David Wong

Owner of the Oldest Pub in British Columbia, the Six Mile Pub + Eatery, David considers himself an accidental restauranteur.

He was first introduced to the restaurant industry by his brother-in-law, Joseph Heng. That first job as a cook in a pizza restaurant would pay his tuition fees at the University of Victoria where he was studying to become a clinical psychologist.

Enroute to his degree, he met and fell in love with Fancy Ching, now his wife, who was an economics major on a foreign student visa.

Eventually, with bachelor degrees under their belts and with Fancy already back in Hong Kong pursuing her career, David quickly decided to pause his post-graduate studies to seek work that would allow him to raise the capital necessary to relocate Fancy back to Victoria so that they may begin to build their lives together.

As fate would have it, Chandlers Restaurant, a member of the Keg family of restaurants at the time, and where David was working as a bistro cook, offered him a full-time kitchen management position. David took the job, anticipating that he would eventually return to university, to fulfill his dream of becoming a psychologist.

But the force was strong, and gradually, David was drawn by how restaurants provide a natural platform for harnessing the power of food and beverages as the glue to bind and strengthen interpersonal connections. This insight revived warm memories of growing up in Singapore, when his family and his friends would often bond over a hearty meal.

Before long, this accidental choice of livelihood had become a career. Ultimately, he reasoned, both the work of a clinical psychologist and a restauranteur involves taking care of people, which had always been David’s impetus anyways.

Over the course of his career, David’s journey had taken him from managing corporate restaurants such as the Keg and Milestones, to running the food and beverage operations for a cruise ship, operating a tiny mom-and-pop wrap and smoothie health bar, and for the past 2+ decades, owning and actively operating the Six Mile Pub + Eatery in Victoria. His focus on warm, authentic hospitality and wholesome foods has earned this heritage pub a “Best Pub to Take a Kid” award, as well as consecutive “Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Pub in Victoria”.

When he is not serving guests at his Pub, David along with his wife, Fancy, serves the community they share and love, by way of their namesake, Fancy + David Foundation, which funds various charities, programs and activities that help promote positive outcomes for local youths.

David loves to travel and uses his travels around the world as opportunities to explore the culinary cultures around the world. He has taken cooking lessons in many of these host countries – from frying up a lomo saltado in Peru, to slow cooking a dum aloo in India, to hand kneading udon in Japan. He had even spent a day cooking in Gordon Ramsay’s Michelin-starred “Petrus” in London. These adventures fuel his passion for his work and inspiration for many of his menu ideas.

David holds a deep passion and commitment to education, and conducts weekly classes at his Pub to better prepare his many young, passionate staff for their rewarding careers ahead.

His hope, at this stage of his accidental career, is to give a little back to the industry that has given him so much.