Keynote Speaker at Feast of Flavour – Calgary’s Holistic Food Event
Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Congress Hall at Spruce Meadows
Born in Leicestershire, England and raised in Montreal, Michael has been cooking for over 22 years on 3 continents. Chef Blackie loves to push the limits of cuisine. He is a multiple medalist at the prestigious Gold Medal Plates culinary competition and placed 2nd at the national Canadian Culinary
Championships event which was featured in Mark McEwan’s television show “The Heat”. Michael was the opening Chef of Brookstreet Hotel, and is now the executive chef of the National Arts Centre. He has also been seen on TV as host on the Food Network's Chef* Off!
Having worked his way up through some of the best kitchens in Toronto, Michael was very fortunate to apprentice at the Windsor Arms Hotel. Over the past decade, Chef Blackie has worked at some of the world’s finest hotels including the Fairmont Pierre Marques (Mexico) and the Oberoi (Bali)—an exclusive five-star facility voted the world’s best boutique resort by Leading Hotels of the World (2002) and listed on Condé Nast’s “hot list” during his tenure.
Among his many career highlights, Chef Blackie held Executive Sous Chef and Acting Chef positions at the prestigious and world-renownedMandarin Oriental (Hong Kong).Most recently, Chef Blackie held the Executive Chef position at Brookstreet in Ottawa where, after just three months under his leadership, the hotel’s flagship restaurant Perspectives was awarded the prestigious four diamond rating from CAA. Chef Blackie joined the NAC artistic leadership team in April 2009.
