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STRATFORD CHEFS SCHOOL

SEASON: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

LOCATION: 136 Ontario Street

WEBSITE: www.stratfordchef.com/

HIGHLIGHT: The Stratford Chefs School fills a need

In 1983, three restaurateurs in Stratford, Joe Mandel of the Church, Jim Morris of Rundles, and Eleanor Kane of the Old Prune, faced a challenge. Their established restaurants were busy in the summer months, but in the winter business was slow. For that reason, it was difficult to keep experienced, professional chefs on the payroll year-round. Their solution was to create a culinary training program, running from November to March, that would retain their chefs as teachers. In addition to culinary skills, the Stratford Chefs School (SCS) provides the practical training required to successfully run a restaurant. In the years since the creation of SCS, graduates of their Professional Culinary Diploma Program have been contributing to Canada’s food scene. Stratford Chefs School alumni can be found in highly respected kitchens around the world. Fortunately for Stratford, many of the school’s over 800 graduates have remained in the city and surrounding Perth County. Several have opened restaurants of their own. If you look at the bios and menus of Stratford’s chefs, you will be impressed with their creativity.

In 2018, in celebration of their thirty-fifth anniversary, the Stratford Chefs School published Farm to Table, a book that reflects upon the farm to table movement in Stratford and Perth County. Stories highlight SCS alumni, SCS team members, Stratford and Perth County restaurants, farmers and producers, and their recipes.

You can personally experience the Stratford Chefs School by taking Open Kitchen cooking classes for home cooks or attending their popular dinner series. Each September, the SCS puts on a long table dinner, the school’s signature fundraising event.