It started in the trunk of his car. Anthony von Mandl had a dream of turning British Columbia into a world class centre of excellence in wine. At the time, he says, “No one in BC was drinking wine and the wine produced in BC wasn’t that good.”

Back in the late 1990s, John Neate had a brilliant idea: “Why not open a coffee shop and take on Starbucks?” You might wonder: why would he? John’s answer: “Well, I’m competitive.” 

There are moments you measure your life by, as in before and after. For Danny Sitnam, that day was late August in 1977. He was working as a line cook at the Owl and Oarsman up on a hill overlooking Vancouver.