly a decade as a flight attendant serving Diet Coke and pretzels in economy. What I didn’t realize was that, between the back-to-back flights, early alarms and meals eaten standing up, I was getting a hands-on education in hospitality. On my layovers, I paid attention to how hotels welcomed their guests, what made a restaurant worth returning to and the little details that made somewhere feel like home.
I also watched a considerable amount of Ina Garten.
While I was still flying, my partner, Triet, and I began selling at our local farmers markets. I’d spend my layovers watching Ina, gathering ideas and thinking about what I wanted to cook next. Back home, I’d get into the kitchen, testing, tweaking and refining the recipes we brought to market. Week after week, we learned what people loved, what they came back for and what we could make even better.
In 2021, we opened Mon Pitou, our French café and specialty food store in Vancouver’s Kitsilano. I took on the branding, interior design and creative direction, shaping everything from how the business looked to how it felt to walk through the door. All those years of noticing the details suddenly became very useful.
As Mon Pitou grew, I developed and launched our private events, private dinners, catering and wholesale offerings. I was creating menus, preparing the space for celebrations and thinking about how to give people the same care and experience beyond our café.
What began with recipes at a farmers market had become a business where I could bring food, interiors, hospitality and branding together every day.
WHAT’S THE OCCASION?
Naturally, I started hosting more and more people over at home, too.
What’s the Occasion? is my monthly dinner party series, built around the belief that having people you love around the table is reason enough to celebrate.
The name came from Triet, who would ask, “What’s the occasion?” whenever my best friend Taylor and I opened a bottle of wine on an ordinary evening.
We didn’t think we needed one.
Each dinner gives me a chance to bring a whole idea to life: the menu, flowers, table, music and all the preparations that let everyone relax once they arrive. I share the recipes and details along the way so you can borrow them for your own gatherings.
There have been 22 guests, 150 oysters and bedsheets used as tablecloths. I’m very happy to tell you where to spend and when the linen cupboard might have the answer.
LET’S MAKE AN OCCASION OF IT
Perhaps you’re planning a dinner at home and would like to enjoy it as much as your guests. Or you have a garden, a rather long guest list and no idea where to begin. I’d be delighted to help.
I work with private clients and brands to bring an occasion together, from the first idea through the menu, flowers, table settings, cocktails, music and the team looking after everyone. You can bring me in to plan the whole evening or create a plan for you to host yourself.
For The Vanity Lab, that meant designing and planning a summer soirée for more than 100 guests in a West Vancouver garden. They’d seen my dinner party series, What’s the Occasion?, and wanted that same feeling for their own guests. I brought together local partners for canapés, an oyster bar, cocktails and live music, with every detail considered as part of the evening.
The lovely thing about having someone think through all of this? When your guests arrive, you can be the one welcoming them, drink in hand.
