Chef Kevin’s Dining Story

Food was always a big part of my life. From a young age, I remember spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  It’s where my mom and grandma seemed to spend most of their time and I loved watching them. I even loved watching my dad fry the bologna on the nights he had to cook for us, and strangely now love burnt onions because of those memorable evenings. I got to see the happiness they brought to people through their food.  Most of my memories as a child stem somehow from food. I love the way food can invoke so many memories. Coming from a very large family I learned that cooking for myself, meant that I got to pick what I ate, rather than suffering through something I didn’t enjoy.

Life can throw us curve-balls and sometimes you just got to keep swinging.  I went to the University of Western Ontario with plans on getting educated in the field of economics. After school, finding work wasn’t so easy and a friend was desperately trying to fill a line cook position at the restaurant he was running. My brother had talked with him about my passion for cooking at home and how he thought I would be great in this industry.  I ended up taking the job at this fine dining restaurant working the salad station. I was so nervous, and so out of my element but, luckily, I had great people training me, and I worked hard and really loved seeing the joy food brought to people.  My next job, at an open concept kitchen, really let me see and hear how much happiness and memories people got to experience while enjoying my food. I’ve always had a passion for making people happy, and there’s no better way to do that than through food!