Donna Frost

​Tell us about yourself, where are you from, where did your do cook training, what led you into a career in cooking professionally
I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I started off in Home Economics education and switched to Culinary and started up the culinary program at Sardis Secondary when a new school was built in 1996. I trained under Susan Leswel at Aldergrove Sec. when Trevor Randel was a student there! He was her star pupil; in case you are wondering. I loved it and did my Red Seal after that at VCC.
 
What are some changes to the Culinary Arts classrooms you have seen over the years?
I feel like some of the changes are dependent on the school or school district you are in. I have found the students to be more aware of culturally diverse foods and willing to try to new things. I have found many of the students to be more entitled since I started teaching. I however have found them to be more respectful and better behaved than in the past.
 
Can you tell us about one, or a few major highlights from your career as a chef teacher?
•I loved all of the BCCASA conferences, always a highlight of the year getting together with other teachers in our fields! It has been such a great opportunity to learn, network, and enjoy amazing food and company!
•Working on the executive of BCCASA was also great, working with a fun, dedicated team. I recommend it!
•I enjoyed taking student groups to Europe at Spring break.
 
Where do you see the Culinary Arts curriculum going? Is there an aspect that you think the Culinary Arts classroom could implement to make our classrooms better?
I have always thought that keeping things fresh and new for yourself brings excitement in the learning process that you pass on to the students; don't do the same things over and over, keep it fresh. There are always great food trends and local food to source and use. We get excited when the Take a Bite of BC order comes in; they get excited too and value local food.  I have enjoyed reading my students learning in past few years when I made them do self-reflections, it helps me see where they are at in their learning, so I recommend doing that with your students if you are not already.
 
What advice would you offer other new chef teachers?
Don't try to do too much! We are always asked to cater a million things and people come up with ideas of how to make more money, but we are teachers and need to do what is best for our students learning and our own health. Learn to say no! The value is in connecting with the students and teaching them to learn and grow. Do the events that you value, and feel are good experiences for your students.  This job can be all consuming, remember to take time for yourself, your family and friends. Life should not be all about work. Make sure to have fun in your life!
 

John Buist

Tell us about yourself, where are you from, where did you do cook training, what led you into a career in cooking professionally
In High School I worked at a restaurant called The Plainsman, I worked as bartender, but I liked the kitchen better and remembered that experience with fondness. Later while working at a pet store and in the Army Reserves, my friend called me and asked if I’d like to work  in the Hilton Hotel kitchen. I took a day off work and went to the Toronto Hilton Harbour Castle for the interview, and I started on the following Monday. I spent 6 years at the Harbour Castle, it had changed to a Westin in the last year I was there, and it was a good experience to see a different approach.
 
Where did you work as a chef? Can you talk about a major highlight from your career?
I did my apprenticeship at the Hilton. As a young person that loved Rock & Roll music and playing bass guitar, I worshipped the rock stars-especially Eric Clapton. One time he was in town and was staying at our hotel. The room service waiter came down to the kitchen and said: You made Eric Clapton’s breakfast- Clapton told the waiter that he really enjoyed it. BOOM-done! I could have quit then and gone to heaven, as far as I was concerned, that was the top!
A couple years later moved to the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. While there a friend for apprentice days came to visit and asked me if I would like to move to Quebec for a job at a posh golf club. It sounded like fun and off I went to spend 6 awesome and fun years in the West Island of Montreal at The Royal Montreal Golf Course on Ile Bizard. My Chef was Joseph Stephens, was a major influence on me. He had a Hilton background as well (as many other places) and was a survivor of many tours of Duty in the Super Clubs of Jamaica.
I then moved to the West Coast and worked at Quilchena Golf & Country Club in Richmond, followed by Morgan Creek in South Surrey. It was nice to be opening a brand-new facility at Morgan Creek- I was the Junior Sous Chef, the Senior Sous, then banquet chef. I knew by then that I really wanted to do something else with the experience I had rather than spend the whole day and night away from my new wife (only wife).  Teaching was just around the corner but at that time, I had no idea that it was coming. Some visiting teacher friends told me “you should be a teacher”. That was it. There was a lot of work ahead to even figure out what that would look like, but I now had a focus.
 
When was the time when you realized that you had fully made the transition from professional chef to chef teacher?
I realized that I was no longer a professional chef but Chef Teacher when I was a TOC. I was taking classes at Kwantlen and subbing in for everything: Elementary Music, Social Studies, P.E., Dance, and of course, Culinary Arts.  I was way out of my subject area but not necessarily out of my comfort zone. It was an adventure every day- but one you could walk away from and start over the next day. Once in the kitchen full-time you can forget that you’re a teacher because everyone around you wants you to be “The Chef”; banquets/Principal meetings, etc.
When I did my PB +15 course at SFU it re-established my mindset to; I’m a teacher and will incorporate all of these techniques and strategies if I see them help my students to learn. We don’t just “Feed the Beast” we teach kids how to cook and meet expectations.
 
What are some changes to the Culinary Arts classrooms you have seen over the years?
The main changes that I have noticed over the years, especially since Covid, is the way that we need such diversified instruction. We must make this class relevant to kids with so many different levels of ability and interest. It is difficult to set a bar that everyone can aspire to jump over. There was a time when the Food channel had created a bunch of wanna-be foodies and I was able to take advantage of that, it was fun and you didn’t have to create the interest. Then the Culinary Arts class had more competition with other electives. Adding grade 10’s for us turned out to be great because some of them were the most interested and motivated.
 
Can you tell us about one, or a few major highlights from your career as a chef teacher?
I have kids come back to visit a year after graduation, and some come by every year for a quick pop-in visit. Some kids have written emails about how the space we provided in the Culinary Kitchen saved them in high school. I just received and email last week , inviting me and the family to a past student’s 30th birthday celebration.  Those comments and visits mean more than any of the other stuff, …even more than Clapton 😊.
 
Where do you see the Culinary Arts curriculum going? Is there an aspect that you think the Culinary Arts classroom could implement to make our classrooms better?
I think that the Culinary Arts curriculum will go wherever the next trends in food will take them. The money and budget shortfalls might have an influence over the ceiling for this course but hopefully won’t limit the creativity of the teacher chefs and students.
 
What advice would you offer other new chef teachers?
Take whatever opportunities you have for professional development. Meet with other chefs to get that feeling of being part of something bigger than you. Meeting with others is great for your own development and feeling supported by colleagues. Too many people withdraw and miss out on the group dynamic that BCCASA has done such a good job of fostering. I am so thankful that Brian Roodenrys talked me into attending the first conference that I went to at the Pan Pacific. I have never wanted to miss one since.

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

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!