Biography in a nutshell
I started cooking in university for all of my friends. It started off as small dinners then it grew into large pot lucks and then bigger parties. Here I discovered that I got great satisfaction from making people happy. After university I moved to Vancouver and started.... washing dishes. I quickly outgrew that and landed a job as a personal chef on a private yacht. From there I paid my way through chef school-worked in Vancouver- moved to Toronto- worked in restaurants and created one of my own- Amuse-Bouche Restaurant. From there I opened a boutique catering company and now I am a professor at George Brown College. At GBC I co-created Foods of the World, Cafer Production. I'm on the Food Theory I & II team, and am the course lead for Fundamentals of Butchery. Last year my family and I moved onto a 2 acre farm so my wife can expand her farming business.
I started cooking in university for all of my friends. It started off as small dinners then it grew into large pot lucks and then bigger parties. Here I discovered that I got great satisfaction from making people happy. After university I moved to Vancouver and started.... washing dishes. I quickly outgrew that and landed a job as a personal chef on a private yacht. From there I paid my way through chef school-worked in Vancouver- moved to Toronto- worked in restaurants and created one of my own- Amuse-Bouche Restaurant. From there I opened a boutique catering company and now I am a professor at George Brown College. At GBC I co-created Foods of the World, Cafer Production. I'm on the Food Theory I & II team, and am the course lead for Fundamentals of Butchery. Last year my family and I moved onto a 2 acre farm so my wife can expand her farming business.
I became a chef because one of the core roots of my being is a desire to make people happy. My manipulation of food allows me to create art- art that can be seen smelled touched & tasted. As I have grown in my career my core philosophy stayed but evolved- now I do the same but with food that is good.
What is good food?
Well it is food that is raised right- artisan, harvested with love, care and respect. Food that is sustainable and that has not been bio-engineered. And most importantly food that I would not feel embarrassed about I if took my children to see how it is grown and raised and cared for.
Industry Connection
I am a dual (well triple) professional. I am first and foremost a chef, I am also a teacher. As I chef I still own and operate a boutique catering company. As a teacher I am still connected to the industry- I stage at restaurants and artisan food companies. I do this because I have a thirst for knowledge and a profound respect for chefs and artisans who carry forth tradition- and make it modern. Some of my heroes can be found on the Inspiration page. For the third I am married to a farmer- so by association- part-time farm labourer.
I am a dual (well triple) professional. I am first and foremost a chef, I am also a teacher. As I chef I still own and operate a boutique catering company. As a teacher I am still connected to the industry- I stage at restaurants and artisan food companies. I do this because I have a thirst for knowledge and a profound respect for chefs and artisans who carry forth tradition- and make it modern. Some of my heroes can be found on the Inspiration page. For the third I am married to a farmer- so by association- part-time farm labourer.
Inspiration
I hope to inspire my students to develop their passion for culinary arts.
I also hope to be inspired by my students and their ideas, questions and queries.
Improve my blogging skills.