A White Rock restaurateur is being remembered as a “gentleman among gentlemen.”
Geoff Laithwaite, chef and partner at Geoff’s on the Corner, died Aug. 23.
An open house to celebrate Laithwaite’s life was held Friday at the 1-15223 Pacific Ave. e
stablishment. A second gathering at Laithwaite’s childhood home in Campbell River was held Sunday.
“We look forward to seeing Geoff’s community together, and having the opportunity to toast the man we can easily say we all loved to the moon and back,” a message on the restaurant’s website states.
Geoff’s on the Corner – described as a gourmet bistro and wine bar – opened in White Rock’s Five Corners district in 2014, in the same location of Share Small Plate & Wine Bar, where Laithwaite had been chef and partner “for years.”
Laithwaite’s culinary background includes time preparing dishes for such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Paul Anka and the Gretzky family, as chef on Dennis Washington’s private yacht from 2005-2007. Washington is owner of the Seaspan Marine Corporation and the Washington Group.
Facebook tributes to Laithwaite describe him as a well-loved man who led a “bold and wonderful life.”