The EdGe

Pictured above: Chef Edward Tuson

Photo by: Genevieve Laplante

“So, Edward, if you’re the chef, what is Gemma’s title?”

“We’re both owners. I am not “Chef.” Can we go with that?”

Umm. Sure, yeah, I guess. Except that he is Edward Tuson, who was Sooke Harbour House’s executive chef for twelve years. Edward Tuson, celebrated for his handmade charcuterie and sausages as well as for his inventive-obsessive talent and drive for delicious and meticulously crafted local cuisine.

Edward Tuson and longtime sweetheart Gemma Claridge opened The Edge Restaurant in Sooke mid-May. Gemma, prolific events and sales coordinator, actor and quintessential hostess with the mostess, describes how it came to be, “It was the right place, right time, one of those ‘just worked’ things,” she beams and sets down my lunch before greeting the onslaught of curious guests with her matchless grace and warmth.

The soup of the day is curried cauliflower soup with green olives and housemade pulled pork. The mild curry, gentle olive and rich pork were an unlikely but tasty and titillating threesome.

Next, I tried the housemade pork sausage with smoked paprika, garlic, onion, cumin, coriander seed, salt and pepper with sautéed peppers, mushrooms, onions and Dijon mayo in a crusty roll with hand-cut fries. I had the best intentions of packing half of the sausage home for my man, but the rich beauty of it siren-sang me.

“It’s great,” responds Edward when asked how is he finding co-owning his own restaurant so far. Should have done this a long time ago? “No, now I have a reputation, which is going to help the restaurant—this is good.”

Edge Restaurant is located on Sooke Road, the main drag, and it used to be a fish and chips shop. When asked why this large step away from the international high-end restaurant experience, Tuson replies, “I serve what I eat. That is what it is. I want to cater to the people who I live near. We have homey, yummy food that people can relate to.”

I forwent desserts, which included pear spring rolls with whipped cream cheese and apple syrup and the lemon tartlette with maple cream, house-made ice cream and caramel sauce. There were, however, couples to my left and right fighting over the last shared bites of each.

Instead, I went for another main: the Kitchen Sink Bowl. Housemade chicken sausage with herbes de Provence, local seafood, greens and cilantro in a sweet and sour Asian broth that came on sweet then mellowed to leave plenty of room to fully appreciate the fresh local seafood and succulent sausage.

The restaurant also boasts a well-researched kid menu that includes mac and cheese, egg-white-dipped panko-crusted fish and chips and grilled cheese. Housemade ice cream and chocolate sprinkles courtesy of Kealyn, Gemma Claridge’s five-year-old daughter.

Edge (Ed for Edward, Ge for Gemma) is open, roomy and Crayola colourful. The kitchen staff sport T-shirts. The atmosphere is relaxed, but there is an undercurrent of generous pride that whispers, “This is going to be good.” Lunches are all under $13 and the dinner menu, which includes braised pork shank with potato bacon jus and thyme oil and cornflake-crusted salmon with vegetable fried rice and housemade Chinese sausage with mains all under $23. The Edge Restaurant’s ethos is clear; everyone is genuinely welcome and the food is fantastic.

The next time I go for lunch I am trying the creamy linguine with braised lamb, peas, mushrooms, chives and parmesan and the Caesar salad with housemade bacon. Get ye to Sooke to check it out. Tuesday-Saturday 11:30-3:00 p.m. for lunch and 5:30-9:00 p.m. for dinner.

The EdGe | 6688 Sooke Rd. | 778.425.3343 | www.edgerestaurant.ca