Previous residencies
Christopher Commandant
1 Elgin (Ottawa, ON)
September 2024 - November 2024Chef Chris Commandant is Kanien’keha:ka of the Wahta Mohawks First Nations community, located outside of Bala Ontario. Dedicated to preserving Indigenous culinary traditions and teachings, he shares his knowledge with the community on topics like Indigenous food sovereignty, food security, and traditional ways of cooking. His classical training has allowed him to fuse the food of the Haudenosaunee with modern cooking techniques to create wonderful representations of some of his... read more
Leah Marshall Hannon
Stella’s Eatery (Waupoos, Prince Edward County, ON)
June 2024 - September 2024Leah Marshall Hannon credits her culinary career to the influence of her great grandmother, Stella Pamajewon Marshall, who raised her family on the shores of Pickerel River. With only a small isolated general store for supplies, her community foraged, hunted and depended on the abundance mother nature offered. Building on the wisdom passed down by her ancestors from Christian Island, Stella created comfort in the form of food. The stories and meals shared within her family were on Leah’s... read more
Amanda Ray
Drake Devonshire (Prince Edward County, ON)
March 2024 - June 2024Amanda Ray, Executive Chef, Drake Devonshire One of Canada’s top female chefs, Executive Chef Amanda Ray, has over 20 years of experience in some of the country’s most respected kitchens. Chef Ray began her career with Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality in 2001. Starting at Auberge du Pommier, she then worked at Canoe, and as Chef de Cuisine/Executive Chef at Biff’s Bistro. During her years at Canoe, she completed a three-month stagiaire at Hotel Crillon le Brave in... read more
Paul Toussaint
Kamùy (Montréal, QC)
January 2024 - March 2024Originally from Jacmel, Haiti, Paul Toussaint moved to Canada at 20 to study law, but quickly realized he wasn’t an “office guy”. He soon discovered a passion for the world of fine dining and got a job at Toqué!, a globally recognized restaurant where he honed his culinary skills. After contributing to post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Haiti, Chef Paul took on the role of executive chef at Agrikol in Montreal. He crafted menus highlighting Haitian cuisine for... read more
Siobhan Detkavich
Kelowna, British Columbia
September 2023 - November 2023Chef Siobhan Detkavich first stepped into the kitchen at the age of 16 and is no stranger to its many challenges. While all paths to culinary mastery are fraught with considerable demands, her experiences facing racism and sexism throughout her career have enticed her to defy the odds and show that perseverance, hard work, and dedication can be exemplified at any age. Having trained under renowned chefs throughout her career, at the age of 21, Detkavich found herself competing for the... read more
Carmen Ingham
The Pointe (Tofino, British Columbia)
June 2023 - September 2023Originally from North Vancouver, Chef Carmen Ingham is passionate about showing off the ingredients that represent coastal British Columbia. His focus on locally-inspired cuisine is a perfect match for his current position as Executive Chef at the Wickaninnish Inn’s The Pointe Restaurant (Tofino, B.C.), a Relais & Chateaux property that celebrates the bounty and beauty of the area. A graduate of Vancouver Community College’s culinary program, he has since gained 14 years of... read more
La-toya Fagon
Twist Catering (Toronto, Ontario)
April 2023 - June 2023La-toya Fagon is the executive chef and owner of Twist Catering. Born in Canada of Jamaican descent, she grew up cooking and eating “island foods,” and fell in love with creating these dishes at a young age. After graduating from George Brown’s Culinary Arts program, she continued to train at top restaurants and hotels throughout Toronto, Europe, and Mexico. Having gained years of experience, La-toya’s creativity flourished and she began to fuse her... read more
Charlotte Langley
Prince Edward Island
January 2023 - April 2023Never bound by titles or labels, Charlotte Langley is constantly reinventing herself and what it means to be a chef, culinary curator, entrepreneur, ambassador for sustainability and champion of the people and causes she believes in. Hailing from PEI, Charlotte embodies what her peers often call “Maritime Chic” – a love for honest food shared with warmth, charm and that famed East Coast hospitality that has chefs, farmers, restaurants, collaborators and clients across... read more
Jenni Lessard
Wanuskewin (Saskatoon, SK)
September 2022 - November 2022Jenni Lessard is a Métis chef, recipe developer and the Indigenous culinary consultant for Wanuskewin Heritage Park. She lives on Treaty Four Territory in the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, where she draws inspiration from the land. Raised near La Ronge, SK, by a small lake, Jenni’s earliest memories include visiting trap lines, picking berries and finding ways to cook and bake with ingredients from the boreal forest. Her first food venture, at age 14, was a burger... read more
Chefs Minette Lotz & Stacy Johnston
Naramata Inn (Naramata, BC)
July 2022 - September 2022Chef Minette Lotz’s passion is for terroir-driven and locally-sourced ingredients. An avid forager, Minette finds her inspiration from exploring her surroundings and discovering new flavour combinations. A firm believer in what grows together, goes together, Minette creates dishes that are true to the exact time, place, and season they are created in. Chef Stacy Johnston believes that the ingredients make the dish. Growing up on her grandparents’ homestead ingrained in Stacy... read more
Sabrina Lemay
Bistro l'Orygine (Québec, QC)
April 2022 - June 2022Chef at Bistro l’Orygine Co-owner of Groupe La Tanière Sabrina Lemay is from Shawinigan and, from a very young age, she knew she wanted to become a chef. Thanks to her determination, she has worked in establishments like Le Saint-Amour, La Tanière, Le Baluchon and Les Sales Gosses. Her adventurous soul pushes her to always look further and to go backpacking whenever the opportunity arises. Her experiences abroad inspire her cooking. She returns from each... read more
Christie Peters
Primal (Saskatoon, SK)
February 2022 - April 2022Christie Peters, chef-owner of Primal in Saskatoon (SK), has a passion for acquiring culinary expertise internationally and bringing it back to the prairies. She first left home at 19 to enter the world of international modeling and, while living in Toronto, fell in love with the food scene. Working at Boston Pizza, she observed: “The power of the restaurant comes from the kitchen, so if I wanted to become a restaurateur, I would need to become a chef”. Since her move to... read more
Joseph Shawana
Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations
September 2021 - November 2021Acclaimed Chef Joseph Shawana is Odawa, part of the Three Fires Confederacy. Born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Joseph was brought up knowing that food is life. Starting in the kitchen at the early age of 13, he learned from his mother, who had learned from hers, and quickly fell in love with authentic indigenous cuisine and the way it brings people together. His classical French training and Aboriginal background combine to... read more
Renée Lavallée
The Canteen
August 2021 - September 2021Chef Renée Lavallée was born and raised in Shawville, QC. She left home at an early age to attend George Brown College in Toronto. After more than 20 crazy years in the business, including many stints in restaurants around the world, Renée has now called Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, home for 15 years. After a brief hiatus to raise her family, Renée jumped back into the ring to open The Canteen. After fewer than three busy years, The Canteen opened up a brand new... read more
Nick Benninger
Fat Sparrow Group
July 2021 - August 2021Chef Nick Benninger found his calling at the age of 16 working at a summer camp in northern Ontario. He fell in love with the kitchen and cooking and since then has “rooted” his career in many of the philosophies he learned in that first encounter with food service. After attending George Brown College, Nick completed his apprenticeship working at kitchens throughout Ontario and finally settling back down in his hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo. In 2008, Nick opened Uptown 21... read more
Sheila Flaherty
September 2020 - October 2020With a love of cuisine that originated in Ottawa, while observing and absorbing her father’s passion for cooking, Chef Sheila Flaherty now brings us the experience of authentic inuksuit cuisine, (or Inuit food), from her home in Iqaluit. Her roots in the North, however, are anything but recent. Her mother originates from Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, and Chef Flaherty is committed to sharing her love for traditionally-made inuksuit with the rest of Canada and... read more
Helena Loureiro
June 2020 - September 2020Helena Loureiro is the Executive Chef and owner of Portus 360 and Restaurant Helena in Montreal. Adopting Québec as her new home over 30 years ago, she warms the hearts of locals by sharing the culture of her native country; Portugal. Her modern and creative cuisine, directly inspired by her travels and her grandmother’s family recipes, have helped her create a reputation as one of Montreal’s top chefs. A few years following the completion of her studies at... read more
Ryan Hotchkiss
January 2020 - March 2020Born and raised in St. Albert, just outside Edmonton, Alberta, Chef Ryan Hotchkiss began his culinary career after high school and a move to Whistler, BC where he got his modest first taste of restaurant work, in the dish pit of a local eatery. After working a few more restaurant jobs, both in front and back of house in Whistler, he made the move back to Edmonton to commence a more formal culinary education and to hone his skills in apprenticeships in established restaurants such as Il... read more
Rich Francis
September 2019 - November 2019Now widely recognized as one of the finalists on Canada’s Top Chef (season 4), Rich Francis is redirecting the spotlight to issues of importance to him, namely the rights of Indigenous people to continue creating and serving food in a culturally authentic way. Formally trained at Stratford Chefs School, he also learned much of the techniques he uses now in Moose Factory on James Bay and in Iqaluit NU, from people who still live off the land. Now, as chef-owner of Seventh Fire... read more
