Vancouver is home to some of the best chefs in the world, many have worked for the top chefs and restaurants around the world as well as around the city. Dishing with the Chefs is a series of Interviews with some of the top chefs in and around Vancouver.

Started cooking in Townsville, Australia in 2002 where I did a year at culinary school followed by a doing my first year as an apprentice at the Plaza Hotel and then worked there for 2-1/2 years. I moved to Brisbane and did a tv show, and competitions as a prep chef. I then worked as a line cook, promoted to a sous chef at the Storybridge Hotel. Next I moved to London, UK in 2008 to the Beas of Bloomsbury and was the head chef for a year. Then moved on to Manchester and worked at Grilled on the Alley for a year. Moved back to Brisbane and worked at Restaurant 2 for awhile, then it was back to Manchester where I worked at Alberts Shed for a year before moving back to Australia to work at Domanis on the Gold Coast for a year. In 2013 I moved to Vancouver and have been the head chef at Catch 122 in Gastown ever since.

As a kid were you interested in being a Chef?

My sister is a chef and I was interested after hearing some of her stories. My mom was into cooking and always joked that there were 2 chefs in the family.

What was the food scene like where you grew up?

Very minimal, one or two outstanding restaurants.

After arriving to Vancouver, is there anything you have learned from our food culture?

• Seasonality
• Availability of the ingredients

What Challenges you as a Chef?

• Trends
• Trying to figure out what people want and it’s not always what you want
• Stepping up a dish and making people think about it in a different way

What are your Favourite Foods to eat?

• Offals
• Black pudding

What are your favourite restaurants outside of where you work?

• Espana
• The Parker
• The Acorn

What do you like to do in your Off Time?

• Travel
• Research menus online
• Browse food photos on Instagram
• Photography

What method do you go through when planning new dishes for your menu?

Try not to recycled what I have done in the past. I  do use ideas from the past and put a spin on it for the dishes I do.

1^st dish:

Yarrow Meadows Duck Breast

Duck breast

Fingerling potatoes

Pickled leeks

Mustard pearls

Orange & Tomato marmalade

Chevre herbs

What was your inspiration behind this dish?

Basic take on a duck ala orange not to literal.

How do you plan your dish for my Vancouver Foodster Challenges such as the Crème Brulee challenge you took part in?

While in bed, ideas come to me such as:

• Idea of a flat biscuit in a dome
• Then set the base
• Spring season take

2^nd dish:

“krehm broo-LAY”

Cointreau custard

Sugar biscuit

Lavender meringue

Pineapple compote

Dehydrated pineapple

Mint

What was your inspiration behind this dish?

Taking the idea of a crème brulee incorporating spiring flavours, keeping the texture and adding elements.

What types of preserves do you can at Catch 122 Restaurant?

• Spiced plums
• Pears
• Lemons
• Fennel
• Radishes

Stay tuned for the next chef in the Dishing with the Chef series.

By: Richard Wolak