Skip to content

Richmond hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant closes after two years

Versante Hotel's executive chef says goodbye

Richmond's Versante Hotel suddenly announced the closure of one of its restaurants this week.

Acre Through the Seasons, a high-end, farm-to-table restaurant, will serve its last dishes on Saturday, April 13.

An Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon cited "economic conditions" for the restaurant's closure, but it has since been edited.

"We want to express our deepest gratitude to our loyal customers and diners who have supported us since opening," said Acre in the post.

"We also have exciting news on the development of the space and look forward to sharing soon."

The restaurant opened in April 2023 and was rebranded from its predecessor Oo La Cha, which opened in 2022 inside the hotel.

Acre prides itself as a restaurant focusing on ingredients produced and sourced locally from Acre Lavande, their own lavender farm and greenhouse on Cortes Island.

The restaurant was also recently one of 30 nominees in the 22nd annual Canada's Best New Restaurants, hosted by Air Canada.

Executive chef says goodbye to Versante Hotel

The closure of Acre Through the Seasons is a bittersweet goodbye, as is the departure of executive chef Will Lew.

Lew told the Richmond News that as of Friday, he will no longer be the executive chef at Versante Hotel.

"It's surprising that all this is happening at the same time, but it's also a time for me to grow and move forward onto my next venture," said Lew.

"I'm really proud of what we put out there and I'm especially proud of the team because it is a tough market in Richmond"

He added the opportunity to work and grow the restaurants at Versante was special.

"We were given the opportunity and platform to talk more in-depth with the Richmond community about how to source ingredients locally and ethically and introduce the idea of farm-to-table in the city.

"If we can expose (people) to an environment that is different in perception, then we've already opened the door to more diversity of food and where the ingredients come from."

Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected]. To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.