Chef in Pickering, Ontario

Hello, I'm Antonio, I have a Jamaican background and cooking was always around me growing up. In my teenage years I choice to travel around Canada to play hockey in Jr.A division. I was living with different families of hockey players and got to meet some amazing people, also from different backgrounds. When I returned home my passion for cooking really kicked off and brought me to where I am today. I started working in the industry in 2010 at a restaurant called, Mullies Bar and Grill in Barrie as a dish boy and I worked my way onto the line. At Mullies it was expected of me to create 'Tonight's Special' dinner every evening. It really made the idea of cooking and becoming a chef clear to me. I later took on a new challenge and started working at a fine dining restaurant, At The Five. I learnt so much working there, like perfect plating and how to make pastas, sauces, dough's, and different desserts from scratch. I then made the decision to move back home so I could be closer to my family. I got a job right away at Jack Astor's Bar and Grill for their grand store open. I was hired as a cook but then quickly became the first announced supervisor. This was a whole new role for me and learnt there was so much more to running a restaurant then just preparing dishes. After a couple years I got hired as a supervisor with Moxie's Bar|Grill. Moxie's is one of the largest scratch kitchens across Canada, and once again I got to use my fine dining experience to help create perfect plates. In my career I recently took a position with OLG Casino because it was a unionized company, with great structure. However, after being there a short period of time I realized my skills and talents are not being challenged, pushed or developed enough working in a kitchen like this one. I really love preparing great flavors and making great meals for people. Feeding peoples senses makes me happy and I would like to continue challenging myself and pushing my abilities in new atmospheres.