Hop to It! Rabbit Rabbit is Opening Soon in Victoria

Rabbit Rabbit is a new wine bar concept from first-timer Sydney Cooper is opening in Downtown Victoria (658 Herald Street) this Fall. In the meantime, follow us “down the rabbit hole” and get to know a bit more about the upcoming addition to our Capital City’s dining scene and its owner-slash-GM.

Cooper’s entry into the world of hospitality is an unconventional and seemingly spontaneous one. She received her sommelier and wine education through Court of Master Sommeliers and the Okanagan-based BC not-for-profit society Vinica Education Society, respectively. In 2023, as part of the Vinica program, she interned at Caffe La Tana (her first ever restaurant gig!), an experience that solidified Cooper’s dream to own a restaurant.

Your entry into the restaurant industry is a bit out of the blue. Can you tell us a bit more about how and why you decided to make the move into the F&B/hospitality “game”?

I went into the Vinica program thinking about opening my own place but not knowing if I even liked working in restaurants, so I asked for a placement in a restaurant. La Tana was the perfect place to learn and has inspired my service standards to a large degree. I learned all the wine things including building and pricing a list, inventory, the practicalities of wine storage (within the confines of working with what you have); serving, somming, tasting on the job, how to open a wine bottle properly, presenting, pouring – all the things! Lisa Cook was the somm there when I started, and she’s been an amazing support, mentor, and friend ever since. When Kristie Linneboe moved into her position, I had the opportunity to spend time on and off the floor with her as well. Shiva Reddy was the mentor I was matched with at Vinica, and has been an incredible mentor and cheerleader. I feel very lucky to have been mentored by three amazing women and incredible sommeliers in their own right – especially in a very much male-dominated industry.

After Vinica, I knew that restaurants were for me, so while I looked for a space to start building my dream, I sought out a job at what I thought was going to be the best restaurant in the city [Marilena Cafe]. I had dined at Toptable restaurants when living in Vancouver, and there was nothing like them in Victoria. I wanted to learn service standards at a high level. I applied as a server (why not?) but they really wanted people with experience. They wanted to hire me but didn’t know what for. I had four interviews – the last with the COO – and they hired me as the Reservations Manager. I trained at Blue Water Café for about three weeks, then opened with the team in June and left in September when my own project was really taking off, and I realized I couldn’t do both.

What about the industry spoke to you so strongly that you decided to open your own place at this point in your life?

Something that was really affirmed for me through my stint at Marilena was how different it felt to deliver hospitality rather than just service, and what a difference that made for guests, as well as for myself, when delivering an experience that was akin to welcoming friends into my home for a dinner party. When people feel like you’re showing up for them, they exude an energy of both relaxation and excitement. They know they’re going to be looked after, and so they’re excited for the experience.

Some nights at Marilena, half the dining room knew each other! People would see friends/family when arriving and wave, get excited, and then be up visiting tables. It was like a family gathering! It was so heartening to see that, even in a fine dining establishment, there was the sort of tangible warmth you feel when you’re in true community. We would have multiple celebrations every evening – from proposals to birthdays to graduation celebrations – and it was just the best feeling knowing that people felt the restaurant was so special that they wanted to share these memorable life moments with us. It also made the team feel special to be part of them and help make them the best they could be.

Please tell me a little about where your vision for Rabbit Rabbit came from.

It’s a melding of a few concepts: Wine’s overall lack of approachability and pretentiousness; hospitality; and community.

I came to wine really late in life – I’d have a glass out with dinner from time to time, but I never knew what I was drinking – someone always ordered it for me because I didn’t know anything about it, and to be honest, I didn’t care to learn! I just wanted something delicious in my glass. My husband, whom I started seeing in 2020, introduced me to the idea of actually paying attention to what was in my glass – slow drinking, if you will. We were dating during the pandemic, but we were dining out a lot, and more often than not, servers would drop a bible-length wine list on the table that I didn’t know how to navigate. I felt dumb asking basic questions, and I didn’t know how to string any of the words together to find something meaningful enough to make a decision! I found it very intimidating and unapproachable.

And then we had dinner at the Acorn with wine pairings, and it was life-changing! The servers were so enthusiastic about the food and the wine – not just describing notes, but passionately telling the stories behind what was in the glass and on the plate. There was no pretension and no expectation to know anything about anything. And that’s what hooked me. That single experience shifted my bar for hospitality, and I began to seek it out. It was so disenchanting to find that in a world full of restaurants, that level of hospitality – where you really feel like a guest – is so rare.

Restaurants should feel like a warm hug. You should always feel like a place is showing up for you – not that you’re showing up for them. And that idea governs every aspect of the concept: creating approachability to wine, a return to true hospitality (and with that, a rejection of just service); and becoming part of the fabric of the community by offering a gathering space for all the reasons, stages, and celebrations of your day/week/life.

Tell us about the name “Rabbit Rabbit”

Glasfurd and Walker floated several concepts for the brand, and I was deeply drawn to the “red pill/blue pill” concept (from The Matrix), which is akin to Alice in Alice in Wonderland choosing to follow the rabbit down to Wonderland. The idea of falling down the rabbit hole and entering a “wonderland” that grows ever more fantastical as you explore really echoes that life-altering Acorn dining experience that I aim to recreate for my guests; being awakened to such an experience; and the way that wine can take you on such a journey – either via a guide, like your server/sommelier, acting as the proverbial rabbit; or through your own exploration of the contents in your glass. The name is repeated because one of the focal points of the wine bar is pairing, and the idea that the wine can bring out the best in the food and vice versa.

What is it about rabbits that felt like the right fit for this project?

When I think about rabbits generally, I think of them as cute and playful creatures. Though the room is elevated and the service professional, the goal is to deliver a fun and approachable experience for guests. Rabbits invite playfulness to the brand, and the foundation on the Wonderland stories brings a sense of whimsy and delight. We won’t be taking anything very seriously (except the guest experience!). For example, champagne will be served with a pop (not proper if you’re consulting technical standards). Guests will definitely see nods to rabbits in the space – a rabbit in motion is part of the brand itself, and will be featured on wine glasses and interior wayfinding. The menu and cheque presenter will feature poems and quotes from the Wonderland stories (Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass), and cocktail names will offer nods to the stories as well. There will definitely be whimsical details that act as reminders that, although you are in a beautiful space, it is also a fun one!

The Space

Cooper got keys to Rabbit Rabbit’s 658 Herald Street address, just blocks from Victoria’s Upper Harbor, a little over a year ago, in July 2023. As of now, the City of Victoria’s newly approved seven-acre waterfront property redevelopment plan for an ‘Arts and Innovation district’ is just blocks away. (Cooper chooses to read this as a promising sign for the neighbourhood.) The plan includes the Victoria Art Gallery’s new home, alongside residential and commercial buildings and towers, and a connecting walkway between the inner harbour and the Capital Iron district. (For more backstory on that, read the Times Colonist story from April 6, 2024 about the redevelopment project here.) Closer to ‘home’, a four-story building of mid-market rentals with ground floor retail space is under construction immediately next door.

Tell us about the building that Rabbit Rabbit calls home: What was the first thing about the space that told you it was the right space? What was the coolest discovery or design detail that you are excited to see come to life?

The neighbourhood and building itself were the first indicators that this might be the perfect place. I love stories (my BA is in English Literature), and the building is in Chinatown – one of the most storied places in Victoria. I also have wonderful childhood memories of Chinatown in Vancouver (where I grew up). My mom would take us there every Sunday to grocery shop. We would have lunch, and my brother, sister and I would meander in and out of all the little herbal shops and gift stores while our mom sought out produce and meat. My great-grandmother is Chinese, so we always celebrated Lunar New Year and were given red envelopes as children. That, and the history of the building (which I hope to be able to help tell to guests as they journey from the main dining room to either the PDR or eventually the patio – if you remember, there are two distinct buildings), felt like the perfect place to overlay more stories, and to be able to draw a line between the historical vibrancy of the building and neighbourhood to the vibrancy I hope both continue to enjoy as Victoria grows.

Besides Cooper, other key team members who will be bring this vision into reality are Executive Chef Jesse Synnuck (formerly of Little Jumbo, which is closing at the end of October) and James Langford-Smith (Pamplemousse Jus, Kissa Tanto, Sobo), who is bringing his considerable experience in hospitality to this new venture by acting as a Front of House Consultant. Glasfurd and Walker are behind the branding, while Studio Roslyn will leaving their mark with the design. Cooper has also been working with architect Karen Hillel (Hillel Architecture) and North Star General Contracting is taking care of the construction of the 2,230sqft space, including kitchen and a future private dining room.

Other imaginings in store for Rabbit Rabbit in the future include an all-season ‘hidden’ back patio that will play up the historical building’s original rear windows, able to accommodate up to a few dozen more seats and also available for private event bookings. (Local history fact sidebar: Rabbit Rabbit’s new home was originally built as temporary housing for newly arrived Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century – the story which Cooper alluded to in her interview response earlier.) The dining room itself clocks in at approximately 760sqft, amounting to enough space for 35 seats on the floor and an additional dozen at the bar.

The Food

With the food menu, Cooper is determined not to have guests to Rabbit Rabbit experience what she found to be a ‘typical wine bar experience’: “Nothing will be challenging to decipher or navigate,” she says. “We’re going with things that are familiar and well-described, and we’ll include recommended pairings.” Mother Nature will ultimately determine what ingredients go into a menu starring small and shareable “elevated but casual” dishes, alongside charcuterie, cheeses and house-made bread. European-influenced light options and customizable sweet and savoury brunch “boards” will be available during for the breakfast-meets-lunch hour, as well as a dedicated drinks menu (nothing wild; think mimosas and bubbles). Another box that Rabbit Rabbit will be checking off is Happy Hour, falling from 4-5pm and consisting of “bite-sized” menu items, tasting flights, bar snacks and charcuterie/cheeses. In a bid to squeeze out all possible dining hours, there will also be a late-night menu attuned to after hours appetites for comfort foods such as sliders and tater tots. Chef Synnuck has also been given the opportunity to delve into and display his knack for pastry via a playful dessert menu. (Cooper is a self-described “big dessert person”.)

The Drinks

Considering how heavily Cooper’s personal “wine story” factors into Rabbit Rabbit’s own concept and inspiration, it’s not at all surprising the sizeable amount of thought and conscientiousness that is being put into making the restaurant’s wine program both respectable and non-intimidating. The program is first and foremost about highlighting interesting, terroir-inspired wines made by small producers, that are priced affordably (but don’t taste ‘cheap’). Splashier options, including champagne, will be available for those who want to take the “baller” route, though. Bottom line: Cooper wants a wine program that won’t alienate or ‘talk down’ to the unseasoned wine drinker, but will also speak to their more adventurous and knowledgable guests. On paper, this looks like a BTG “daily pour sheet” menu, with available bottles rotating several times per week. Like the food menu, the full wine line-up will flux with the seasons. Keeping in line with the spirit of inclusivity, there will also be 4-5 Alice in Wonderland inspired cocktails on offer, a few bottled beers, cider, and some non-alcoholic options, to round things out.

Ideally, if deliveries arrive on time, Rabbit Rabbit should be (softly) open on Wednesday, October 2nd, preceded by a Friends & Family weekend on the last weekend of September. Hop on over to the wine bar’s Instagram feed (@rabbitrabbitwinebar) to keep up with developments and stay tuned for the official opening announcement.

Renderings via Studio Roslyn