Today, C restaurant is Executive Chef Robert Clark's playground where he applies his talent and his skill to creating memorable dishes with the treasure trove of seafood delivered daily from local and international waters and with the bounty of produce he handpicks from specialty food producers across the province and from Vancouver's many ethnic markets.

Born in Montreal and raised on the Gaspe Peninsula, Clark's passion for cooking began at a young age in his grandmother's kitchen: "Even as a child, I loved cooking. My father, my grandfather… all the men in my family cooked. That was just something we did." Clark also credits his early forays as an avid angler and forager along the fertile, salmon-abundant York River near his family home for his well-honed appreciation for fresh fish and for his tireless quest for the best possible ingredients as a chef.

At eighteen, young Robert began his formal culinary training at Ontario's George Brown College. After graduating in 1982, Robert's determination to learn from the best placed him in some of Toronto's finest kitchens including the legendary Three Small Rooms at The Windsor Arms Hotel. During his early career, he apprenticed and worked with some of Canada's top toques such as Jamie Kennedy, Nigel Shute, Michael Bonaccini, Mark Thuet, John Higgins and Nils Kjelson.

In 1990, Clark and his wife, Maureen Seay, decided to embark on a working sabbatical in South East Asia and Australia. For eighteen months they worked, traveled and explored the regions' diverse gastronomic cultures. In 1992, they arrived in Vancouver brimming with fresh ideas and a newfound understanding of Asian cuisines. Delivering organic produce with Herb Barbolet from the "Glorious Salads Company" gave Robert an opportunity to peek into some of Vancouver's most progressive restaurants. Helping to open the celebrated Star Anise Restaurant, soon convinced the Clarks that Vancouver's cosmopolitan and multicultural setting makes it "...one of the most exciting places in the world to work". In short, Robert had found his niche.

In 1997, when Harry Kambolis decided the time was ripe to open Vancouver's definitive seafood restaurant, he recruited Clark to join his team as Chef de Cuisine. Within the year, Clark was promoted to the position of Executive Chef. Since then, Clark's leadership in the C restaurant kitchen has been the key to the restaurant's success in becoming a prime dining destination in Vancouver, winning awards for its distinctive cuisine and wine lists, and raves from critics across the continent.

Ever cognizant of the delicate interconnected web of quality, diversity, sustainability and market demand that surrounds the seafood industry, Clark is a firm believer that, as a chef and a trendsetter in food, he not only has to be responsible about the food choices he makes, he can also inspire change in the industry to which he has devoted his life. To that end, while Clark continues to dedicate much effort to seeking out ingredients that are the best in quality and sustainable in supply, he also regularly contributes his time, with the support of Kambolis, to act as a culinary ambassador to help promote British Columbia as a burgeoning seafood and agri-food producing region, and Vancouver as a world-class culinary destination. Participation in these exchange programs has taken him to world-renowned culinary hubs such as New York, Beijing and Brussels where he shares his knowledge, learns from experts, and best of all, brings back new ideas and interesting ingredients to enhance his ever-evolving menus at C.