When approaching the Rockwater resort in Secret Cove for a dinner reservation at its Tubird restaurant—not yet a year since a major facelift under new ownership—a peculiar kind of transition takes place. It might be after sighting the Sans Souci turnoff during the Highway 101 approach. Perhaps it’s the embrace of Secret Cove itself, with stolid shores of Thormanby and South Texada islands shielding its crystalline waters from tempers of the Salish Sea.
The transformation is certainly underway once a diner settles next to the stone-ringed fireplace, with the light of reflected waves pulsing through floor-to-ceiling windows onto uncovered white tabletops.
From a hidden speaker, strains of Luciano Pavarotti’s plaintive Caruso complete the spell, evoking muscular European hospitality in a setting anchored by robust West Coast roots.
“What we really wanted to capture was that vibe of summers past,” says Tubird’s co-owner Michelle Boyd, “and holidays past in general. We’re not necessarily naming a specific era, but giving people a feel that they’re in a place where they can just relax and enjoy.”
When Boyd and her co-owner Petr Prusa (the gastronome who is currently expanding a Vancouver Island empire of Floyd’s diners) re-opened the Rockwater restaurant in May 2024, sensitivity to the nature and culture of the Sunshine Coast were foremost in their minds. Boyd furnished Tubird using hardwood cabinetry and vintage fittings acquired from local families.
“The people on the Coast have shown such a genuine desire for [Tubird] to succeed,” says Boyd. When she told sellers what their antique furniture was for, they showed up at the restaurant for dinner.
The sense of homecoming is accentuated by a wall of family photos. No stock images here: the halcyon snapshots were selected from Boyd’s own albums.
A dialogue with nature was part of Tubird’s story from the start. During an early visit, Boyd observed two eagles playing in the cove, soaring over the luxuriantly-appointed tenthouse suites that dot the granite foreshore. Prusa also observed the pair during his stay.
“When we went there together for the last time to finalize it all, those two eagles flew overhead,” recalls Boyd. “At that point I decided I’m going to figure out how to make a fun name out of those two, and that’s how it came to be.”
Like the eagles, the restaurant’s chef is also a high-flying local. Martin Hughes was a recently retired transplant to Halfmoon Bay following almost four decades in epicurean settings like Vancouver’s BLVD Bistro. Retirement lasted four months.
As Hughes began conversations with Boyd and Prusa, the trio instantly achieved amicable harmony on their vision for Tubird’s fare. (The menu’s description of the aioli and arugula-accompanied burger records one of their exchanges: “Martin, we have to have a burger,” Petr exclaimed. “Okay,” the chef allowed, “but it has to be the best burger.”)
Throughout the 2025 season, Hughes will be readying a sous-chef to assume his duties when he makes a second attempt at retirement this autumn.
He crouches to light one of the venue’s two fireplaces (fuelled from a heather-ringed propane tank outdoors), then considers the prospect with simmering nostalgia.
“In all my career, I’ve never been given such freedom in creating and shaping a menu,” says Hughes. He is an enthusiastic promoter of Tubird’s weekly paella nights, when the saffron-seasoned rice dish is served family-style.
The pan-roasted sockeye salmon—a fixture across Tubird’s seasonally-shifting menus— recalls the wholesome servings of Hughes’s Welsh upbringing. The generously proportioned fish is wreathed by red potatoes, charred broccoli and fennel slaw, turning what might be (at a lesser table) mere garnishes into full-fledged accompaniment.
The inspirations for the menu are geographically diverse. Snow crab beignets (served over Spanish romesco sauce) rank as patrons’ favourite appetizer. Italian influences (like the Roman Holiday, which combines dry-cured ham, poached figs, and grilled bread) mirror the Romantic provenance of its wines, selected chiefly from vineyards in France and Italy with additional representation from B.C. producers.
Local brews—Tapworks and Brickers Cider among them—reinforce Sunshine Coast connections, and Joker Gin from the Bruinwood Estate Distillery in Roberts Creek suffuses one of the dozen signature cocktails on offer.
Desserts have an international flair. The Olive Oil Cake with rhubarb and strawberry compote over vanilla gelato sustains Italy’s influence; a Basque cheesecake and an extravagant chocolate torte (drizzled in crimson raspberry coulis) are among other landmarks.
The restaurant is part of Rockwater’s main lodge complex, perched above an outdoor swimming pool which itself is one storey above a moss-covered incline that leads to saltwater. Diners share an elevated perspective with Tubird’s namesakes, encircled by sky and seascape. In the bar, drinks rest on tree trunks-turned-tables. Mounted binoculars permit hands-free birdwatching. A stack of antiquarian volumes in a nearby buffet coyly includes a copy of Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs alongside guides to haute cuisine.
When the Evergreen Hospitality Group assumed ownership of the Rockwater and engaged Boyd and Prusa to remake the restaurant, there was one stipulation: no seasonal closures. “In order to come on,” Boyd recalls, “the owners said, ‘You’re going to have to make it work all year round,’ and I actually really love that.”
Achieving such a degree of hospitality means day-in, day-out commitment. Every morning, pastry chef Jacquie Pratt arrives at dawn to bake fresh bread, prepare Tubird’s baked desserts, and fashion its array of wholesome breakfasts.
Meanwhile, seasonal changes of pace contribute to the homelike feel, from lingering nights out for wintering locals (“The babysitter’s good until eight o’clock,” murmured urbane diners one night after a snowfall) to the fast-paced high season—including a nearly fully-subscribed wedding calendar managed by general manager Patti Soos.
One night in February, thirty guests were expected for a 90th birthday party. In the height of summer, celebrants regularly spill onto the adjoining outdoor patio and down the stairs—before spreading to fireside nooks and pensive pairs of Adirondack chairs.
“It’s hard, hard work,” says Boyd, “but it’s just so beautiful being able to revive something.” With its first anniversary on the horizon, Tubird is already soaring.
