CANOE VENTURES EST. 2015
Our core values: Integrity. Staff first. Curiosity. Community. Balance.
Established by Anu Apte and Chris Elford in 2015, Canoe Ventures is a family of bars located in the Belltown neigborhood of Seattle. Locations currently include Rob Roy, Navy Strength and Vinnie’s Wine Shop.
anu apte
Anu Apte is the sole proprietor of acclaimed Seattle cocktail den Rob Roy and co-owns award-winning bars, Vinnie’s Wine Shop and Navy Strength, which won Best New American Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2018. In addition to bartending across the globe and being included in hundreds of publications, she was invited in 2014 to present a cocktail at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution for the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Utah, has successfully tested for the BAR 5 Day program, is a Registered Yoga Instructor, and currently sits on many boards for groups that are changing the landscape of the hospitality industry. She recently completed a Post-Baccalaureate Program for Counseling and Psychology Professions through UC Berkeley intending to integrate mental health care systems into hospitality professions.
chris elford
In 2004 I got my first restaurant job, working as a line cook in a BBQ restaurant in Richmond, VA. Over the last 19 years I have opened (both as an owner-operator and consultant) ten properties ranging in focus from craft beer to coffee to cocktails to natural wine, in New York, Richmond, and Seattle.
Along the road, I’ve enjoyed work as a tequila and gin educator and whiskey distiller (Tequila Ocho, Beefeater Gin, & Kings County Distillery, respectively); I’ve bartended all over the world (Copenhagen, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Germany, and all over the USA); made a moderately famous modern classic cocktail; have taught seminars on stage at festivals across the country; and have fallen in love over and over with serving other people delicious food and drink.