Mise en Place - the Podcast

On this weeks podcast we have Owners of a magical country restaurant called Wild Mountain Food and Drink, It is located in Sooke, just a short drive from Victoria. I beautiful fishing town on the south west coast of Vancouver Island. We get to chat about their place, some history of the Victoria and Sooke dining scene, SlowFood, the Island Restaurant Collective and what it is like to have a busine...

On this weeks podcast we have Owner/ Operator and jack of all trades, of Bar Bravo and Barnacle, Jonathan (Jon) Merrill. He talks about how he caught the restaurant bug and has been deep in it ever since. Jon also talk about bootstrapping the opening of Bravo and how the business of having a restaurant in 2026 is going. I hope you enjoy the chat. Send us your feedback Project Candor: Ordinary Peop...

After a short hiatus, we are back to talk about the greatest hospitality event on the planet, COOKSCAMP. Also I explain a New Chefs Code of Conduct. Where it came from and what it could mean to the industry. Send us your feedback

On this week's Podcast we have L'Abattoir Executive Chef Jasper Cruickshank. Japser has worked with some of the best in the business. Bruno Marti, Tobias McDonald, Alex Chen, Roger Ma, to name a few. His pedigree and attention to always pushing to be better has taken him far in his career. He has a a lot of really great advice for young cooks, from finding the right mentors to having the...

On this weeks podcast we have a returning guest, Professor Bruce McAdams. He is a tenured academic, teaching and researching at the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism, University of Guelph in Ontario. A career restaurant pro with a really varied skill set, who decides to change gears, becomes an academic and studies ways to figure how to truly change the hospitality sector from a more discipl...

On this weeks podcast we have a very well known name and voice in the craft brewing scene here in BC and in Canada, Mr Sam Payne, of Parkside, Rewind and Slackwater Brewing, also owner of Good Hustle Distribution. His insights in beer, hospitality and business of fun makes him a legend in our business. I hope you all enjoy our conversation.  Send us your feedback

On this weeks podcast we have Pastry Chef/ Baker/ Owner of Ex Animo, Aaron Surman. Originally from Brisbane Australia, Aaron started by knocking on the door of the right kitchen to get himself on path of hard work, and perpetual inquisitiveness. From fine dining to building a wholesale bakery empire. Aaron has figured a lot of it out on his own but always goes back to the fundamentals he learned f...

On this week's podcast I am very happy to have the Corporate Chef of the Keg, and BC Chefs Chapter President, Steve Lewis. His passion for the industry has had him doing, bartending, waiting, floor manager, store manager, cook, Chef, almost every job you can have in a restaurant he has been successful at. He is also an adamant about nurturing and mentoring younger talent in our industry to be...

On this week's podcast, we have Chef Julian Bond. A Father, a Chef, a Teacher, a Businessman, a Mentor, and absolutely an industry Leader. We get to better understand what makes Julian tick and how he got to where he is today. Love, loss, family, balance, in an industry that is unforgiving and hard. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.   Send us your feedback

On this weeks episode I am very happy to have 2 people on that need no introduction. These two are the force behind Dicky's Dumps, some of the most popular frozen dumplings sold in the lower mainland. For many years these two worked outside the food world and became absolute experts in marketing, branding and sales. That, along with years of event and social media experience and an absolute l...

On this weeks podcast we have a perspective we don't see that often on the podcast and that is from the supply/ distribution side. Jason Pleym, owner and mastermind behind the wholesale and retail operations at Two Rivers Meats. They also happen to operate a darn tasty restaurant next to the retail butcher shop. There is not a better place to buy a dry aged steak in the lower mainland. Plus t...

On this weeks podcast we have Pastry Chef Oliver Bernardino of the Wentworth Hospitality Group here in Vancouver. Oliver knew from a young age that being a pastry Chef was what he wanted and he has devoted his life to it. Please take a listen to this humble man's journey to fulfilling his dreams and accomplishing so much more. I hope you enjoy our chat.  Send us your feedback

On this week's podcast I had a great chat with Chef Karen Barnaby, cookbook author, Chef, development Chef, practicer of voodoo and woohoo. We go back in time a bit talk about some of the older restaurants in Toronto and Vancouver along with her very long tenure at the Fish House in Stanley Park. Now working a bit slower pace of life as a development Chef, Karen imparts the best advice any Ch...

On this week’s episode, I’m thrilled to chat with hospitality and hotelier legend Charles McDiarmid of the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino BC. Charles grew up in Tofino and fell in love with the idea of running his own hotel from a young age. After studying at Cornell and gaining experience with the Four Seasons Hotel Group across North America, he returned home to Tofino to pursue his dream. We talk a...

On this week's podcast I get to chat with return guest, amazing pastry chef, chocolatier, small business owner and opinionated guy, Mr Thomas Haas. We try and tackle some of the bigger problems that we see out there in our industry right now. Commodity pricing, macro economics of chocolate and food, seeing if there is much sense to be made in our very unnecessarily complex system of food. We...

This episode is part 2 of my conversation with longtime hospitality pro and wine expert Kurtis Kolt. In this part we talk about mental health, the state of the industry, tipping and where he sees the industry going. All very insightful takes. I hope you enjoy our chat.  Send us your feedback

In this week's podcast we have a two parter. Kurtis Kolt has been a front of the house legend and sommelier in BC for as long as I have been in Vancouver. Originally from Ontario, he has called Vancouver home for a very long time. His love for wine and our industry permeates everything he does. As one of the founders of Top Drop Vancouver, Kurtis and his partners have built one of the most pr...

On this weeks podcast, we have a very old friend and Industry veteran Luke Kennedy. Vancouver born, starting as a young eager dishwasher at a local North Van place to working in Michelin starred kitchens in Europe to opening Daniels Boulud's first restaurant in Toronto. We chat about his story in the business and in and outs of this amazing industry. Luke has also been involved with COOKSCAMP...

On this weeks podcast I am happy to have on Coulson Armstrong, Culinary Director of Our House Hospitality, based out of Toronto, Ontario. Coulson grew up on a farm and has an incredibly deep love for agriculture and utilizing the best he can find locally. He trained here and Canada and like a lot of friends of the podcast, he fell in love with the business of food and travelled to see the world th...

On this podcast we have cook, Chef, sustainability expert, Order of Canada Recipient, Robert Clark. Originally from humble beginnings in Gaspé Quebec, making his way through the kitchens of Toronto, to around the world and ending up in Vancouver. This is where Robert, turned his passion for great product into his lifelong work in seafood sustainability. A great Chef, a voice and and advocate for o...

Mise en Place on the Road. On this weeks podcast, we are recording is sunny, windy, rainy, overcast and beautiful St. Johns Newfoundland. We are joined by a true native son, fourth generation Newfoundlander, Chef Todd Perrin of Rabble Restaurant in St. Johns. We chat about the sights, some of the history and what it is like to run a restaurant in St. Johns in 2026. I hope you enjoy our chat.  Send...

On this week's episode we have a many of many hats on the podcast. From a rugby player and cement truck driver to a builder a writer, a founder of the Chefs' Table and a person I call a friend Mr. Jamie Maw. Former food editor of Vancouver Magazine, retired but never stopping. I have wanted to get Jamie on the podcast for a long time. His insights into the Vancouver and Canadian dining s...

On this weeks podcast I have a 5th generation Shellfish Farmer, Malindi Taylor. The Taylor name is synonymous with some of the best oysters in the Pacific Northwest and they also own and run Fanny Bay Oysters, their shellfish farm north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. They also own and operate many restaurants in Washington and in Vancouver. The one here is Fanny Bay Oyster Bar & Shellfish Mar...

On this weeks episode I am very happy to have Jonah Joffe of Bar Bravo and soon to be opened Barnacle at the brand new Time out Market. Jonah has garnered a real great reputation with how he runs his kitchen and how he does an amazing job with fish. I hope you enjoy our conversation and head over to Fraser st and sit at his bar, enjoy some sunshine and a cold beer.  Send us your feedback

In this industry we speak of great Chefs and amazing restaurants, but there is an upper echelon of space reserved for the real Titans of our Industry. I am very happy to introduce you to a chef who has been at the top of Vancouvers food scene for 40 years. Chef Michel Jacob. He sold his world famous restaurant Le Crocodile to his former young cook, Chef Rob Feenie, two years ago and it looks like...