Daniel Lesnes
written by Brian Smith

​Daniel Lesnes, BCCASA honorary lifetime member and the long-time Chef Instructor of Garibaldi Secondary School, retired in June 2019 after 3 decades in the position. Kind, soft-spoken, and very humble. Daniel has been a mentor and role model to thousands of students as well as to many colleagues and peers.
Daniel’s culinary path began in the small village of Len in the north of France, where he was born, the youngest of five children. His father and grandfather were master butchers, and his father also owned a small catering company.

With just a bag on his back, Daniel left France and disembarked in Montreal in September 1982. He started his Canadian journey at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. In 1986, he made his way to the Hotel Vancouver coinciding with the start of Expo 86. He next decided that he wanted to start teaching. First, private lessons for adults. Daniel then responded to a small advertisement for a position at Garibaldi Secondary. “I didn’t know where Maple Ridge was. I had to rent a car to come for the job interview” This would be the start of a 29-year career. A steep learning curve for a man that had never stepped foot in a Canadian high school. While teaching, Daniel worked diligently on his Bachelor of Education degree, and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2002.

Daniel’s students have participated in the gingerbread competition, the Harvest Festival, and the SD#42 Chowder Competition, for which he was the founder. When you ask him what he is most proud of, he will state that it was starting bi-yearly culinary tours. Since 2006, Daniel has led multiple trips and tours to New York City, twice to France, and once to Spain and Italy.

Daniel was the Host Chef for Agriculture in the Classroom/UBC Summer Institute for many years and was awarded AITC’s Teacher of the Year for all his hard work and dedication. Daniel was a key player in BCCASA’s foundation in 1997. He served as its 1st second vice-president, producing the Bouquet Garni and creating and maintaining the website.

Daniel has recently returned to France sailing aboard the Queen Mary 2 and is currently building a house in Angers. He spends time volunteering at the Angers Anglophone Library, teaching people to speak French as well as teaching locals to speak English. During the past year he has traveled to South-East Asia and cruised on a sailboat in the Caribbean.
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Safe travels Daniel, you deserve It.

Mike Austin
By Gerry Brach, Brooks Secondary School Counsellor

No Flash in the Pan - A Teacher Profile of Mike Austin

Mike Austin’s long cooking career is coming to an end on July 1, as he officially retires from Brooks. As he looks back on his 28-year teaching career, and on the cooking he has done on private yachts, he feels fortunate to have met so many interesting people along the way.

Mike first became interested in cooking when he was a student at North Delta Senior Secondary School, in the late 1970’s. He enrolled in the culinary arts program in Grade 11 + 12 but wasn’t sure he wanted to cook as a career. After graduating from high school, he worked for B.C. Hydro for a year, first emptying bus fare boxes on a grave-yard shift and later sorting and delivering mail. Realizing he needed more skills training; he signed up for a meat-cutting course at Pacific Vocational Institute (BCIT). As there was a two year wait list for the meat cutting course, he ended up completing a Level 1 Cooks Training Course instead.

After finishing his cooks training, he travelled to Australia and New Zealand for a fifteen-month working holiday. Missing Canada, he returned to a job cooking at a restaurant on Granville Island and earning his Red Seal Certification. From there he went looking for more adventure and ended up finding a job as a cook on a private yacht. Over the next few years Mike continued cooking on private yachts including Western Broadcasting (Frank Griffiths), Belkins Paper and Arrow Transportation. During this time, he worked long hours cooking for corporate clients while cruising the BC coast from Vancouver to Florida via the Panama Canal. He also enjoyed sport fishing and guiding when not cooking on the yachts. Other perks were getting to meet the Vancouver Canucks on Frank Griffith’s yacht and getting free tickets to Canuck games. “I met a lot of interesting people, including politicians, world leaders, and Holly wood types like Sydney Poitier and Merv Griffin.”

Although Mike liked his job, he realized that he needed to find something that provided a more normal life for his family, as he was away for months at a time. After doing some research he ended up completing a Provincial Instructors Program from Vancouver Community College in 1992 and then taught for two years at Johnson Heights Secondary School in Surrey. He taught another year on the Gulf Islands before taking a job at Brooks Secondary in 1996. Along the way Mike worked hard to obtain his Bachelor of Education degree at the secondary level by attending five summer school sessions at U.B.C.

Highlights of his twenty-five years of teaching at Brooks include: catering for 1300 people for one week at the B.C. Festival of Arts, setting up food service for a 500 -person camp at a Run of the River Project at Toba Inlet, hosting the B.C. Chef Education Conference in 2015, and taking many students over the years to B.C. Skills Competitions where he judged four times at the Provincial level and once at the National level. Mike has also enjoyed sponsoring the Brooks golf team since 2000. Mike is not sure what the future holds once he retires, but he does know that he will be spending a lot of time outdoors, fishing, golfing, hiking, kayaking, and riding his ATV. He just purchased an RV, so he is planning on taking a few trips with his wife Clara who recently also retired.

When it comes to cooking, Mike has proven over the long haul, that he is “No Flash in the Pan.” Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, Mike!