The Chefs' House - Our Students

Those Who Aspire

If experience is the best teacher, then our students are in for a great education! The Chefs' House gives them a tremendous opportunity to learn first-hand the skills they will need to succeed in the real world of the hospitality industry.

As part of both their first and second years, students work at The Chefs’ House for either 7 or 14 weeks in both the front and back of house.

The Chefs' House students come from the following Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts programs:

Food and Beverage Management
Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
Hotel Management
Integrated Culinary Management
Culinary Apprenticeship
Advanced Cook Apprentices
Post Graduate Italian Culinary Arts

Here's how you support our students' learning:

Alexandra Shand
Food and Beverage Management Program

(2010 Graduate)

Working in the food and beverage industry for eight years already, Alexandra enrolled in the Food and Beverage Management Program to help realize her dream of opening her own restaurant: a contemporary bistro with excellent food, great night life, and the feel of a fabulous home dinner party! She treasures the knowledge gained in all facets of management, in addition to the ‘wine classes’ with faculty member Adrian Caravello.

For her program placement, Alexandra chose The Chefs’ House to work more closely with CHCA’s professional staff. While there, she met valuable industry connections and celebrity guest chefs. The highlight of her work experience: “I got to make as many mistakes as possible, and to learn from them before testing my abilities in the ‘real’ world. Mistakes here are part of the learning!”

Lisa Onistchenko-Abrantes
Italian Culinary Post-Graduate Program

(2010 Graduate)

Simply put, Lisa LOVES to cook! She finally enrolled in George Brown’s Culinary Program after working in dentistry for several years while catering events for family and friends as a hobby. After completing the two-year Culinary Management Program, Lisa followed her passion and spent four months in Italy, learning and working in the Tuscany region where the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” was filmed. It was a thrill for her to gain experience at “Il Falconiere Ristorante” in the village of Camicia, and she credits her chef teachers and student colleagues for being so strong and outgoing, and for bringing their individual talents to the table for all to learn from. Her experiences at The Chef School and The Chefs’ House have made her determined, focused and courageous.

A highlight of her experience at The Chefs’ House: “The energy here is extremely positive. There’s so much encouragement and every mentoring chef really cares - it’s not just a job for them - they are truly behind the students 100%, encouraging and supporting us.”

Nga Sou (“Mandy”)
Integrated Culinary Management Program

(H116, Second Semester)

Mandy was a child in elementary school when she realized that her passion was cooking, and that she wanted to attend George Brown Chef School! The Integrated Culinary Management Program is where her passion finally landed her after studying economics at a university for one year. Now, she LOVES what she does every day: cooking is her passion, and she cannot deny it.

Mandy chose The Chefs’ House for her program placement because she has no industry experience to date, and she knew that the staff would continue to “teach” her in a live learning environment: “There are so many chefs here, and there are so many ‘right ways’ to do something, from rolling bread to butchering a chicken - and you get to learn from them all! This exposure to different cooking techniques as well as each chef’s industry experience is vital so that students can avoid making the same mistakes that they did when starting out.” The highlight for Mandy at The Chefs’ House was “getting to work at different stations and always learning in a constant teaching environment. Since each teaching chef has his own style, it really opens your eyes!” Mandy also got to meet and work with Celebrity Chefs, which was a thrill after watching them on television for several years - especially Chef Rob Rainford.

With one year remaining in her program, Mandy will return to The Chefs’ House for another work placement term in January 2011. Eventually, with her attention to detail, strong character and amazing talent, Mandy will realize her dream of opening her own restaurant, specializing in classical French cuisine, of course!

Jeremy McDonald
Integrated Culinary Management Program

(H116 Graduate, 2010)

Jeremy was building cars at Ford for 11 years when, one day, he catered a family event for 90 guests, all by himself, and everyone loved it. Guests were booking him as a chef for future events and asking, “Why aren’t you cooking for a living?” After his culinary talents could no longer be denied, Jeremy enrolled in George Brown’s Integrated Culinary Management Program because “it gives you a better perspective of how the industry works, combines a business background with culinary skills, and is the most challenging program available”.

“George Brown Chef School and The Chefs’ House is a great foundation for industry employment: they have the best reputation, offer the most difficult programs to complete, allow you to learn the most skills possible, and really encourage you to be your best.” Jeremy recalls several highlights of his work experience at The Chefs’ House: meeting and learning from Guest Chef Alida Solomon from Tutti Matti Ristorante (“She showed us how to do everything!”); working with Guest Chefs Jeff Crump and Bettina Shoreman (authors of ‘Earth to Table’), and making the best dessert he’s ever had with them, a ‘Fall Apple Puff Pastry Frangipani Tart with Caramel Ice Cream (the recipe is in their book); and, making foccaccia bread - “I surprised myself at being quite skilled at bread-making. Here, I’ve learned to modify methods and tinker with it, to the point that it is now intuitive and I can pass this skill on to others”.

Above all, Jeremy says his most valuable lesson was to ‘move with purpose’: “The chefs teach us to work quickly, but safely, and always with purpose!” This September, Jeremy will move with purpose into his new job as Pastry Chef and Garde Manger at the famed Mississauga Golf and Country Club. We wish him well, and will be watching this rising star!