While the foods Squamish chefs Jeff Park, Cameron Hunter and Jeramy Duckworth serve may vary in flavour and style, creativity and a passion for both food and people are common ingredients in each of their kitchens.
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鈥� Meet Jeff Park of Salted Vine 鈥�
If you ask Salted Vine鈥檚 executive chef Jeff Park what his favourite dish to cook is, his answer will depend on the time of year.
鈥淚 think it changes every season,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen summer comes along, and when there are spot prawns鈥� when there are tomatoes in season, I love cooking with tomatoes.鈥�
Vegetables can get overlooked, he says, considered as a side or supplement to meat, when they can be the most exciting part of a dish.
鈥淚 think sometimes I want the vegetables to be the start of the dish instead of the proteins,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 always think there鈥檚 a place for well-cooked vegetables.鈥�
Living in Squamish, the local produce is plentiful. As vegetables come into season, he鈥檚 happy to try cooking with the fresh ingredients sometimes only available for a short period.
鈥淥nce you miss that window, all the sudden you have to wait a whole entire year for those things,鈥� he says.
Right now, his kitchen is still using winter crops, but he can鈥檛 wait for fresh produce to arrive as the weather warms.
As for meats, pork belly has a soft spot in his heart (and stomach). At Salted Vine, he makes it slow cooked and roasted with a warm dashi broth, shiitake and pea greens.
鈥淢e being of Korean background, I love cooking pork bellies鈥� that鈥檚 something I was very familiar with growing up,鈥� he says.
The meat is relatively inexpensive but cooked well; it can be very rewarding to both prepare and eat.
鈥淧ork belly is one of those products that are fairly cheap, but when you make it nice鈥� (you) elevate the product. It鈥檚 all depending on how you cook it and what you serve it with.鈥�
Park moved to Vancouver with his family from Korea when he was 16. He went on to pursue a career in advertising but found that his dream job as an art director in Pasadena wasn鈥檛 everything he was hoping it would be.
While he always enjoyed cooking at home and hosting dinner parties, it wasn鈥檛 until 2001 that he decided to go to culinary school.
鈥淢y dream was to work in the advertising industry ever since I was young. All through high school, I was always excelling in art, illustration and drawings: that鈥檚 what I was good at and where my interests were,鈥� he says.
He decided to leave his job and pursue cooking 颅鈥� something he鈥檇 always had a passion for 鈥� and attended Dubrulle Culinary Institute in Vancouver. Even if it didn鈥檛 work out, he knew the experience would be worthwhile.
鈥淔ood always brings people together,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 lot of things happen around food: family gatherings, or birthday parties, or celebrations and that stuff, and I always liked that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always one of those things I told myself: if I don鈥檛 like cooking school, at least for that six months I spend in the cooking field, it won鈥檛 be a waste.鈥�
And for this chef, he doesn鈥檛 hang up his apron when he clocks out at night; cooking is part of his life both at work and at home.
鈥淔or me, being a chef, I do this every day. I cook every day at home too,鈥� he says. 鈥淭o cook professionally, I think it鈥檚 an amazing thing that I actually got.鈥�
The Salted Vine is located at 37991 Second Ave. in Squamish.
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鈥� Meet Cameron Hunter of the Joinery 鈥�
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For chef Cameron Hunter, the kitchen is his pallet, and the plate his canvas.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a creative outlet for me. I鈥檓 also a photographer,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 enjoy ways to show creativity.鈥�
Cameron has been a chef for 24 years. Originally from Georgetown Ontario, he started working in kitchens as a summer job in high school and went on to culinary school at Georgian College and Fanshawe College in Ontario after completing his apprenticeship and receiving Red Seal certification.
鈥淚 just fell in love with cooking at a very young age and never looked back,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou find something you鈥檙e really good at, and you just kind of pursue it. You keep going.
鈥淚鈥檝e never thought of changing careers. I鈥檝e never thought that I didn鈥檛 like it anymore. It鈥檚 just always been what I鈥檝e done.鈥�
He moved to Vancouver in 2008 from Ontario, and in 2010 moved to Squamish to work as the sous chef at Furry Creek Golf and Country Club.
He was asked by a mutual friend of the owners of the Locavore Food Truck to cook for them, and now finds himself the executive chef for the truck, the Joinery and Cloudburst Caf茅.
Now working as the executive chef, he says he enjoys building the menus, cooking the food he wants, and running the team.
He鈥檚 reluctant to choose a favourite item on the menu because he likes everything. They make all their pasta, and that鈥檚 one aspect he enjoys.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to compromise quality, so we take the extra time and we make absolutely everything we can,鈥� he says.
But the braised short ribs and coq au vin stand out. The ribs, he says, are hearty and fill you up. It鈥檚 the same for the coq au vin.
鈥淧retty much everything I cook is something I鈥檇 like cooking at home with my family,鈥� he says.
His approach to food is 鈥渦npretentious, approachable food. (It鈥檚) surprising: you can read a menu and you鈥檒l eat a dish and (find) some surprising flavours in there.鈥�
At home, he likes making roast chicken, potato and carrots: something simple, easy and flavourful.
But his favourite thing to make is cr猫me br没l茅e; the first thing he learned to make as a pastry chef in London, Ontario.
鈥淚 love just making a simple vanilla cr猫me br没l茅e鈥� It just makes me happy to make it and eat it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檒l eat one every day if I can. I almost do, too.鈥�
Even in a fast-paced environment like a kitchen, he says cooking makes him feel calm.
鈥淭he outside world kind of shuts down, and I feel focused on what I have to do for the day.鈥�
At the Joinery this spring, Cameron says to expect a lot more seafood.
鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e so close to the ocean that it鈥檚 kind of one of the things that鈥檚 lacking in Squamish,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 lot of people aren鈥檛 utilizing where we are. They focus a lot on meat (or) they鈥檙e vegetarian. I feel like, just being so close and having so much fresh seafood available, it鈥檚 just something I wanted to try out for the summer.鈥�
The Joinery is located at 1861 Mamquam Rd. in Squamish. The Joinery focuses on family-friendly dinners that are meant to share.
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鈥� Meet Jeramy Duckworth of Saha Eatery 鈥�
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Jeramy Duckworth鈥檚 kitchen is a 鈥渟ocietal free-zone,鈥� he says.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sort of revelry in the day that may not exist in other work environments. Cooks: we鈥檙e different. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e in the kitchen,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 shenanigans. There鈥檚 always fun to be had.鈥�
A kitchen is a happy place he says, and he likes to build a sense of camaraderie with all the personalities that come in.
Duckworth found himself in Squamish as just part of 鈥渢he journey of life.鈥� He had friends moving to the area who asked if he wanted to join them on the coast.
Although he hasn鈥檛 been in Squamish long, he鈥檚 fallen in love with the town.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty f* stunning here, eh? It鈥檚 pretty awesome. It鈥檚 so idyllic, you know?鈥� he says. 鈥淪ometimes I鈥檓 still just blown away by the majesty of nature (here).鈥�
Before coming to Squamish, Duckworth worked at Green Cuisine in Victoria and Chilled Cork back in Ontario. He鈥檚 worked at in other restaurants in the province, and at one point spent five years working at the Portland Hotel in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside making meals for 800 people a day.
Duckworth is self-taught. He started as a line cook, got some experience working in other kitchens, and finally finds himself as executive chef and co-owner of Saha Eatery. When he cooks, he feeds people from his heart, he says, and it鈥檚 a form of creative expression.
鈥淚 just like cooking: that鈥檚 what got me into it. Just love of food,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 like to eat. I like to eat healthily, but flavourful food. It doesn鈥檛 mean it has to be spicy: I just like food.鈥�
The pan-fried halloumi served with cucumber and tomatoes is one item on their menu he particularly enjoys making. Their roasted red pepper and walnut dip and the tabbouleh are other favourites.
鈥淚t鈥檚 familiar yet exotic at the same time: it鈥檚 a lovely flavour,鈥� he says.
Those 鈥渮ippy鈥� flavours, as he calls them, are part of his cooking style and 鈥渇lavour pallet.鈥� Spices from the Levant region in the Middle East, from Turkey and Morocco, influence the type of food he serves at his restaurant.
But unlike the other two chefs, Duckworth doesn鈥檛 take his work home with him. After cooking all day and washing so many dishes, he likes to keep things simple.
鈥淎s a chef, I don鈥檛 cook much at home. I like to make f* buffalo sauce ramen,鈥� he says, laughing. 鈥淚鈥檒l buy a pack of Ichiban; I鈥檒l cook some butter and garlic, and throw some noodles in that.鈥�
Saha Eatery is located at 38128 2nd St. in Squamish, and serves food with flavours from Lebanon and Morocco.
