The SoBo Cookbook

Fresh Food Inspired by Texas to Tofino

Sobo (Sophisticated Bohemian) started out in 2003 as a purple food truck in the parking lot behind a surf shop, way before food trucks were cool. Despite its remoteness, it attracted rave reviews from food media across North America, with the likes of Saveur magazine calling it: "perhaps the most exciting lunch stand in North America". The back of the staff's t-shirts read: "Quite possibly the second best thing you can do in a parking lot"--and that same fun, authentic West Coast vibe weaves throughout the stories and recipes in this book. 

Sobo has since become a destination restaurant, having outgrown its food truck beginnings, with visitors making the pilgrimage to the west coast of Vancouver Island just to taste chef Lisa Ahier's cooking--which is, to use Tofino slang, simply "killer". The restaurant's menu focuses on locally-sourced, seasonally-inspired ingredients from family-owned producers. The dishes are shaped by Lisa's Tex Mex and Southwestern culinary roots, and her experience gained across several US states, including her stint as executive chef of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Texas. 

The Sobo Cookbook includes over 100 of the restaurant's all-time favourite recipes--recipes that have fed surfers, hungry locals, curious visitors and die-hard foodies alike.

  • WINNER | 2015
    Gourmand World Cookbook Award – Woman Chef
  • WINNER | 2015
    Taste Canada Food Writing Awards – Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
  • SHORTLIST | 2015
    BC Book Prize's Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award
© Jeremy Koreski
LISA AHIER is the chef and owner of SoBo and the author of the award-winning The SoBo Cookbook. She has lived in Missouri, Colorado, Texas and Florida but calls Tofino, British Columbia home. After working in numerous restaurants from the age of 13, she landed on the doorsteps of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York at the age of 34. SoBo started as a little purple food truck in 2003 and has since grown into a standalone restaurant, now offering an ever-expanding list of gourmet treats in specialty stores across Canada. View titles by Lisa Ahier
ANDREW MORRISON is the editor-in-chief of Scout Magazine and editor of the award-winning Vancouver Cooks Cookbook. Andrew lives in Vancouver, B.C. View titles by Andrew Morrison

About

Sobo (Sophisticated Bohemian) started out in 2003 as a purple food truck in the parking lot behind a surf shop, way before food trucks were cool. Despite its remoteness, it attracted rave reviews from food media across North America, with the likes of Saveur magazine calling it: "perhaps the most exciting lunch stand in North America". The back of the staff's t-shirts read: "Quite possibly the second best thing you can do in a parking lot"--and that same fun, authentic West Coast vibe weaves throughout the stories and recipes in this book. 

Sobo has since become a destination restaurant, having outgrown its food truck beginnings, with visitors making the pilgrimage to the west coast of Vancouver Island just to taste chef Lisa Ahier's cooking--which is, to use Tofino slang, simply "killer". The restaurant's menu focuses on locally-sourced, seasonally-inspired ingredients from family-owned producers. The dishes are shaped by Lisa's Tex Mex and Southwestern culinary roots, and her experience gained across several US states, including her stint as executive chef of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Texas. 

The Sobo Cookbook includes over 100 of the restaurant's all-time favourite recipes--recipes that have fed surfers, hungry locals, curious visitors and die-hard foodies alike.

Awards

  • WINNER | 2015
    Gourmand World Cookbook Award – Woman Chef
  • WINNER | 2015
    Taste Canada Food Writing Awards – Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
  • SHORTLIST | 2015
    BC Book Prize's Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award

Author

© Jeremy Koreski
LISA AHIER is the chef and owner of SoBo and the author of the award-winning The SoBo Cookbook. She has lived in Missouri, Colorado, Texas and Florida but calls Tofino, British Columbia home. After working in numerous restaurants from the age of 13, she landed on the doorsteps of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York at the age of 34. SoBo started as a little purple food truck in 2003 and has since grown into a standalone restaurant, now offering an ever-expanding list of gourmet treats in specialty stores across Canada. View titles by Lisa Ahier
ANDREW MORRISON is the editor-in-chief of Scout Magazine and editor of the award-winning Vancouver Cooks Cookbook. Andrew lives in Vancouver, B.C. View titles by Andrew Morrison