In Shediac, a trio of neighbouring businesses in "Wonderland"
If Sébastien Després and Heater Wright had been told, after acquiring their four-star inn, Le Griffon, in Shediac in 2017, that a few years later they would own a playful bistro-restaurant and a chocolate shop within a few hundred metres of one another, forming a triangle downtown, they probably wouldn't have believed it.
Their meeting in Newfoundland, she from Vancouver and he an Acadian who had travelled to Europe and elsewhere for his studies, was anything but ordinary. It was ultimately in Acadia, near the sea, that they decided to settle their family. Their entrepreneurial spirit quickly led them into business, starting with the purchase of their house, which became their first venture: Le Griffon.
This is the reality they live today. With the Moque-Tortue bistro and the Adorable Chocolat boutique, they manage a trio of businesses employing nearly fifty people, some of whom split their time between two of them depending on the season and how busy things are. The newest addition, the chocolate shop, joined the group in February 2023, but has been operating for over 12 years.
Given the particular complexity of this artisanal production, the teams from Le Griffon and Moque-Tortue spent dozens of hours with the chocolate shop's experts to learn the basics and ensure a smooth transition.
In short, besides being parents of three young girls, Sébastien and Heather oversee three 'wonderful' businesses whose reputation in Shediac and across the Atlantic region is growing.
- The Le Griffon Inn : An elegant Victorian villa located a few minutes' walk from downtown Shédiac, named after one of the characters from Alice in Wonderland. It earns its four stars with its spacious and comfortable bedrooms, welcoming lounge, guest kitchen/dining room, and gardens perfect for relaxing.
- Seven doors down from the inn is this playful bistro, Moque-Tortue. With the largest collection of board games in Atlantic Canada, as well as well-designed escape rooms, Moque-Tortue offers a varied menu of well-prepared dishes. Seafood is a specialty. There's music on the patio every day in summer.
- Adorable Chocolat It has been open since 2011. Every day, it serves delicious homemade treats to people from all over Atlantic Canada. Simple, natural ingredients feature in options to suit all types of dietary preferences and restrictions. It contains no GMOs, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, or artificial ingredients.
The owners, who hold university degrees ranging from ethnomusicology to Canadian studies, folklore, and socio-cultural anthropology, seem to have kept their childlike wonder. When they acquired the chocolate shop, Sébastien partly explained their decision by saying, 'It's diagonal; we bought our neighbour. Le Griffon is just seven steps away. We're really like a corner of Alice in Wonderland!'
And needless to say, they have sought recognition as an LGBTQ+-friendly business from the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce of Canada (CGLCC). The organization partnered with Tourism HR Canada to launch the 'Official Rainbow' certification program for 2ELGBTQI+-friendly environments (*).
Le Griffon Inn
legriffon.ca
426, Main St
Shediac (NB) E4P 2G4
506.532.5412
Moque-Tortue Bistro
moquetortue.ca
402, Main St (Unit A)
Shediac (NB) E4P 2G1
506.532.4911
Adorable Chocolat
adorablechocolat.ca
395, Main St
Shediac (NB) E4P 2B1
506.351.0367
(*) Term used by the CGLCC.