Once a week, with his rock band, he sings covers from the Beatles to Weezer. The rest of the time Carl Dahl performs as Executive Chef of two Oakville hotspots "Julia" and "Ritorno". On any given day, at the mercy of his sous chefs, Chef Dahl can be found in either location cooking Italian and Latin American cuisine to an eager local dining public. Born in Montreal, Dahl...

312 Lakeshore Rd. E
(905) 844-7401

Once a week, with his rock band, he sings covers from the Beatles to Weezer. The rest of the time Carl Dahl performs as Executive Chef of two Oakville hotspots "Julia" and "Ritorno". On any given day, at the mercy of his sous chefs, Chef Dahl can be found in either location cooking Italian and Latin American cuisine to an eager local dining public. Born in Montreal, Dahl...

261 Oak Walk Dr.
(905) 257-5881

Brad Clark nearly didn't have a career as a chef. His first forays in the kitchen as a youngster saw him thumbless after an accident with a mandolin blade. Thumb back in place and fast forward to a young teenage boy and Clark's still in the kitchen, finding his way in life. From cooking for his roommates to starting out in casual eateries, it wasn't long until he was moving up throu...

1097 Queen St. E.
(416) 645-0914

While the day was grey, for a brief moment the sun broke through the clouds long enough for my interview with one of Canada's most interesting chefs, Philman George. You see, Philman isn't a chef available for a reservation, a tasting menu and unless you are a member of the Toronto Island Yacht club or have visited Barbuda's Lighthouse Bay Resort, chances are you haven't di...

504-264 Queens Quay W.
(416) 203-0492

"There's nothing better than waking up and loving what you do," affirms Win Lai Wong, Executive Chef of Spice Route. Her father, a master wok chef, exposed her to great food early on. Hanging around his restaurant as a child, her curiosities and talents began to emerge. She quickly developed a sophisticated palette that, combined with years of hard work, has lead Wong to running one...

499 King St. W.
(647) 977-6416

First time away from home; studying at McGill University and missing Mom's great cooking; Ezra Title had to fend for himself. What he discovered as he started to cook was how much he enjoyed it. "I've always been creative in some sense, and I love working with my hands. It's something I really took to," shared the chef. Not a popular vocation among his peers at that ti...

167 Rushton Road,
(416) 347-3609

When I walk into Nota Bene, it's like a blank canvas. I love the muted mystery of the dining room, waiting for the place to fill up. Ultra modern design with signature cool Matteo Grassi chairs, a hallmark of any restaurant Franco Prevedello is involved with. But I'm also waiting for Chef Lee's to make his presence known and he does, in the way least expected. David slips into the l...

180 Queen St. W.
(416) 977-6400

We sat on the edge of our seats, chins cupped in hands, and wide-eyed with wonderment, as our eleven-year-old classmate, Anthony Rose, demonstrated the perfect pour in his wine seminar to his grade six class. As fate would have it, he also revealed his calling. Years later we sit in a cozy booth at his Drake Hotel restaurant and reminisce. While most of his friends growing up liked good food,...

1150 Queen St. W.
(416) 531-5042

Art and baking have several things in common. Both require focus, creativity, and the ability to create sensory pleasure through disciplined execution. However, the beauty of pastry art lies within the connection between the mouth and eye of the beholder, anxious to taste what the eye sees. The eyes do eat first or so the saying goes. Chef Christophe Measson leads the pastry team at the Art Ga...

317 Dundas St. W.
(416) 979-6688

While the old saying goes "never trust a skinny chef," for Chef Claudio Aprile of Colbourne Lane, it's "never trust a chef that doesn't have a lot of stamps in his passport." Having eaten his way around the culinary world and having cooked in kitchens from Canada and the U.S. to Thailand and the U.K., Aprile has traveled off the beaten track for his training. His scho...

45 Colborne St.
(416) 368-9009

Exuding limber energy, charm and enthusiasm, Chef and co-owner of The Harbord Room, Cory Vitiello has, for almost half his life, worked in kitchens. After turning his parent's home kitchen into a catering operation, they decided to send him to the Stratford Chefs School. An externship at Scaramouche saw him climb from Garde Manger to Senior Chef de Partie before he was off to Australia to w...

89 Harbord St.
(416) 962-8989

The white-roomed cottage that is Auberge du Pommier is not only an institution in the eyes of the city but on an international level as well. Executive Chef Jason Bangerter has brought that international flair with him from his years of training around the globe. But Jason almost became a teacher. During a year off out west after graduating high school to figure out if teaching was to be his c...

4150 Yonge
(416) 222-2220

Tall and handsome, with a flash of grey flecked dark hair, Jean Pierre Challet strides quickly into the dining room of The Fifth Grill. He's been up early, shopping at Kensington Market to prepare for a busy Saturday night. Back from a break, Challet has a small window of time to talk. JP strikes me as introspective, intense, focused, yet with a wry sense of humour. This all translates to...

225 Richmond St. W.
(416) 979-3005

"I never wanted to be the number one guy," says P.K. Ahluwalia. Over a glass of wine in his charming second floor restaurant Dhaba, he explains that even after five years, his greatest joy is still working hard at pleasing his patrons, and he adds, "I'm a happy man." P.K. followed a circuitous route to get to this point in his life, and he has certainly found his niche....

309 King St. W.
(647) 694-0302