34 » OpenRoad Driver
Talking about your former staff, like
David Hawksworth, Rob Feenie and
Nat Bell, any secrets about them?
Nat and David were very young when they
came as apprentices, and Rob was already
a young chef. Rob wanted to stop because
he wanted to be a fireman. The sad thing
is I convinced him to continue as a chef.
What’s sad is that we would have had Rob
on the fireman calendar, you know, topless
(laughing). But it’s my fault and women
would be so sad (laughing) … just kidding!
If you told me 25 years ago that Nat would
be a chef for the Four Seasons, I would say
no way. He wanted to be a chef so much
and he really changed his life for a while
and now for him to be the chef at the Four
Seasons, is very good for him. David was
always very concentrated. He came in with
his mom and she introduced me to him for
apprenticeship. He was very focused and
shy. After the three-year apprenticeship
at Le Crocodile, he went to England for
seven to eight years, and worked in some
top restaurants there, and then came back
to Vancouver because he liked the west
coast. Day one for his restaurant everything
was already tip top, the décor, the staff, the
food … so, hats off to him!
Are there some young chefs in the
city now that you think show some
potential?
Yeah, we have some, obviously. One is
the sous-chef of L’Abattoir. He is going
to be an upcoming star and the other
one is Warren Barr. He is the chef of the
Wickaninnish Inn and he used to be an
apprentice here. So those are some of the
next guys we will be following.
So when you are off and have some
free time, where would you go to
eat? You mentioned L’Abattoir. Any
other places?
On my days off, I go to Italian, Asian –
Chinese and Japanese – and I like Spanish,
and actually once in a while I go to Cactus
Club. When my son was younger, he played
soccer every weekend. After the game we
stopped at McDonald’s and I told him, “I
can’t go to McDonald’s!” But I had the Big
Mac, nuggets and the French fries and I
couldn’t find the other fries anywhere else
better and the burgers, too, with that price,
it’s perfect. I had to put on a moustache to
make sure nobody recognized me, but once
or twice, people would ask me, “What are
you doing here?”
So you are a very passionate
person. Besides food and restaurant
and cooking, what are your other
passions?
Sports. People always ask me what would I
do if I am fifteen or eighteen or start over
again? Would you be a chef again? I would
say I would want to be an athlete because
of the discipline and being driven, and you
have to take care of your stuff. What kind
of sports? Because I am a European, we
did mostly soccer or bike. I would have
loved to be a professional soccer player
or cyc list. Or tennis or golf. My son was
a semi-professional. He went to London
for the Olympics. I live a bit my dream in
watching him achieving that high level of
sports and was so pleased to see him race in
the Olympics.