Culinary Stage

Chef Daniel

Friday August 31
4:15pm – 4:55pm

With an experience of well over three decades, I can say that everything started by watching my mother cooking in our own humble kitchen and learning it from scratch. I specialise in Portuguese and Angolan cuisine, since that was my childhood traditional eating habits taken from my father (born in Portugal) and my mother (born in Angola), but always had an insatiable curiosity for new foods and pairing flavours from different parts of the world. Thus, while personally exploring different eating experiences, my cooking style is all about balance. In the process I love to create dishes around seasonal ingredients and on what look good at the market each single day. That way I can and do often surprise my guests and friends with novel ways to spin new flavours with old favourites. My professional trajectory started at age 14 at the Restaurant Grutas de Santo António, in my father’s hometown, before going to the Lisbon Cooking School, and went on the experience to cook for large gatherings in the Army kitchens. With the acquired experience, it come the inevitable move to prestigious establishments, namely the posh Hotel Ritz in Lisbon, the Hotel Atlantis in Vilamoura, Algarve, and then crossing the Atlantic and the North American continent to work in Vancouver, first in the “April in Portugal Restaurant”, followed by the operations of catering for the airlines, and then the kitchens of the Hyatt Hotel and “il Giardino Restaurant”, all that before setting my own business of specialities restaurant and catering.

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Chef Lan Do

Friday August 31
5:30pm – 6:10pm

Like many chefs in the culinary world, Lan has had a passion for food all her life. As a child, she was very appreciative to all types of cuisine, including dishes that would be considered adventurous and exotic. This unrestricted attitude towards a wide range of cuisines has served her and her palate well. Despite her persistent passion for food, Lan did not pursue culinary arts as a young adult. She took the secured path of studying business, working her way up to become a marketing executive and start a family. Fast forward twenty plus years, having spent many years planning to open her first Vietnamese/French restaurant, Lan decided to enrolled in Chef school in Vietnam. She was trained and mentored under one of the best Executive Chefs in Vietnam. In order to understand Vietnamese culture and its origins, Lan embarked on a solo food tour in Vietnam. She tasted her way up and down the country and was blindsided by the beauty and history of the country where she was born. She wanted to truly understand proper techniques, un-wrap the essence of spices, and learn how Vietnam’s cuisine was influenced by France. Upon her return, the seed of Bánh Mì Très Bon was planted and its vision became clear. Lan and her staff strive to create a culinary experience, defined by sophisticated presentation in a comfortable environment, where your senses are perpetually enticed by food.

Chef Betty Hung

Friday August 31
6:45pm – 7:15pm

Betty Hung, together with her brother Jacky Hung, realized their dreams when they assumed ownership of Beaucoup Bakery from founder Jackie Kai Ellis in 2017. Betty began with Beaucoup Bakery as an intern from the very beginning and worked her way up to head pastry chef, receiving one of Beaucoup Bakery’s scholarships in Paris to train at the famed École Gastronomique Bellouet Conseil. Previously a designer, she had little formal food training but her passion to create delicious pastries really drove her to succeed. In her spare time, Betty enjoys testing and developing recipes for her blog, Yummy Workshop, and is currently working on a cookbook French Pastry 101, coming out this fall in Canada and the United States.

Chef Drew Munro

Saturday September 1
11:45am – 12:25pm

Drew Munro is the Founder and Culinary Director of Drew’s Catering & Events. He started the company as a meal delivery service out of the back of his Hyundai and has since grown it into one of the largest and most reputable event catering companies in Vancouver, winning the National Top Choice Award for Vancouver’s Best Caterer for the past 4 consecutive years.

Drew is frequently hired by world-class brands such as Ferrari, Microsoft, KPMG and Apple to deliver custom food experiences for their events.

Drew grew up in Chilliwack, BC and is passionate about helping young entrepreneurs in food follow their dreams. He regularly speaks at culinary schools and conferences to share his experiences, and his articles and recipes have been published in BC Business Magazine, Home Makeover Magazine, The Vancouver Sun and more.

Chef Raj Thandhi

Saturday September 1
12:45pm – 1:25pm

Raj Thandhi is a South Asian lifestyle writer with a passion for preserving generational Indian recipes. For the last 7 years she has written about food, culture, and fashion with an Indian touch at www.pinkchailiving.com. She strives to create quick, easy, and healthy Indian recipes.

Chef Mark Singson

Saturday September 1
1:45pm – 2:25pm

Mark recently placed runner up on Top Chef Canada Season 6 where he was referred to as a ‘magician’ in the kitchen, as well as a ‘mad scientist’ for taking familiar dishes, breaking them apart, and reintroducing them as something visually different but each bite hits all of the nostalgic notes.

His culinary career started at Cactus Club with a passion for eating at the age of 16, fuelled by his role model mother who was a chef herself, turned into a genuine desire to not only push boundaries with his cooking style but also for the love of small details that add up to create the ultimate dining experience everywhere he goes.

Over the years Mark has been honoured to work in Vancouver at The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Oakwood, and Boneta, to name a few. With a year before his new project opening up, he ventured off to Melbourne, Australia where he worked at Vue De Monde, and Saint Crispin. He hosted the first of many Pop-Ups while in Australia with much success.

Mark came back and successfully helped open up the acclaimed AnaLena, which quickly became EnRoute’s #6 on the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in Canada list. After a year and a half he felt he needed more room for creative growth and parted ways to put all of his energy into creating his own company that specialized in creating unique Pop-Ups and Private Dining experiences that unites all of his core passions of Food, Art, and Music, called FAM Inc. Mark’s menu, and flavour profiles can still be tasted, and his impression on the restaurant can still be felt to this day.

FAM Inc started with Mark’s passion for delivering delicious dining experiences yet bold enough to make you rethink what you just experienced by pushing the boundaries with the inspiration he draws in from his environment, the arts, and the music that surrounds him. One of the most significant aspects that can be felt throughout all of his events is the importance of family unity.

Mark has proven to be fearless in the culinary scene, which goes hand in hand with his love of the city and ability to live outside of the box all the while remaining humble which led him to recently being honoured to represent one of the Lexus’ Master Class series four brand values, as a Brave Design Master celebrating his courage to stand out and elevate something purposeful to something extraordinary.

Chef Sanjay Pandey

Saturday September 1
2:45pm – 3:25pm

Sanjay hails from North part of India, from the Himalayan region of Kumoun.

After graduating from the Hotel School he worked extensively around the world excelling in his culinary skills and showcasing Indian Cuisine.

Sanjay came to Canada 15 years ago and runs a successful restaurant in Kits called Charqui – the menu in the restaurant is based on his exposure to the various cuisines of the world and yes he also has the ever popular butter chicken on the menu.

Chef Gurj Dhaliwal

Saturday September 1
3:45pm – 4:25pm

The acclaimed Chef Gurj Dhaliwal dazzled television audiences in Food Network Canada’s, “Superstar Chef Challenge”, as he reigned supreme as the national winner in 2007. Prior to that, this culinary artist was creating havoc in the kitchen from a very young age. After graduating at the top of his class, Gurj landed his first job at Vancouver’s well-known CinCin Ristorante. He then completed his Red Seal Chef’s Certificate at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel to only make his way to Australia to work at the Four Seasons Sydney. After winning the show on Food Network Canada, Gurj Dhaliwal decided to open his own catering business, GD Gourmet, proving his clients with high quality food in the interactive and intimate environment of their home. Gurj and his creations have been featured in a variety of magazines. He also worked for Canadian retailer Aritzia as Head Chef and UBC’s The Delly as their Director of Operations.  Gurj currently works in Culinary Development for Browns Restaurant Group.

Chef Mike Manlulu

Saturday September 1
4:45pm – 5:25pm

Head Chef Britannia Brewing Steveston, where he creates a modern West Coast bistro menu focusing on locally sourced natural produce being influenced by seafood. Mike is classically trained in French fine dining starting his career working with Michelin Star French chef’s Michele Rostang and Philippe Gauvreau in Dubai. In 2008 Mike then established himself in Vancouver at Bin 942 as Chef de Cuisine where he created menus alongside owner/chef Gordon Martin, from here he moved onto lead the kitchen at The Vancouver Royal Motor Yacht club before joining Britannia Brewing Company as Head Chef.

Chefs Dominique & Cindy Duby

Saturday September 1
5:45pm – 6:25pm

Dominique & Cindy Duby are the chefs-owners, chocolate-makers and designer chocolatiers at Wild Sweets® – a Richmond-based craft cocoa bean roaster, bean-to-bar chocolate-maker and Canada’s only science-based cocoa bean-to-bar chocolate-makers. Wild Sweets® ranked one of the ‘25 Best Chocolatiers in the World’ and was awarded ‘Best Chocolatiers & Confectioners in America’. Dominique & Cindy Duby finished ‘Top 10 Pastry Chefs in the World’ while leading Pastry Team Canada at the World Pastry Cup in France. And they are also authors of 5 award winning cookbooks including “Best Cookbook in the World” in Spain and England.

Chef Kimiko Suzuki

Saturday September 1
6:45pm – 7:25pm

Kimiko Suzuki loves sharing her passion for locally sourced, simple and delicious dishes. Born and raised in Wakayama, Japan, she enjoyed the freshness, sweetness and richness of vegetables picked from her grandfather’s garden plot and learned true home-style Japanese cooking techniques in her mother’s kitchen. Kimiko teaches at Cook Culture and Well Fed Studio in North Vancouver, and also has been published in edible Vancouver Wine and Country as well contribute writer for Vancouver Shinpo, local Japanese newspaper. Look for her this fall on the UBC Farm workshop schedule.