When Sydney Cooper arrived in Victoria in 2022, opening a wine bar was not something she imagined doing, she didn’t even drink wine and hardly ever dined out.
Now she owns Rabbit Rabbit, a wine bar and restaurant in Victoria’s Chinatown. Cooper is also the restaurant’s sommelier and has been quick to garner attention. In June, Rabbit Rabbit was named by YAM Magazine as a runner-up for best wine program in Victoria.
"I went from like not knowing how to buy wine to building a list," said Cooper, who assembled a crack team of industry professionals to help her develop the space.
"One thing that I kept telling them was, I've never done this before and for a large part of this, I don't actually know what I'm doing."
Before opening Rabbit Rabbit, Cooper was going through a divorce and the career she had begun as a policy analyst was not fulfilling her. She began to brainstorm and asked herself what kind of business she wanted to be in. This process continued for a time until she met her now-husband during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic subsided, Cooper began doing something new – dining out and drinking wine until a “life-transforming” dinner at The Acorn in Vancouver presented her with a new path.
“The way that the server described every dish and every glass of wine was so transportive and so compelling, and it made you both relaxed and excited as a guest,” said Cooper.
That feeling of transportation or escape inspired the Rabbit Rabbit name – a reference to the White Rabbit who brings Alice to Wonderland in the classic Lewis Carroll novel.
“You weren’t expected to know anything about the food. You weren’t expected to know anything about the wine, but everything had a story. It was after that experience, that’s when I really started chasing that.”
Cooper dove into the world of wine, and after interning at Vancouver’s Caffe La Tana in May 2023, by August she had purchased the Rabbit Rabbit space. By December 2024, they were open for business.
“I wanted to create something that brought people together, that brought back the idea of hospitality and not just service – you know, getting people in here to feel like they are being welcomed into somebody’s home. I wanted this to be an approachable place where you could just enjoy wine – demystifying, de-snobifying, whatever the word is,” Cooper explained.
So far, that approach seems to be working, as Cooper says business is going well. She highlighted that many customers take the time to stop and tell the staff how much they enjoyed their meal, something Cooper found to be a surprise.
“Do I stop and tell [the staff] what a wonderful experience I’ve had? Nine times out of 10, I don’t, because it’s just been fine,” said Cooper.
“We do make a point of it to say goodbye to our guests. Nine times out of 10, people will tell us what a wonderful experience they have here and how amazing this place is. And that is incredible.”
Whatever success Cooper has had so far, she knows it’s not all because of her, although she is proud of the wine program she developed.
“I do not achieve this. My team achieves this. It is everybody working from front of house to back of house.”
One member of that team is Billy Nguyen, the executive chef at Rabbit Rabbit and former runner-up of Top Chef Canada Season 9, where he beat out a now-local peer in Andrea Alridge. Nguyen began cooking in London, England, after leaving architecture school. He eventually landed in Canada, where he advanced his culinary skills.
While Nguyen never planned to appear on a show like Top Chef – let alone become the runner-up – he entered hoping to network, which worked.
“It kind of blew up my career,” said Nguyen, who had found himself in a bit of a culinary block after the show and before a colleague recommended the opportunity at Rabbit Rabbit. What he thought might be a short-term gig turned into a full-time job, as he was asked to become the executive chef.
“It’s been great. It lets me do whatever I want and get whatever is in my head out on a plate,” said Nguyen, who explained there had been a learning curve, especially since he now had to not only hire but manage staff.
“I eventually want to open my own space, so it was a good time for me to learn how to do these things that I had never had the opportunity to do before.”
When developing the menu, Nguyen had a wealth of inspiration to draw from. He combined a French cooking style with his own British and Asian roots, which has resulted in dishes like a Scotch egg made with Japanese curry sausage and a ramen egg instead of a regular boiled egg, and an Asian-focused menu, featuring raw dishes and plates for sharing.
“I don’t feel like a lot of people usually cook like me, from what I’ve kind of seen, so it’s nice to be different,” said Nguyen, who has been impressed with the development in Victoria’s food scene since he first arrived 15 years ago, before heading to Toronto.
But of course, opening a new business is never easy.
“It’s always going to be hard to be a small business owner and to build that community. I think that is what we have been doing really well – we do have a lot of people who just come back all the time and we’ve become friends with our regulars, and that’s been so nice,” said Nguyen.
For Cooper, that is the goal.
“I think restaurateurs, especially today, where restaurants are going, have forgotten that restaurants are supposed to be, and always have been, part of the fabric of the community. You know, it’s not just a place where people come to take Instagram pictures and post them,” she said.
“This is supposed to be a place that brings people together.”
