Mise en Place - the Podcast

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 who should be on the podcast. 

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 for how those relationships should be cultivated. Because of these great relationships, they both produce incredibly delicious food that is good for you, the cook, the farmer and the planet. I hope you enjoy the listen. As always please DM your feedback on @cookscamp2024 on instagram. 

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 ending desire to prove to himself that his work in Culinary Competition will bring home the gold. His work with the Culinary Teams as a competitor, a coach and as a mentor, are legendary around the world and rightly so. He is one of the most respected culinary champions in the world and his reputation and work take him everywhere. All of his hard work was recognized earlier this year with the highest accolade a Canadian citizen can awarded, induction into the Order of Canada. Not bad for a cook from Switzerland.  

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 mark on BC's hospitality scene. 

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 believe we need more leaders like her changing the game. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did. As always, please send comments and suggestions for guests through direct message on @cookscamp2024 on instagram. 

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 fun, but always with a very strong backbone of tenacity and grit. And I can't say this enough. For a proper sandwich, go see her at her shop, Say Hey Cafe, you will be thankful I sent you.

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 in general is about telling the story of the restaurant, the food and the wine. It is integral to the experience of dining out. It is integral to the fabric of being a hospitality professional. Story telling is at the core of who we are and what we do. I hope you enjoy Michael's insights and I really look forward to having him at COOKSCAMP this September. 

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 pastry case of really beautiful viennoiserie, and collection of cake slices and creme puffs. I ordered my usual cappuccino and simple croissant, I paid and walked out. As I slowly walked down the block sipping my coffee and pulling my breakfast treat from its bag, I took a bite stopped in my tracks. A thousand layers of butter soaked pastry shattered against my bite and was transported back in time to Paris, where I experienced a similar and familiar taste and texture. As I continued home, all I wanted to do was each another bite. I got to my front door and the sad realization that my bag was empty and the trail of croissant crumbs were the only evidence of my delicious breakfast. 
Since that time I have had many delicious pastry's from this unassuming bakeshop. I have also had the pleasure to get to know the owner, Elmo Pin Pin, and his very talented but small team. I hope you enjoy getting to know him as much as I do, also go and do yourself a favour and find his shop. It will definitely improve your day. 

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 had an opportunity 7 years ago to go and eat BBQ in Houston, San Antonio and Austin and it truly changed my perspective on just how incredibly delicious BBQ can be. Simple food, cooked low and slow with the addition of post oak smoke, makes one of the most sublime, unctuous and incredibly deliscious foods available anywhere. So, the simpler the preparation, the much harder it it is to execute well. John shares his methods and tips and nuances of the craft. I hope you enjoy, I sure enjoyed chatting with him. 

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 best kitchens, to the World Stage, Chef Poyan has accomplished many incredible things in his career. He is well known and respected amongst his peers, and all those adjacent to our community. His tireless work with the Chefs Table and especially brining back the Apprentice of the Year Competition has cemented him a true leader to look up to. I hope you all enjoy our conversation.