“Lucky Jumps & Great Hustle”
Chef Josiah Tam, chef/owner of Barrique Restaurant, has spent the last decade building his career and chasing the dream of owning his own restaurant with a couple lucky jumps and a lot of hustle. 
Unlike many in the Industry, Josiah didn’t immediately dive into working in restaurants. After high school he studied both architecture and marketing but was unhappy with his life during both separate pursuits. Since he had always liked cooking Josiah decided to take a dishwasher position and try out kitchen life.
This was the beginning of his kitchen journey and led him to the Cordon Bleu Culinary School in London, England in 2011. It was at the Cordon Bleu that he learned that he first truly enjoyed learning which meant he no longer skipped classes, did well, and grew during his time there.
When he returned to British Columbia Josiah was offered and accepted a job at beach restaurant, Pearl, in White Rock. It was a sous-chef position, rare for a recent Culinary grad, but he took the opportunity despite not being ‘ready’ for the role. And he showed he had what it took rising to head chef about six months after joining the team.
So what was the connection? This was a sister restaurant from when he was a dishwasher and the Executive Chef of both at the time, Amanda Smith, was and is one of his mentors in the industry providing Josiah with support from his entrance into the industry.
After a few years in the kitchen, Josiah decided to take a year off and work with his dad doing land surveying. This detour helped to provide him with perspective on work/life balance as he was newly married and tired of the long hours. His career in land surveying was short lived as he missed cooking and serving.
Enter Chef Ryan Bissell.
Ryan and Josiah knew each other through Pearl’s, they shared meat deliveries from Two Rivers Sustainable Meats, and other restaurant camaraderie. With these shared connections, they got to know each other better so when Ryan took on a role at UBC overseeing the food programs Josiah joined the team. For almost four years, Josiah was the sous-chef in charge of Asian food outlets in “The Nest” at UBC working with the Alma Mater Society. While he enjoyed learning about how to open new businesses in the food industry and there was nothing wrong with the position, it didn’t bring Josiah the joy he had previously felt while cooking.
The style of cooking wasn’t his passion and he wanted to get back to his roots of French cooking.
So what would come next?
He didn’t have to wait too long. The opportunity to open his own restaurant came up. He was 28 at the time and did consider that maybe he was too young and this step was too early in his career. But he also knew that those factors also meant he’d have time to recoup if he did fail.
The transition was quick; finishing at UBC in late 2017 and taking over the space in early January 2018. Only 28 days of construction later and Barrique Restaurant opened in White Rock February 2018. It was a previous restaurant space which allowed Josiah to focus on doing a dining room renovation and using some of his previous skills in graphic design, art, and photography to help get the assets necessary ready.
Two hours before opening the sign went up!
Now opened, Josiah was able to take his dream into reality, find a better work/life balance (shorter commute!), and get back to his roots of French cooking. In 2018 Barrique was built around a modern French-bistro style menu, but not strictly French. The menu utilizes French techniques, flavour profiles and has a focus on wine and cocktails over beer for beverage options.
When Barrique opened there were 40 seats inside plus patio seating but since COVID, as all restaurants have had to do, Josiah has cut seats down to 25 with proper spacing and has also had to pivot for service and offerings. Even before the pandemic hit the Barrique team was fairly small but currently it’s a team of 9. Most of which have been with the restaurant since it’s opening in 2018 so they’re a close knit team and work well together.
Among other changes Barrique has started to do fried chicken and BBQ during the week (Tues-Thur) for take-out only with huge success! On the weekends with COVID-19 safety plans in place the dine-in menu changes weekly though you can always find a duck confit somewhere on the menu!
With the hope that 2020 would have been the year to make a profit having the pandemic wrench thrown into the equation Josiah had to learn on the job. But he did it! Showing his skills as both a chef and a business owner through his quick thinking on ways to adjust and also with the help of the clientele that he has built over the last (almost) three years who have continued to support him.
These included ideas like the fried chicken pop-up and creating a slightly more casual menu because he was aware that the impacts of COVID-19 financially extended beyond the restaurant industry. While it’s been a tough year Josiah is confident they’ll make it through.
When he’s not in the kitchen or at the restaurant Josiah spends time with his wife and daughter and has also recently taken up hunting- a hobby he always wanted to try and has helped him cope through the antics of 2020.
Josiah has passed along his passion for good food along to his daughter who recently ordered: French onion soup, escargot and Bananas Foster during a night out at Hy’s Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar.
There are times that Josiah wishes he had started in the industry younger but he’s also grateful for the opportunities he was given and hustled through later in his life. While the focus is still on ensuring Barrique is 100% solid, Josiah has future plans so follow him on Instagram to keep updated. There are no doubts Chef Tam will bring more to the industry with his innovative thinking and passion for the Industry and the White Rock BIA agrees and awarded him the award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2020.