English by birth, Chris Locke has honed his culinary skills and knowledge internationally through the UK, Australia and France and Central America.
Now homed in Toronto, Chris has a passion for using locally sourced ingredients, showcasing the best of Ontario's bounty bringing honest and challenging dishes to the table. There is a heavy emphasis on seasonality in his cooking, using fermentation and preservation where possible to lengthen the seasons and transform their flavours.
My curiosity for food and ingredients came at a young age. I could often be found helping my father in the back garden of our house, planting onions, digging up potatoes or shelling peas. Whether this was voluntary or otherwise, I remember finding a genuine love for nurturing ingredients from seed to plate.
At 16 years old I took a part time job as a waiter at a nearby hotel. I don’t remember being much good at serving tables, I was a lot more interested in what was going on in the kitchen. After befriending the chefs, I persuaded them to let me have a run at the commis chef position. I soon found myself thrown into the fire, learning all sorts of new techniques and working with ingredients that I had never seen before. I worked at the hotel for the next 5 years while I studied business at university. After completing my Masters degree, with every intention of following that career path, I left my position in the kitchen and took a job as a business manager. My heart still yearned to be back in the heat of the kitchen, working with my hands amongst the heat and pressure, so at 24 I decided to pack up my life in England, move to Australia and pursue my culinary career.
“My heart still yearned to be back in the heat of the kitchen, working with my hands amongst the heat and pressure, so at 24 I decided to pack up my life in England, move to Australia and pursue my culinary career.”
I started work in a restaurant in Perth, Australia, learning the local ingredients and adjusting to my new life. Over the six months I worked on garde manger, sauté, fish and grill, preparing and serving fine dining dishes to 300+ guests per night. The next adventure began in northern Tasmania where I was tasked with opening the kitchen of a strawberry farm. It was such a great experience to be back where I was inspired as a child: amongst the plants. I embraced the opportunity by building a kitchen, creating my first menu, managing staff and sourcing ingredients.
“My food philosophy feeds from these two pillars. Whether it is supporting farmers, sustainability, tackling food insecurity, high-end tasting menus or cooking at home, the core values are unwavering.”
After Tasmania, my travels took me through Central America and France, before landing in Toronto. Initially, the plan was to stay for only a few weeks and move on to the Vancouver. I arrived in the summer and the city was so alive and vibrant. The food scene was such a draw that I ended up staying. I now live here with my wife.
Throughout my travels and culinary journey, there has been a theme that has been consistent the whole time: locality and seasonality.
My food philosophy feeds from these two pillars. Whether it is supporting farmers, sustainability, tackling food insecurity, high-end tasting menus or cooking at home, the core values are unwavering.