Mise en Place - the Podcast

Whole grain is flavour. Tommy Aird of Tommy's Wholegrain Bakery in East Vancouver has dedicated his business to the pursuit of flavour in bread and pastry through the use of wholegrain wheat. He accomplishes this by buying the highest quality organic wheat berries from farms here in BC and milling his own flour. By controlling the whole baking process he and his team can hone done on making s...

On this weeks episode we have a follow up with one of the rising stars of BC's culinary scene. We heard from Danae last April about being a young person in the industry and the challenges she faces. Now back from her European adventures and about to start her new gig at a very anticipated new restaurant opening on Cambie st here in Vancouver. Always great to hear stories from a young culinari...

I'm very happy to introduce a major player in the Canadian Culinary Tourism space to the podcast today. Rebecca Mackenzie is the President and CEO of the Culinary Tourism Alliance. A national, not for profit organization that helps connect the vast array of Canadian tours, farms, restaurants, hotels, breweries, wineries, distillers and producers to large tourism organizations like Destination...

On today's podcast we talk about COOKSCAMP 2024 and the what it meant to everyone. We have the General Manager, Jason Ocenas, of Bargreen Ellingson major partner to COOKSCAMP and the CTS. Johnny Bridge, Chef and current president of the Chefs Table. We also have Poyan Danesh, Chef and Treasurer of the CTS. We talk about the meaning behind COOKSCAMP, what it does and what it could mean to the...

On this weeks podcast we have Essex born Chef, Luke Boswell now running and partnered in Bar Corso on Commercial Drive, here in Vancouver. We chat about the importance of travel, great ingredients and humbling need for family. He will be up at COOKSCAMP next week, so make sure you go up and say hello. He will probably be in the kitchen. As always please DM at @cookscamp2024 suggestions of people w...

On todays podcast we have two of my oldest industry friends. Chef and Co Owner of Harvest Community Foods, Gabriella Meyer and Chef and Owner of Michelin starred Burdock and Co, Harvest Community Foods and Bar Gobo, Andrea Carlson. These two Chefs have been champions of local food and sustainability for a very long time. Their symbiotic approach to the farmer/ producer is what I consider the model...

Incredibly happy to Have Chef Bruno Marti on today's podcast. At the young age of 15 Bruno set out on his own to learn the craft of cooking and has never looked back. Born in Switzerland, and from humble beginnings, Bruno carved out a career that has taken him around the world. Chef's pursuit of his love for languages, his incredible work ethic towards the craft of cooking and his never...

On this weeks podcast we do something a bit different. Chef Poyan Dinesh takes the helm and interviews our regular podcast host Robert Belcham. With 30 years in the hospitality industry, tells the stories of his career that help explain how he ended up here in Vancouver opening restaurants. From Fuel to Monarch burger, Robert has opened and ran a string of successful ventures and left an indelible...

On this weeks podcast we have Kate Siegel, the Executive Pastry Chef of Fairmont's Pacific Rim Hotel. From humble beginnings in small town Ontario, to running the pastry program at the Fairmont's most premiere property in Canada. Kate' unique perspective on the hospitality community and where it is and where it could go, shows her love and respect for the people within it. I truly b...

So amazing to have my favourite Chef and Sandwich artist on the Podcast today. Lina Caschetto has an inspiring story about finding her own way through life and through our industry. Her background in design and many years of working and honing her craft in Paris, has made her unassuming little sandwich shop one of the best bites of food in the city. I hope you enjoy her stories of adventure and fu...

On today's podcast we have long time hospitality veteran Michael Ziff. With his vast array of experience of opening some of the best restaurants in Vancouver to running one of the best restaurants in the Okanagan. The iconic Poplar Grove Winery, which opened its restaurant five years ago with Michael at the helm and it has grown into the go to restaurant in Penticton/ Naramata.  Hospitality i...

Once in a while you can be really pleasantly surprised by a local business. That happened to me last December. I moved into a new apartment with my wife Tina and san Eli and we were discovering our new place and all that came with it. A new bakery/ pastry shop that I had not heard of before was in the new retail section of the complex and I wanted to try it out. They had coffee and a beautiful pas...

I am very excited to welcome Chef John Bates from Interstellar BBQ in Austin Texas. We had the opportunity to meet and cook together at last months Tofino Wine and Dine event up in Tofino BC. Cooking over fire and chatting great food always brings cooks together, and he had a late morning before flying back to Texas to join me in the Podcast Studio, to chat food, the industry and all things BBQ. I...

On this weeks Podcast I am supper happy to have on the most humble and incredibly giving Chefs I have ever had the opportunity to call a friend. Chef Poyan Danesh, who has been working his whole professional career here in Vancouver, is a family man, a lover of great food, champion of the young apprentice and a successful entrepreneur. From his humble beginnings in this industry to some of the bes...

Hello Everyone, welcome back to this weeks episode of the Podcast. We have a very special guest that I got an opportunity to chat with. Born in Brighton, England, he started his career as an architect and through his desire to travel and open his mind to new opportunity, he found himself as a bartender in Whistler and has yet to look back. Now he is one of the most respected hospitality people in...

I am very happy to have had the opportunity to chat with two of the next great leaders of the hospitality industry. Co Chefs of the Restaurant at Poplar Grove in Penticton, Stacy Johnston and Minette Lotz, they share their work life and they share their lives as partners in marriage. Two extremely talented chefs that helped bring the Naramata Inn back to life,  tell their story of the journey thro...

On this weeks podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with my old friend Michelin Star Chef Joël Watanabe, of Kissa Tanto, Bao Bei and his new bar Meo. Chef Joël has been cooking professionally for over 30 years across Canada. His reputation of incredibly hard work, exacting standards, and absolutely delicious foods, has made Chef Joël one of the best in Canada. I hope you enjoy his st...

On this weeks episode we have one of the hardest working BC Chefs I have had the pleasure to work alongside. Chef Johnny Bridge, has been professionally cooking in BC since high school and has always championed his love of the craft and his love of British Columbia. I remember seeing an instagram post of Johnny jumping off some coastal rocks into the frigid pacific and coming up with some wild BC...

On this week's episode we have Executive Chef Clayton Fontaine of the world renown Wickaninnish Inn, one of the most lauded and celebrated hotels in Canada. We delve in Chef's early career, the love of food, ingredients and the amazing west coast. We also chat about the many wonders and challenges of working in a small tourist focused community like Tofino. I hope you enjoyed our convers...

On this weeks podcast I have a Chef Dennis Peckham. Executive Corporate Chef of the Glowbal Group he in Vancouver. From humble beginnings and go for it attitude, his first job in the industry was at Lumiere. For those who don't know about Lumeire, please look it up. As a first rung on the ladder it was a great place to start, The best part of Chef's story is gets sooo much better for onl...

In 2022, I asked Chef Bernard Casavant to be the Chef leader of the World's Largest Family Meal at COOKSCAMP 2022. I have known about Chef Casavant for a long time as one of the OG. A Chef who led a team that turned Canadian food upside down while he was opening and running the Chateau Whistler. His reputation as one the best Chef Mentors around came from so many of the other respected Chefs...

On todays podcast I am very happy to chat with Brandon Grossutti of Pidgin Restaurant in Vancouver. A Vancouver native, Brandon's unique story of a real BC man, has taken him from fishing boats in the Haida Gwaii to owning an incredible popular upscale ding restaurant in Gastown. His lived perspective as small restaurant owner in the heart of the chaos of the DTES give Brandon a hard knox per...

The 20 somethings who come to the hospitality industry want and need different things than we had, to be fulfilled in their careers. The pontificating from old Chefs and Managers about how hard they had it in their day, means absolutely nothing to this younger generation. They will not tolerate a toxic work environment, shitty pay and no future. They do want to work hard and learn, they want to fi...

On this weeks Podcast we have Mary Mackay, VP of Innovation and Product, and also co owner of Terra breads here in Vancouver. I first met Mary about 15 years ago when I started volunteering for the Chefs' Table Society of BC. She was the one that held the CTS together and to account in those early days for me. Mary has been a part of the restaurant and hospitality scene here in Vancouver for...

On this weeks episode we have the Owner, Tim Lahay and Executive Chef of the Barley Merchant. A good sized restaurant in Langley that specializes in local food made from scratch and amazing local beer. From the inception of the Barley Merchant to today, these two forward thinking hospitality vets decided to do run things a bit different. They have changed the game on how things are done and are co...