When Milton Rebello and Louise Lu opened Liv Cafe and Bistro in Oak Bay in May 2025, it was a dream decades in the making. The two had always wanted a farm-to-table restaurant in Greater Victoria.
Now, the dynamic duo are an unstoppable force, bursting with an incredible amount of creativity and talent.
Rebello is an award-winning chef who prides himself as much on vibrant, exceptional plates as he does on building the right team. But his greatest teammate is his wife, Lu, a talented pastry chef, who not only tends the multi-layered Saanich garden that grows their ingredients, but who also designed the bright and airy restaurant – and the beautiful pottery sold within it.
The couple have plenty of plans for the restaurant named after their 12-year-old daughter (their previous Saskatchewan restaurant is named after their 14-year-old daughter Skye). Rebello was kind enough to give a glimpse into the beautiful life their family has grown here in Greater Victoria.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in India in a small, coastal Portuguese colony called Udyavara, where my ancestors were farmers and fishermen. I was then brought up in Mumbai. I left India in 1992 and worked in 10 countries before coming to Canada.
Why was it your dream to open a restaurant in Greater Victoria?
I worked with Fairmont Hotels and was sent to different locations, including the Empress. The cruise ship I worked on also used to come here. Once I experienced the Island, I was mesmerized. I always wanted to move here, but the timing had to be right: I needed the right home, the right land to grow things, the right job.
So my wife and I took a leap of faith. We decided to sell everything we have and move here. We started in Alberta, then Saskatchewan. My wife was eight months pregnant when we moved, thinking it would be temporary – but we stayed 14 years. I opened three restaurants, won awards, and even ended up on the Food Network, but we've always loved gardening and outdoor life, and in Saskatchewan, the winters are long. So we saved up, finally bought a small farm in Saanich, opened our restaurant in Oak Bay, and are loving every bit of it.
How many countries have you lived in?
I worked in Dubai, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Tanzania, Kenya. In my younger days, I wanted to experience and see different places, so I joined the cruise ships: Carnival Cruise Lines and Disney. Carnival sponsored me to go to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. When Tamarind restaurant sponsored me, I met Chef Rubino, who took me to restaurants that got four-star ratings by the New York Times. Those five years were great.
Louise was born in China, but she's been living in Canada longer than I have. Together, we have travelled to probably another 30 countries to experience the food, so that's what our menu is all about. Everything is from our travels or the places we've worked.
How did you and Louise meet?
I was the executive sous chef in a hotel, and we ended up hiring three students at an Edmonton culinary school – Louise was one of them. I was very good at carving fruit and vegetables, so I would go to schools to share my skills. This girl, she would outdo everything that I made. Of course, she does embroidery and sculpts, so it was easy for her. I always had an eye to see how she did it better, and then I picked up my level. And we ended up really liking each other. It's been since 2007, and the rest is history.
She keeps me together. It's two different energies: she's calm, really, really calm, very composed; she does everything that I can't do.
If you could throw a dinner party and invite any three people in the world, dead or alive, who would you pick and what would you serve them?
There are a lot of chefs who have contributed to my success. One was Daniel Rubino, with whom I worked for three years in New York. He was Italian, a great chef with a very loud attitude, but his food was outstanding. Then there was Chef Hans on the cruise ships. He was Austrian. And of course, Chef Michael Brown, who I worked with at the Western Hotel in Edmonton for four years. I would love to get them together again and cook for them, but this time, my style of food, and I'm sure they'd appreciate how they have contributed to my success and my style of cuisine.
What's the best way to elevate a dish?
We want people to experience local ingredients, and of course, the presentation is important. Louise and I, we paint, we draw, when we approach a plate. That helps us make the plates look beautiful. It's also more about what our customers like to eat rather than what I like to cook. We are very, very conscious about it, so at Oak Bay, we have kept it very approachable.
But one of our biggest guidelines is that we try to stick to five ingredients on each plate. We tell ourselves five textures, five colours, five flavours. That guides us to keep the flavours pure and clean.
What's your favourite thing about farm life?
We love farm life. It took us a long time to get used to it. The first two years were tough because we had to till the land and build the garden beds. That was a lot of work, especially because we are on a slope, so we had to create three levels. Then we had to make an eight-foot-tall fence because the deer here are – they're cute, but they're notorious. But now, it is stunning. Louise planted thousands of flower bulbs that grow throughout the year, so our restaurant is always stocked.
What's on your playlist?
I love Latino bachata and merengue; those have the same rhythms as the music I was brought up with. But I also listen to rock, soft rock. When we were young, I listened to the classics with my dad and my mom's music. My dad used to play the mouth organ, and my mom used to sing. Then it progressed to meeting friends and listening to Black Sabbath and Aerosmith – that was the fun years.
What's a goal for next year?
We're going to focus a lot of energy towards our dinner service, along with private dinners, cooking classes and catering. Some very good chefs are coming from Vancouver to join us. Next year, we want an ice cream shop from the express window. Then we want to focus on custom-made, subscription dinners for locals. That's the reason we picked Oak Bay; it's the right demographic.
This article is from the fall edition of Tweed.
