Looking for a mentor chef in Vancouver

[Junior]

Howdy. This is directed to the chefs and kitchen guys in the crowd. My friend Cory is moving to Vancouver in Feb of 06 to live

He is currently finishing his Journeymen's paper this week and has been cooking for about 10 years in some of the fine dining places here in Saskatoon.

He is looking for work in a high end/fine dining restaurant with a chef who is willing to teach him. I spent a little over a year with him and he is a hard working talented guy. I have a few contacts left in the city and I am reaching out to them, if anyone here can help it would be appreciated.

[nwyles]

Shoot for the stars and try and get him into either Lumiere or West. ( staff members of both places post here so they might be able to help )

But if you want to go to one of the spawning grounds of these two hot chefs, call Michel Jacob at Le Croc. Franck is his main restaurant chef and would be someone to reach out to.

Chef Jeff is doing lots of cool things. Aurora Bistro would be a good resume builder as well as two members of that restaurant post here so you could find him some digs real quick.

Now, if he has any interest in the hanger steak, Hamilton Street Grill would be a good place to spend an afternoon learning everything about it.

Good luck,

[bigorre]

go to Europe....

Edited December 12, 2005 by bigorre (log)

[fud]

go to Europe....

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But he's moving here to Vancouver to live? How would going to Europe help him hone his skills while living in Vancouver?

[chef jeff]

go to Europe....

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Hi Bigorre, it is true that many great Canadian chefs have trained in Europe. It is also true that I have worked with numerous chefs who have trained in Europe, who are hacks! Many, many graet chefs in Canada didn't train in Europe. I have encountered this attitude before, and personally take offense to it.

Cheers, Jeff

[Bubbalicious]

Chef friends have told me that the two best kitchens to learn in are at Le Croc and Cioppino's. Franck at the Croc is a fantastic chef and a great teacher. Pino at Cioppino's is brilliant and takes time throughout the day to instruct his kitchen staff. He shows them not only how to prepare menu items but also special dishes that he prepares for guests making sure that they get to taste the dish as well. Sometimes the whole kitchen would come to a standstill while he showed his staff how he did something.

He's exacting and demanding but he's brilliant and cares for his staff tremendously, in his own way.

I've also heard a rumour that he's opening a Cioppino's 2 somewhere near the new Shangi La...

[j_edge]

I worked at CinCin last summer and at the time the Exec. Chef was Romy Prasad and one of the Sous Chefs was Andreas Welschburger...well Romy has gone across the street to open his own restaurant and Andreas Welschburger is now the Executive Chef. He is a culinary wizard and a great chef to work with...always helping out wherever needed and teaching whenever he could...if I could do things over...I would still be working under him!

Also Sean Riley (Corporate Chef) at Coast Restaurant in Yaletown is an excellent chef. He even washed dishes till 2am one morning with me (both dishwashers called in sick...being the low man on the totem pole I volunteered to stay and wash dishes...and Chef Sean followed me into the dish area and helped me out). He is VERY creative and can make something out of nothing all the time. Very downt to earth and easy to get along with...shows you everything...lets you taste everything he makes on the communal table (an added bonus).

Hope this insight helps you out a bit...go to both the restaurant websites...drop the chefs an email or give them a call!

Good Luck

Cheers

[bigorre]

Sorry Jeff if what I said affected you in a bad way.

[Junior]

Thanks Neil for the offer of hanger steak lessons, would that be available for vactioning chefs as well I'm sure Cory would be grateful. He has a sort of hit list of places to talk to. Lumiere and West are on the list.

When I first came out to Vancouver I spent time at the Moustache Cafe and worked with Andreas there, so I will be pointing Cory in that direction as well. Andreas should be considered in the Unsung thread as well.

Any thoughts on what Don Letendre is doing at Exilir ?

I'm a little surprised at the Le Croc suggestion but when you have been around as long as him or even Pino that tells you they are doing something right.

Thanks for all the help. I'll be passing this along.

[D90]

Thanks Neil for the offer of hanger steak lessons, would that be available for vactioning chefs as well    I'm sure Cory would be grateful.  He has a sort of hit list of places to talk to.  Lumiere and West are on the list. 

When I first came out to Vancouver I spent time at the Moustache Cafe and worked with Andreas there, so I will be pointing Cory in that direction as well.  Andreas should be considered in the Unsung thread as well. 

Any thoughts on what Don Letendre is doing at Exilir ?

I'm a little surprised at the Le Croc suggestion but when you have been around as long as him or even Pino that tells you they are doing something right. 

Thanks for all the help.  I'll be passing this along.

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Junior how long ago did you work at the moustache café and was it the old or new one? My cousin did his apprenticeship there, then moved onto 900West and is now working at Exilir. His name starts with an O.

[Junior]

I worked at the Cafe on Burrard in 97 and 98. I was only there for 6 months as I was going to PICA at the time. The only people I remember where Andreas and Simon the sous chef's, Chef Don and a little Lebanese guy who I can not remember his name off the top of my head. would that be Omar ?

Edited December 13, 2005 by Junior (log)