PARKSVILLE  — If you have attended the B’Kawk Festival, you may have noticed the eye-catching rainbow tent serving food. Something was definitely cooking.

Children’s book illustrator and Parksville resident Rob Rayevsky got his cuisine roots in 2008 after switching gears from his last book in 2007.

His wife Kimberley and him opened Rolling River Cafe, Gallery & Inn the same year.

This Cafe operated for a decade until closure. 

The Rayevsky’s then allocated their talents to Livingston Manor’s Upward Brewing Company from November 2019 to May 2022.

“We then bought this London bus in 2022 on the website busesforsale.com,” explained Kimberley. “It is a 1980 Bristol VRT.”

The couple towed the bus from Philadelphia and spent two years to completely refit it. This was to include a commercial kitchen downstairs and indoor dining on the upper level. Rob painted over the maroon and beige colors to red and green. His wife worked with contractors to renovate, which included taking out bench seats, adding counters, run pipes and electric and similar necessities.

“In 2013, when we were still in full swing at Rolling River Café, we thought we would add a cool double decker bus, where our customers could hang out and have fun, beside the cafe,” said Kimberley. The bus originated in London from 1980. A freighter carried it to Philadelphia in 2008 to become a tour bus.

They offer international cuisine, affordable food, beer, wine and cocktails. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with weekly specials.

Their hours are as follows:

Mon, Tue, Thu: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Wed: Closed

Fri, Sat:  9 a.m.-8 p.m.

Sun: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Putting Parksville on the map (again)

After finding their home in Parksville, the couple came to love it.

As a “once-thriving community” they are trying to put Parksville on the map again. They created the website www.parksvilleny.org and Kimberley is the Secretary to the Parksville Priorities Committee.

“We want to make Double Up a destination, and want it to be fun for our customers, and for ourselves,” said Kimberley. “It is fast casual - the food comes out fast, but we use locally sourced, healthy, and organic products.”

“All our take-out containers are compostable. We use no propane, only electric, and are looking into solar panels for the roof of the bus in the future.”