Abigail’s Hotel Chefs

As members of the International Slow Foods movement, our master chefs go to great lengths to obtain the finest ingredients in the Northwest, including local farm fresh fruit and vegetables, aromatic herbs, edible flowers from our own gardens, as well as fresh baked breads, in-house smoked fish, and fine meats.

Matt McGinn, Executive Chef

Matt McGinn loves to share his joy for cooking and the simple preparations of high quality local ingredients. McGinn was born in Toronto, Ontario, and completed culinary training at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario.

He moved to Victoria in 1998 and since then has worked in some of Victoria’s finest and favourite restaurants, most notably Camille’s Restaurant and the Brassiere L’ecole. Matt has enjoyed working closely with many of Vancouver Island’s organic food producers and foragers, creating a fine balance of simply prepared food with healthy and environmentally conscious choices.

Victoria Ann Kirby, Chef

Victoria Ann Kirby has been part of our team at Abigail’s for eight years. She combines her style of old world recipes with an appreciation of locally sourced ingredients, and delights in offering seasonal baking classes and designing custom cakes for our guests’ special occasions.

Kirby was born and raised in the U.S. Midwest. During her travels, she met and married Christopher, who was born in England, and they have called Canada home for over 20 years. While pursuing education and fine art studies, she found her other true love in baking and the patisserie arts.

Soon after arriving on Vancouver Island, she began working at Pagliacci’s Restaurant with Mama Di Fiore, who generously shared her knowledge of Italian cookery and the secrets of the best New York cheesecake in the Pacific Northwest. Inspired to open her own bakery, C’est Bon Croissant, she applied her passion for artistic expression to French pastry and artisan breads.