About
I am a freelance writer focussing on food, restaurants, chefs, farmers and other aspects of the culinary scene.
For most of my career, I was based in Waterloo Region and Wellington and Perth counties during which time I was food columnist with CBC-KW radio (2013-2024) and the Waterloo Region Record. For several years while at WRR, I was the newspaper’s restaurant critic.
My wife and I have moved to Clarence-Rockland to be grandparents to little Enzo (and whatever little Munchkin comes along next), and I’m re-orienting myself writing a weekly column for Les Editions André Paquette newspapers. Having settled down about 30 minutes away, we are very excited about exploring the food-and-beverage scene in Ottawa. We think it’s a wonderful city, having visited many times.
While I come from an academic background having taught at universities and colleges, my passion and energy has been dedicated to food: eating it and writing about it. I spent a few years as an apprentice chef at a downtown Kitchener restaurant — an exhausting and exhilarating job which I loved and which taught me a lot.
I am also contributing food-and-drink writer for Vine Routes magazine.
My work has been published in Culinary Trends and Restaurant Report magazines (US), Avenue Calgary, Whiskey Magazine (UK), and I am co-author with University of Waterloo’s Dr. Mark Morton of Cooking with Shakespeare (Greenwood Press, 2008).
In 2018, I published Farm to Table: Celebrating Stratford Chefs School Alumni, Recipes & Perth County Producers (Swan Parade Press).
The book is part history of this important culinary school, which has had a significant impact across the country; part cook book with amazing photos by Terry Manzo, a Stratford Chefs School graduate; and, part profile and mini-biography of the food producers and chefs in this part of southwestern Ontario and its rich and fertile farm land.
What do I really love about what I do? There is little doubt that the greatest satisfaction I get today is being able to be de facto ambassador for the cooks and restaurateurs in this very tough industry. I love being able to support them as they ply their craft and trade and make delicious food to eat that is, I believe, the key contributor to a robust and vibrant community.
