Saskatoon Farmers' Market

This pairing of extremely talented, creative chefs and food from the vendors of the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market should certainly give everyone a reason to celebrate and be happy! In this, our inaugural series, Chef Events will be held on the third Thursday of each month from January to May.
We are particularly pleased that all five of the chefs in this series have been Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plate contenders!

Series #1 - January 19, 2012 Chef Anthony's event is an all inclusive 5 course meal with wine pairings starting at 6 p.m.

We are so happy to have Anthony McCarthy, Executive Chef of the Saskatoon Club, as our first featured Chef. Anthony, who won Bronze in 2010, recently won the Gold medal at the Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plates competition, and will be competing nationally in February. He is the president of the Canadian Culinary Federation of Chefs and Cooks, Saskatoon Chapter, and has won peer recognition in local competitions being named Chef of the Year on two occasions.

Anthony hails from Banbury, England where he took his training, then got initiated at a small Fine French Restaurant in Oxford. After a stint as the chef to celebrity race car driver Jeff Gordon on his luxury yacht, '24 Karat'. Anthony married the talented Saskatoon vocalist Anastasia Winterhalt, moved here, and now has two sons, Jacob and Thomas.

Anthony has been busy building relationships with local producers since arriving here, visiting them on their farms and in their fields, to source honestly grown, pesticide and hormone free, natural products for his menus.

Thursday, February 16^{th

Chef Brent dinner is an all exclusive
5 course meal with wine pairings starting at
6 p.m. Be prepared to be entertained!}

We are pleased to present another chef that has competed in the Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plates. Growing up in south Saskatchewan, Brent was heavily influenced by both of his grandmothers in their approach to food. From early on, he knew that he wanted to become a chef.

After going to culinary school he worked in a French bistro, under one of his culinary mentors Steve Tremblay. Brent then moved on to work for two years at Teatro in Calgary, under Michael Allemeier as the Garde Manger chef. Next, he spent three years at Murrieta’s in Calgary, as the Sous Chef for Ned Bell and Chris Grafton.

Brent is a very ingredient driven chef who loves to find “local” foods and food establishments. He loves traveling and finding new ingredients and different techniques that he can show his clients. He also enjoys giving classes and has been a regular guest instructor at “Cookbook Cooks” in Calgary. Contact Brent at www.simplechef.ca

Our next featured chef is the well known Executive Chef of the Delta Bessborough - Ryan Marquis. Ryan is a two time winner of the Silver Medal at the Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plates.

After receiving his Red Seal, Ryan got his Culinary Management Diploma from Canada College in North Bay. He has been employed at several amazing hotels including the Delta Beausejour in Moncton, Fairmont Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City and the Marriott Seaview Resort and Spa in New Jersey.

Ryan was gold medal recipient at the Quebec Food Festival and a member of the New Brunswick provincial Culinary Team for two years. He represented Canada at the Oklahoma State University Chef Invitational Challenge and he continues to invest time in his professional development, as well as that of his teammates.

He is married to Bonnie, and has four children; Kayley, Aislyn, Palmer, and Laghlan.

Ryan believes that food should be humble, stunning and excellent in flavour. He likes to prepare 'simple great tasting food'.

We are pleased to have Trevor Robertson, Executive Chef at the Radisson Hotel as the next featured Chef in our series. Trevor was the Bronze Medal winner in the 2011 Saskatchewan Gold Medal Plates competition.

Trevor studied Culinary Arts at the Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba and went on to apprentice under CCC Karl Omen at the Winnipeg South Holiday Inn. He took the opportunity to become the Executive Chef at a premiere Fishing Lodge in Northern Manitoba before moving to Saskatoon in 2004 to take his current position. He is currently the Treasurer of the Saskatoon Chefs' Association. He is married to Lindsay.

Trevor believes that any food can taste great all on its own, as long as it is prepared correctly.

This Thursday, the last in our first series, we are pleased to present Mike McKeown, a chef that is well known as a vendor at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. Mike was Chef & Owner of McKeown’s Ready Made Meals and Catering which focused on using local foods, and he has recently opened a new restaurant in Saskatoon, Prairie Harvest Cafe on Early Drive.

Mike has his Red Seal Certificate from SIAST Kelsey Campus in Saskatoon. After completing his training, he became a chef at the “The Saskatoon Club”. He then spent 6 years as chef at a fly in fishing camp in Northern Saskatchewan at Misaw Lake.

Mike is married to Traci, who has been very supportive of his culinary business ventures.