The Chefs
Jeremy Charles
Jeremy’s aim as a chef is to showcase and celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador products, indigenous ingredients, and wild game. He has been able to translate his deep passion for nature into the food at Raymonds – and now the Merchant Tavern, a new bistro opened with his partner Jeremy Bonia. It is the third restaurant of theirs to have made it onto the Best New Restaurants in Canada List. Charles currently lives in St. John’s, Newfoundlandwith his wife and two children.
Christine Sandford
Born in the Canadian prairies, Christine spent the beginning of her career cooking around Edmonton, AB, eventually leaving for Europe to expand her skills. She worked in various kitchens including La Buvette Brussels, De Superette Gent, and stages at Dario Cecchini, and the late In de Wulf and Relae. Christine also spent time learning butchery at ACME meat market, which led her to Biera as the Executive Chef. Her focus is on sustainability, discovering Canadian ingredients with a love of cooking over fire & all things sourdough.
Jori Jayne Emde
Jori Jayne Emde is a chef, culinary historian and food scientist. Her specialties are fermentation and alchemy with a focus on terroir. Jori practices her unique process of whole utilization: maximizing the yield from each ingredient through the processes of fermentation, preservation, and extraction.
An Austin, TX native, Jori completed an associate degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in 2002 before immediately moving to New York City. She promptly worked her way into the kitchen at Lupa Osteria Romana, where she was the first woman to ever work the pasta station in any of the then Batali/Bastianich establishments. From Lupa, Jori transferred to another Batali/Bastianich property, Esca, where she honed her skills and cultivated her passion for working with fresh fish.
In 2004, Jori left the Batali/Bastianich empire and started working with Zakary Pelaccio at 5 Ninth Restaurant and then continued on to Fatty Crab. Working with Zak refined her palate and knowledge further, as she absorbed the techniques and flavors—heavily influenced by the Southeast Asian cuisines Zak mastered in Thailand and Malaysia.
Jori spent much of her free time studying culinary history and learning and practicing fermentation methods. In 2011, Jori and Zak moved to the Hudson Valley and renovated a 150-year-old carriage house that became the widely acclaimed and award-winning restaurant Fish & Game. She was Co-Chef and responsible for the restaurant's impressive larder of ferments and preserves, both sweet and savory. That same year, Jori started her brand, Lady Jayne’s Alchemy. In 2019 Fish & Game was listed in Esquire's 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade.
In 2018, Jori presented at Yale University for a Fermentation Intensive put on by Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking. Two years later, Fish & Game closed and Jori and Zak moved to Taos, New Mexico, where she launched a comprehensive online fermentation school. In 2021 Jori joined forces with Kirsten Shockey and Meredith Leigh and merged her school with their female owned and operated online school, The Fermentation School. Jori is a member of Psychedelic Support and has a certificate in Understanding Psilocybin: Effects, Neurobiology, and Therapeutic Approaches. She also has an accredited certification on Medicinal Plants from Cornell University, and holds many certificates from Alchemy Guild. Currently Jori is in the process of opening a natural wine bar and restaurant, Corner Office, in Taos, NM.
Craig Grozier
Craig Grozier is a Scottish-based chef and founder of Fallachan, established in 2012.
After working and traveling around numerous countries of the world, Craig returned to Scotland and founded Fallachan, a private dining company that offers various tailored dining experiences, with a paramount focus on utilising hyper-local, seasonal produce. Fallachan creates bespoke menus for a range of clients, exploring Scotland’s natural larder to provide a unique, progressive style of dining.
Paul Kahan
Widely recognized as the face of Chicago’s dining scene, Executive Chef and Partner Paul Kahan has earned international acclaim for his hand in helping to pioneer the chef-driven farm-to-table movement, which subsequently swept across the country in the years to follow. His restaurants, now considered institutions, are all part of the renowned One Off Hospitality collective and have included community pillars like Blackbird, avec, The Publican, Big Star, Publican Quality Meats, Dove’s Luncheonette, and Publican Quality Bread. Each establishment reflects Kahan’s commitment to working with Midwestern farmers—which helped him earn the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef in 2013, Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2014, Best Chefs in America in 2004, and retain a Michelin star at Blackbird for all nine years stars were offered by the tire company in Chicago while the restaurant was operating. Kahan has garnered the praise of many who claim him to be one of America’s most influential working chefs. In 2018, his cookbook “Cheers to the Publican, Repast and Present: Recipes and Ramblings from an American Beer Hall," won the IACP award in the “Chefs and Restaurants” category. In 2019, Kahan released his second book, ‘Cooking For Good Times,” which was named ‘One of The Best Cookbooks Of The Year’ by the New York Times Book Review. Despite numerous accolades, Kahan’s biggest accomplishment remains his work as a mentor for young chefs. Kahan is a co-founder of Pilot Light, an organization dedicated to enhancing school children’s perception of food through hands-on education, and he is a passionate supporter of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for pediatric cancer research.
Zakary Pelaccio
Zakary Pelaccio is an award winning chef and restaurateur who lives in Taos, NM with his wife Jori and dog Waylon. Jori and Zak are currently building a Natural Wine Bar and Restaurant in Taos, set to open on Labor Day 2022. In 2016 Zak received a James Beard Award for Best Chef. Esquire named Fish & Game, the restaurant he owned and operated for just under a decade in Hudson, NY, one of the 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade. Wine Enthusiast awarded Zak’s Fish & Game one of the top 100 Wine restaurants in the US for 4 years in a row and, in year five, added it to the Hall of Fame. In 2021, Zak sold his other Hudson, NY property, a bar/restaurant called BackBar, which was regularly on Thrillist’s top bars in NY and won one of the 24 Best Bars in America from Esquire.
Prior to his decade spent in New York’s Hudson Valley, Zak built New York City’s internationally acclaimed restaurants Fatty Crab and Fatty ‘Cue, Southeast Asian inspired restaurants influenced by his time working as a cook in Malaysia and Thailand. In addition to the four NY locations, Zak and crew opened Fatty Crab in St. John, USVI, Hong Kong and, in 2006, Zak developed a spin-off of the brand for the Sanderson Hotel in London called Suka.
Zak trained as a cook in both Malaysia and Thailand as well as under culinary luminaries Daniel Boulud (Daniel, Café Boulud) and Thomas Keller (French Laundry, Per se). He is noted as one of the chefs who brought nose-to-tail cooking to the mainstream when he opened NY’s first true gastro-pub, The Chickenbone Café, in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Zak has studied at the International Culinary Academy (formerly The French Culinary Institute), The University of Vermont, UC Berkeley, Columbia University and Syracuse University in Florence, Italy. He holds a BA in Literature and Philosophy The Fatty Crab and The Fish & Game decades have each been documented in the two critically acclaimed, notably different, and almost profitable cookbooks Zak wrote: Eat With Your Hands, and Project No. 258 – Making Dinner at Fish & Game.
Marc-André Royal
Heading a company with more than a hundred employees, Marc-André Royal is the owner of four businesses (restaurant and artisanal bakeries) in Montreal and surrounding areas.
With the experience as chef for several restaurant openings under his belt, in 2008 he opened his own restaurant, Le St-Urbain. Then, in 2011, he branched out to open La Bête à pain bakery. A concept that includes a restaurant, meals to go, bakery and pastry shop. Today he has three stores in Montreal and Laval, as well as a catering division.
Marc-André creates modern European cooking and likes to work with seasonal products, fresh and organic ingredients, as well as sustainably harvested fish. He cares about how a product tastes, its freshness and its quality. Someone who knows how to delegate, he surrounds himself with people he can trust, self-starters who strive to outdo themselves. His business partners provide complementary strengths, taking care of management and growing the group. He has worked with his spouse, Annick Dufresne, forever. She’s the one who gets the companies going, provides their structure and management, while Chantal Gervais is in management and service, and heads up the wine cellar.
On television, the public has seen Marc-André on several programs, including Curieux Bégin, Chef à l’oreille and as co-host of La cantine, on Canal V—as well as in guest appearances on various other programs.
After his studies at ITHQ, he built up his experience with stints in Quebec, British Columbia, London and New York City. He has been mentored by Joël Chapoulie at l’Express, Claude Pelletier (Méditerranéen), Pascal Aussignac at London’s Michelin-starred Le Club Gascon, James Walt of Araxi in Whistler, and Thomas Keller at New York’s Per Se. The Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar in Vancouver, 357c, and Le Brunoise are among the other places that have also influenced his cooking.
Marc-Olivier Frappier
Marc-Olivier Frappier has established himself over the last ten years as one of Montreal’s most cherished talents. Marc-Olivier began his career as a cook, working in Italy and New York City, only to find himself back in his home province in 2009 with a job at Joe Beef. He was quickly promoted to the Executive Chef role, which eventually spanned across the entire restaurant group and their 5 establishments. Marc-Olivier Frappier was awarded with the ‘Jeune Créateur’ award in 2016 by the OMNIVORE committee in Paris, France, and was invited to cook alongside some of the most legendary chefs. Marc-Olivier now devotes his time to his latest venture Mon Lapin, where he can be find on the line cooking the food he loves alongside co-chef and partner Jessica Noel, and his wife/ sommelier Vanya Filipovic.
Derek Dammann
Derek Dammann was raised in Campbell river, BC, the salmon fishing capital of the world. After studying cooking in Nanaimo, chef Dammann worked in one of Canada's great Italian restaurants, Zambri's, in Victoria, before making his way to the UK to work with Jamie Oliver. Derek came back to Canada and settled in Montreal, where he opened DNA, one of the most exciting nose-to-tail dining establishments in North America. He partnered with Jamie Oliver again to open Maison Publique, a hugely popular and highly regarded gastropub. Derek co-authored the best selling cook book True North: Canadian cooking from coast to coast, and teamed up with the Joe Beef Group to resurrect the beloved McKiernan Rotisserie on the Lachine Canal in Montreal
James Murray
Currently James Murray is the head chef at top Scottish Restaurant Timberyard in Edinburgh. Timberyard is a family run restaurant in the heart of Edinburgh set in an authentic warehouse dating back to the 19th century.
Timberyard has been at the forefront of the restaurant scene in Scotland for the last 10 years. Fiercely sustainable and with the most forward thinking wine list in the UK
Previously James lead the kitchens at The Edinburgh Food Studio and Nur in Hong Kong. The latter gaining a Michelin star within three months of opening.
He has worked at some of the UK's leading restaurants including Lyles in London and Raymond Blancs Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons.
James’ cooking style has been described as hyper seasonal and ingredient led, with a huge focus on preservation, fermentation, whole animal butchery and traceability. He uses traditional cooking methods over an open fire grill, and techniques to create bold and harmonious flavours and dishes.
Working closely with small growers, farmers and fisherman to source the very best of Scotlands larder.
Kyumin Hahn
Born in Canada and raised in California, Kyumin trained under chefs Michael Stadtlander, Jeremy Charles and Magnus Nilsson. When not working in kitchens, you’ll find him with his family, otherwise swinging flies chasing after Atlantic Salmon. He is head chef and partner of Restaurants Kadeau, 2* Copenhagen and 1*Bornholm.
