David Godsoe

Restaurant e18hteen View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with David Godsoe

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

Looking back on my life I feel I probably got my inspiration from my grandmothers, on both sides of my family they were amazing cooks, when I was with them I always ate proper, hearty meals, cooked perfectly and made with love.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

I love being able to cater to as many people as we do on any given night, knowing you have a restaurant full of guests, eating the food you’ve worked so hard to create is the most fulfilling part of the job. The days are long and the years are short in this industry, but positive feedback from a guest always makes it worthwhile.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

1. First of all is the team I get to work with day in and day out. It refreshing working with a team of like-minded individuals all with a focus on creating the best dining experience we can
2. The food, being able to work with such amazing suppliers and high end products on a daily basis is incredible.
3. The history. Having the opportunity to work in such a well-established restaurant such as e18hteen is amazing. We have a superstar list of alumni who have graced the kitchen at e18hteen and I’m excited to follow in the footsteps of some of Ottawa’s best chefs.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

Definitely pasta, easily 2-3 times a week!

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

100% Spain, El Celler De Can Rocca has been on my bucket list forever. I’m in love with the food culture there and I strongly believe they are among the best countries in the world when it comes to pushing the boundaries of cuisine.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

Unlike a lot of Chef’s, I had my taste of ownership at a young age, I learned a lot from it. I find now that I have less of an appetite for owning a restaurant in the future, but it’s not out of the question should the right opportunity come up. I am very happy with E18teen and the group of restaurants we have and the opportunity I have growing with them. I won’t rule out moving to a bigger city though.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

Hockey would be ideal, but I’m not exactly built for it! I played for my whole life so I’m not terrible at least.

What is your favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party?

My favourite thing is having the opportunity to cook alongside some of the city’s best chefs for a great cause. The event now has grown so much and it’s an honour to be invited this year!

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

My girlfriend taught me about this personality thing called the enneagram. Which based on common personality types gives someone a number between 1-9. At first I didn’t think much of it but now I find I use it as a tool to better manage and lead my team.

James Bratsberg

MēNa View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with James Bratsberg

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

Honestly, I took a job as a dishwasher when I was young and fell in love with kitchens. I never really looked back. I fell in love with the craft.

I was also fortunate enough to have a great mentor when I started cooking, Matthew Cassidy. Took me under his wing, but never took it easy on me, made sure I never got away with anything. Taught me about having standards, and living up to them.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

Everything. The constant pursuit of perfection, it doesn’t exist - it’s just trying to get there that’s the point. The atmosphere, the stamina, the attention to detail, routine and focus. Cooking is as much taking care of other people as its a pursuit of personal betterment.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

Creative control, being in an environment (the concept and the staff) where everyone is constantly moving forward, trying to make everything better.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

Anything I can walk away from, cooking at home is about being around people & many glasses of wine.

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

I had the opportunity to travel to London for a few months last year, and to San Sebastian. That was pretty great. I think next will be either France or Japan. Both places are pretty much where I get all of my inspiration from.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

Maybe a little bit bigger of a kitchen, and a farm.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

Something to do with bike racing, growing up I used to bike a lot. That or luge, that seems pretty intense.

Kristine Hartling

OZ Kafe View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with Kristine Hartling

What do you love about cooking for a living?

My love of cooking stems from a love of gardening and for creative arts. You can see the influence in my veg-forward and fresh cooking style.

Steven Harris

two six {ate} View Website

Representing Ottawa

Jason Sawision

Stofa Restaurant View Website

Representing Ottawa

Adam Vettorel

North and Navy View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with Adam Vettorel

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

Working my way through High School and University in kitchens I got addicted to the pace and intensity of kitchen work. I would look forward to my next shift in the kitchen while studying. Applying to Law School I realized I would have to abandon work in the kitchen, and ultimately that was something I couldn't do.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

Cooking for a living allows the perfect balance between creative work and physical labour. In the morning you can read cookbooks with your coffee, and then you can spend the rest of your day banging pots and pans around.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

My restaurant allows me to spend my workweek with an incredible team of people who are as excited to talk about food and cooking as I am. It allows me to introduce people to a version of authentic Italian food that they may have never seen before. My restaurant allows me to help host an incredible party, every night of the week.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

I love to make pasta for my daughter at home.

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

I would travel to Turkey on a culinary vacation. So many of the Venetian recipes I love benefited from the trade between the two empires. I would like to taste the originals. Also...They make the best coffee.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

I honestly have no idea.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

I have played rugby for over 10 years, and was so excited when 7's was added to the Olympics. In a parallel universe I am breaking through tackles and kicking drop goals with a maple leaf on my chest.

What is your favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party?

The lack of funding for our athletes has frustrated me for as long as I have been aware of it. I would never miss an opportunity to raise some money for people who dedicate themselves to showing the rest of the world what Canadians are made of.

Yannick LaSalle

Restaurant Les Fougères (Chelsea QC) View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with Yannick LaSalle

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

As a child I would find myself in front of a BBQ in family reunions helping with the burgers. When I got older, to get myself a student job I cooked in my hometown’s « chip stand ». I didn’t know I wanted to cook for living so I took a machinist program after high school. Again, I found myself cooking as a side job to make some money. I realized then that’s what I wanted to do with my career. I dropped out of my machinist course to join culinary school. My first stage at L’Escarbille in France at a 1 star Michelin confirmed that I was on the right path.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

I love the fact that all 5 senses are stimulated. What please me the most is being apart of creating happiness around the table.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

Restaurant Les Fougères wouldn’t be the same without the wonderful owner’s Jennifer and Charlie Parts and the amazing team. I also enjoy the garden where I get to pick a few of my daily ingredients. The stunning dining room which is made with hyperlocal material and an open kitchen that leads us to connect with our regular clientele.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

Sara and I appreciate eating fish on a Monday evening off. Different approaches to vegetables is a must on a daily basis.

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

I’ve being to a few places in the world but California is where I found myself cooking the best food and feeling the most balanced which is very important in this stressful industry. This is why if I had to choose anywhere in the world, I would go back to California.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

Hopefully owning my restaurant close to my family and still be traveling the world to learn and make new friendship with people that share the same passion.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

I would probably compete in snowboarding. Growing up I really enjoyed this sport where my friends and I would meet up on weekends and have a blast.

What is your favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party?

To be able to share my passion with other top chef’s in the region while raising money for a great cause.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

Although I love to make people happy and encounter that everyday, I am constantly battling high anxiety.

Daniela Manrique

The Soca Kitchen View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with Daniela Manrique

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

My greatest inspiration for becoming the chef, and ultimately the person I am today, is my mother. It is through seeing her entrepreneurial drive, strive for perfection, passion for art, and caring nature, that I’ve been able to carry these characteristics to my every day life and my personal passion and love of food.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

I love having the opportunity to bring family, friends, and people together to share quality time over food creations I design to fill the senses and bring flavours together to make people happy.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

1. Seeing the smiles and hearing the laughs of our guest’s over our food.
2. The closeness of team feel of our Soca Family
3. How different Soca is in terms of the variety and type of food we serve from anything I have done in the past.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

BBQ, because my husband does a great job at it.

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

Given the opportunity, I would love to travel to India to taste all their fresh breads, relishes, spices.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

We would love to expand our business allowing us to reach an even greater demographic and grow the Soca family.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

As a child I was always fascinated by figure skating. I found it magical.

What is your favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party?

As a chef, given the fact that we are always so busy during peak times when people relax, I love the opportunity to talk to other chefs and the opportunity to share in some good, fun, quality time with our culinary community. And of course I love that it’s all for a good cause.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

I don’t cook much at home.

Kris Kshonze

Soif bar à vin View Website

Representing Ottawa

Q & A with Kris Kshonze

Tell us about who or what inspired you to become a chef?

I became a chef because I enjoyed being part of a team working together for a collective goal. I was also fortunate to have worked for good chefs that inspired me along the way.

What do you love about cooking for a living?

I love cooking for a living because everyday is a new challenge. I like trying to get a little bit better at my job everyday. I also love the jus.

Please tell us three things you love about your restaurant.

Three things I love about my restaurant: my colleagues, wine and food.

Where would you travel to on a culinary vacation and why?

As far as culinary destinations go I was fortunate enough to visit family in Poland this past summer, It was truly amazing but only gave me a taste to go back.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

I would like to say that my life would be calmer in 5-10 years but I think deep down I love stress, taking on too much and things being just chaotic enough.

If you were an Olympic athlete what sport would you compete in and why?

I have never been much of an athlete but I imagine that it is like cooking in the sense that the public is only aware of the moments in which you are actually competing/serving food. The training, the preparation makes up the much greater part. As such I would probably choose cycling I could train all day and still love it.

What is your favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party?

My favourite thing about Canada’s Great Kitchen Party is being able to bring the team at the restaurant to do something we are not used to doing, going through the preparation, and the feeling of accomplishment together I find really rewarding.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

Something that most people don’t know about me is that I am really good at telling jokes.

Rich Wilson

gezellig View Website

Representing Ottawa