Long ago a girl dreamed of following in her Father’s footsteps and becoming a chef. Owning her own restaurant. To her great joy she met a man who shared the same dream. Together they cooked from the heart, and created food that nourished the soul.
Their first restaurant was BASSETT’S FANCY DESSERTS. BASSETT’S was more than a cafe serving elaborate French desserts, rich European tortes, chocolate truffles, profiteroles, and house-made ice creams. BASSETT’S dished out glorious patés and crepes, soups and house-made rolls with sophisticated fillings. This innovative dessert restaurant and coffee house was considered by WHERE TO EAT IN CANADA as “the best in the business”. In it’s first six months of operation is was quickly recognized and written up in Air Canada’s EN ROUTE and WHERE TO EAT IN CANADA.
Their second restaurant, ROXY’S BISTRO was consistently written up in major food publications such as WESTERN LIVING, a major Toronto food magazine CUISINE, EN ROUTE and GOURMET. Where To Eat In Canada listed ROXY’S BISTRO, Regina in their One Hundred Best Restaurants in Canada. The Globe and Mail described “Roxy’s cuisine as cutting edge. ROXY’S kitchen cooked the French classics and borrowed from cuisines around the world to create their extraordinarily unique menu. Located in a capital city it was not uncommon to receive reservations directly from Paris and Moscow.
They opened PASSIONATE PIZZA in Vancouver. No ordinary pizzeria this. The aroma of oven roasted tomato sauce, wheels of Parmesan Reggiano, flats of growing basil, filled the open kitchen . Within a few months of opening PASSIONATE PIZZA was receiving Canada wide acclaim on CBC”s Jorgen Goeth’s Disc Drive and Peter Gzowski’s show Morning Side. In the very first year it was voted BEST PIZZA IN VANCOUVER by Vancouver magazine, and by the U.S. publication Best Restaurants in the Pacific North West. James Barber reviewed it in the Georgian Strait and the Vancouver Sun did a half page feature article.
Larry and Virginia
The restaurants are now happy memories. This passion for food. This love of cooking. This joy of putting food on the table for friends and family is shared with all who enter the world of MRS. BUTTERFINGERS. MRS BUTTERFINGERS is about cooking, not to impress, but to nurture and comfort. It is a blog for those who wish to create food with heart and soul.
When Virginia shares these recipes with you she shares the experience of someone who has cooked for more than fifty years, thirty of those years in a professional kitchen. Enjoy! Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some great music and your food will be wonderful. The kitchen is truly the heart of the home.
Have loved your bel occhio blog for quite some time and now have another site to enjoy
How and where does one sign up for your cooking classes?
It is hearing from blog readers like you that makes it all worth while, Tricia. We’ve retired from cooking classes but I am always happy to answer any cooking questions. Cheers Virginia
We are retired from cooking classes, but I am always happy to answer any questions.
Cheers
Virginia
Mrs. Butterfingers and Husband: How wonderful to find your beautiful recipes, thoughts, memories, style and stories…..I remember a few that we made…glad to hear you are well and living life to the fullest…. love Nancy
Nancy you were with us in our very first restaurant. You will always be part of us. Virginia
Virginia, so fun to learn more about your special restaurants – you are a chef extraordinaire indeed! 🙂
Tricia, just think of all the wonderful recipes I have tucked away. V.
Tricia – just think of all the wonderful food I’ll cook for you when you and your handsome husband journey to Canada’s West Coast. Affectionately Virginia
Virginia, What a fabulous life you are living! I’m so impressed with your accomplishments and find your recipes incredibly appealing. James and I are gathering the ingredients for your Vegetarian Eggplant Sweet Potato Pizza and hope to fix it this weekend. Thanks for the great inspiration! All the best, Terri
Terri, I have so enjoyed traveling with you and your husband. It has been interesting following your renovation projects on your new home. It is my pleasure to share some small bit of my world with you both. Virginia
Sometimes I am in the mood to bake and I start looking at recipes online; sometimes I look so long, that I never get any baking done that day! I have a wonderful butter tart recipe from my mother, so it is at least 60 years old; and then I found the same butter tart filling recipe on your web page. I felt we were kindred spirits. Have you ever adapted the filling so it can be used in butter tart squares? there are days when making pastry is just more than I want to tackle, and the shortbread type crust of butter tart squares would be just fine, but I have never liked their fillings. What I want to do is use our prize winning butter tart filling recipe on a bar crust; what do you think? I am also looking for a good dried apricot use recipe or two. I bought some nice organic dried apricots, in bulk, but now realize I have too many, and not enough good ways to use them up.
How delightful to hear from you Laura. This is such a Canadian recipe. There are a lot of recipes for butter tarts but most call for raisins. I think the currents add the perfect sweet/sharp taste to this prize winning recipe. If you are making butter tart squares and following the usual recipe of baking the shortbread bottom I would perhaps add an egg yolk to this recipe. It is a little on the syrupy side.
I often use dried apricots in my “Chicken tagine with sweet potatoes and prunes” recipe. It is on my blog under chicken recipes. Simply substitute apricots for the prunes. Bon Appetit! Virginia
Happy New Year Mrs Butterfingers! Love your recipes; just received your recipe for ‘Picnic Chicken’ today, am wondering when a pad of butter is applied to the chicken, as instructions are not clear in recipe..before chicken is placed in oven on top of crumbs or after chicken is baked?? I think your commentary prior to recipe indicates on top of crumbs before baking.
Thanks, Teresa
PS I don’t see a tab for comments on your recipes, would love to submit a comment sometime or read others
Love reading your stories. Thanks for sharing.
It is my pleasure to share these random thoughts plucked from the past. Of course every day is an adventure and if wonderful events are not happening here on The Farm my imagination takes flight and I love having readers on these journy’s. Cheers Virginia
Thank you for entering my world. Cheers Virginia
We are from Moose Jaw and just discussed a Mother’s Day meal we had at Roxy’s! The best shrimp and sweet potato apps ever….not to mention the “ Blueberry Tea”!
Thank you… a few decades later.
The shrimp and sweet potato app was SHANGHAI SHRIMP. Slivers of deep fried sweet potatoes, shrimp and a sweet/sour Asian sauce. It was also one of our favorite dishes. We have so many wonderful memories of our ROXY BISTRO days. It was absolutely the best of times and our customers (who drove the 40 miles for dinner) we so very, very much appreciated. Cheers Virginia
Hi Virginia and Larry – This is your old Doc here Collis Wilson . I miss you!! Thought of you today as having Thai soup and using your lively recipe. Hope you are well though, as with me, you have probably been dealing with nagging health issues. Our daughters are in Golden BC and Geelong, Australia as are grandkids. Quite a long way to go to see them. We are into growing orchids and cooking from scratch. Still live in Kits so gardening is a major activity. Yourblog is still “right on” and I do not know how you do it!! Keep the good work. Cheers Collis
Dear Collis, My dear, dear bread making Doctor. What an absolute delight to hear from you. I am doing really well. I am a happy volunteer one day a week at our hospital Thrift shop and obsessed with growing dahlias, Larry broke both ankles in a climbing accident three years ago but is still climbing and mad for gardening. Our son, Callum and his wife have moved to Esquimalt. It is a good life for all of us. Cheers, Virginia.
I just found your blog. Roxy’s was our “go-to” restaurant back in the day. I still remember the pecan chicken. I tried many times to duplicate it but could never get it right. If you still have the recipe, would you consider sharing it? Thank you!
Dear Susan,
How wonderful to hear from you. We have wonderful memories of Roxy’s. They were the best years of our working life. I am going to see if I can unearth the recipe, and we will definitely post it on Mrs.Butterfingers. Cheers Virginia