An ode to my grandmother

My grandmother got me started on my love of cooking. She was a home economics teacher and she would make thanksgiving, Christmas etc. and I got to help her as a very young boy. It I advanced to breakfast for the family, I never something I thought I would make a career out of it but I did. With Grandma everything was fresh- everything in one day, fresh, never late with dinner, perfect timing, everything came out beautiful –there was this incredible apple pie. I used to spend a lot of time with my grandmother over the weekend and on weekends we would do everything together. Grandma had a recipe file collected over 20 years and I still have that with me. I still used some of those recipes at work. Apple crumble, everything she touched turned to gold. I have great memories of my family coming together to enjoy the food and grandmothers preparation. 

my inspiration

Chef Robert Kirk

MY father instilled a meticulous obsession with getting projects and even mundane tasks perfect, to do a job well and take the time and know its quality standards. This obsessions with perfection of process got me started in the culinary industry and has served me well throughout my career. I am always working to cook each dish even better. To do a job perfectly, you have to know the best techniques, the best ingredients and the best equipment. I have spent my whole career advancing and searching for new challenges, new methods and new inspirations. The reach continues.

My career and my search has taken me from my native Canada working in some of Ottawa and Toronto’s best kitchens to Europe, The US, The Caribbean to various countries in Asia and now, my base in the Middle East. Part of my passion is preparation, meticulous control and a passion to get better each day.

I will be talking about this more in future posts. I hope you enjoy it.