Canada’s healthiest restaurants: Cactus Club Café

Source: Best Health Magazine, May 2009

Until Rob Feenie revamped the menu at the popular Cactus Club Café (with 19 locations in B.C. and Alberta), its offerings were like other family-friendly places: The menu was built around comforting favourites with plenty of breaded, deep-fried choices. But in 2008, the café hired Feenie‘the 42-year-old Vancouver chef who is the only Canadian to win on TV cooking competition Iron Chef America‘to revamp the menu.

The restaurant was already on-board with the Ocean Wise program, which supports sustainable seafood, and the Green Table Network, which helps restaurants minimize their impact on the environment. The challenge for Feenie was to translate his style of French cooking in a way that could be easily replicated by the chain’and incorporate more healthy offerings. ‘Healthy eating is very important to me both personally and professionally,’ says Feenie. ‘One of the things we focus on is using top-quality ingredients, and that includes using healthy options in the new menu items we develop.’

The menu now includes light, fresh choices such as The Garden Burger and Tuna Tataki (pictured). With meals this healthy, you might be able to justify the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bar for dessert.

What do you think of this restaurant pick, and what healthy Canadian restaurants would you like us to feature? Post a comment below or join the discussion in our forums.

This article was originally titled “Canada’s Healthiest Restaurants,” in the May 2009 issue of Best Health. Subscribe today to get the full Best Health experience’and never miss an issue!’and make sure to check out what’s new in the latest issue of Best Health.