A Coffee with Chef Adam Brack, Executive Chef at the DoubleTree and Home2 Suites by Hilton West Edmonton

Join us for a coffee and chat with Chef Adam Brack, Executive Chef at the DoubleTree and Home2 Suites by Hilton West Edmonton!

Originally from Peterborough, Ontario, Adam initially expected to follow in his father's footsteps into the trades, but his natural affinity for working with his hands eventually found a different outlet. His lifelong love of food was rooted in simple traditions, like the fish and chips he enjoyed every Friday growing up, but it wasn't until a high school Home Economics elective that he truly fell in love with the craft. To this day, Adam still keeps the first recipe he ever wrote framed in his home as a reminder of where it all began.

Adam honed his skills at the prestigious Stratford Chefs School, where he went through a rigorous hands-on program. His first year was spent learning every facet of the industry, from washing dishes and prep work to acting as a sommelier while cooking for the school's restaurant. By his second year, the program transitioned into a residency format where students acted as chefs in residence. This allowed them the opportunity to take the lead in the kitchen, giving them the creative freedom to design their own menus and significantly expand their professional cooking abilities. 

While Adam originally intended to avoid large chain restaurants, a unique opportunity at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge changed his perspective. Having never been to Alberta before, he spent three months working at JPL between his school years and immediately returned to the Rockies upon graduation. Since then, Adam has worked at various renowned kitchens throughout Alberta, leading him to his current role at the DoubleTree. 

His story is one of craftsmanship and passion, and after hearing it, you will definitely want to stop by for a meal.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments and leave us a review!

Follow Coffee in the Park with Jennifer and Cam on our social medias

Instagram: https://instagram.com/coffeeintheparkwithjenandcam

Website: https://www.coffeeinthepark.com 

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@coffeeintheparkwithjenandcam?si=8Fvb8swofNc1s_GL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-in-the-park-podcast/ 

Transcript

0:03

Hi, I'm Adam Brack, and you're listening to Coffee in the Park with Jennifer and Cam. Jennifer. Well Cam, what a morning. It's been a morning, that's for sure. A little bit of technical issues there and glitches, but I think we got it worked out. Let's hope so. I hope so. Anyway, welcome, everybody. Good to have you for another edition at Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. And we are here at the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So hey, if you hear some noise in the background, some coffee machines whirring, people talking, kids screaming. No kids today. They should all be back at school. That's right. The spring break is over. Spring break is over. Hey, you were on vacation. I was. Did you have a good vacation? I had an amazing vacation. Do you want to tell us where you went? I went to Aruba. Aruba. I did. That's like not southern Alberta. It is not. That's like where that's down in the south. By Venezuela. By Venezuela. And the weather was? Plus 30 degrees the entire time. And I came back, Cam, to snow. It's snowing today. In spring. April the 7th and there's snow on the ground. So welcome to Christmas number five in Edmonton. That's the way it is. But anyway, it's the way it is. And it's going to melt soon and it'll be spring and it'll be beautiful. But Easter has come and gone. And it was a good Easter. It was. Yes. It was great. You also went away. I went away, but I didn't go as far as Aruba. No, you didn't. I went to Vancouver. Still nicer weather than here. It was so green. And when we flew back in Edmonton, it was so brown. So I went from so green to so brown. But you know what? It's going to get green here one day. One day. Maybe June. Yeah, it will. Maybe June. Maybe July. Anyway, welcome to the podcast. And we want to tell you that Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by Wing Snob Canada. Where the wings are fresh, never frozen. That's right. 16 flavors, four rubs. It's an absolutely amazing place if you love wings. If you want some of the best wings in town, in my opinion, you got to go to Wing Snob. Oh, you know, after being on vacation, I think I do want some wings. Do you want wings? I think I do. That's awesome. And because they also, not only do they have wings, but they also have like, they have like Parmesan fries, they have like cornbread, and they have those traditional wings and the boneless wings. That's right. Or if you can't make a decision, you can get the 50-50 back. That's right. Because they are absolutely amazing. Wing Snob Canada, 10 locations, 8 in the City of Edmonton, 1 in Calgary, 1 in Grande Prairie. And if you want to know where they're at, all you got to do is go to www.wingsnob.ca That's right. So best wings, in my opinion, I love them. You got to check them out. They are awesome. Speaking of food, today is going to be awesome. Do you know why? I do know why. Because our guest is a chef, a real life chef. And can I say, you and I have known and worked with this individual for a number of years now. Yep, and he's amazing. He is amazing! He really is. He is absolutely, and we'll talk a little bit about why, in our opinion, he's so amazing, not just because the food is amazing, but why he's so amazing, but it's so exciting to have him. He's a real, genuine chef. So Jennifer, introduce our guest. Our guest today is Chef Adam Brack. So welcome, Adam. Nice to be here. Good to have you. Thanks for having me. And you are the chef at? The DoubleTree by Hilton. That's right, here in Edmonton. Yes. Cool. All right, so this is exciting because I always want to know how people become chefs. So we're gonna learn all about that. Okay, let's figure it out. Okay, so. We're gonna take it back because we need to know about Adam. Yeah. Adam, tell us about your childhood. Tell us about growing up. Where did it start? To be honest, I always had a love of food. My godfather was a restaurateur in Toronto. So when I was really young, we had a small bar in just outside of our hometown. I'm originally from Peterborough, Ontario. Peterborough? Yeah. Home of Quaker Oats. I was just going to say. And the only reason I know that is because I watch the commercials on TV and they talk about Peterborough, Ontario. Home of Quaker Oats. That's always a cool thing to see. Just a bit of nostalgia. Yeah. But we used to go on Friday nights when I was really young. We would go into this pub and I would always have fish and chips. And I just have this love of fish and chips ever since then. Yeah. We're right in Peterborough or just outside of Peterborough, sorry. And I always got treated like gold. I always got the extra ketchup. I was like five or six and it was just, I felt like it was like cheers for like a five year old. So everybody knew your name. Everybody knows your name, yeah, I love that. Okay. And I was kind of spoiled from there. And pubs make great fish and chips. They do. They really do. Like some of the best. I wholeheartedly agree. Yeah. So I think that's where it sort of stemmed from. As I grew up, I was never supposed to be a chef. I was supposed to take over the family business. My father is and still is a cabinetry master. So I was supposed to kind of follow in his footsteps. He had built up his GJ. Brack creations. And it just it wasn't in the cards. I worked for him. Did you try it? I did. I started out and I was a gopher. Yeah. You know, go for this, go for that. Right. Right. And I got to work with all of his subcontractors. So I saw electrical, I saw plumbing, I saw concrete. I was terrible at concrete. Right. I was the guy that had to walk across that little narrow beam and I've got the big, big move on concrete. I dumped it multiple times. I was told not to come back. And then from there, it was, I always have this love of working with my hands. And so, so, but you went to the pub as a kid. Yeah. Did you start cooking as a kid? Did you, did you help mom in the kitchen or help somebody in the kitchen? She's got some pictures of me with like a wooden spoon trying to stir something. So that's about it. It just, it kind of morphed as time went on. Yeah. For me, it was, I still wanted to work with my hands. I wanted to be creative. Right. I couldn't draw or paint. Right. I tried music. I was terrible. I was in a few failing bands. So that was, as I was growing up. Yeah. And then got into high school and you needed to have an elective. Right. Back in Peterborough. Yes. So. Electives. They put us. Yeah. I had home ec and I thought, well, I can, I think I can cook. And I just fell in love with it. Right. And as time went on, I realized that that was a creative outlet that was more in my wheelhouse. Right. Now, okay, this is interesting because I hear a lot of schools don't offer like home ec anymore. Like they budget cuts and they've cut shop and they've cut all those things and they've cut home ec. But I think not every school has cut it, but a lot have. I think that's awesome. They got to do more of that because this is what spurred your love of cooking. Yeah. Home ec. But again, that was 30 some odd years ago. Yeah. I totally understand that. And where we're from, it's a farming community. So a lot of guys were working on farms. Sure. And they tried to get them into agriculture. I like to reap the rewards of agriculture. And kind of manipulate it in that standpoint. But yeah, it's just something clicked. And after I wrote in quotation marks, my first recipe, and that was one of our things that we had to do. It was really cool to have. Do you remember what it was? Actually, I have a copy of it. It is tattered and torn and it's still in my house. It's framed and it was for apple bread. Apple bread? Apple bread. No. But isn't that sort of the apple area down around in there? Isn't that part of Ontario, a lot of apples? We did have a lot of apples. So you made apple bread. Yeah. Have you made it since? Every, probably every year I'll break it out. Really? And it's still, it's working today. If we had known this before the podcast, I would have asked Chef to bring us apple bread. Wow. Because listen, we might have to, next time we meet Chef, we might have to ask him to make some apple bread. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can bring some for you next time. All right. So apple bread. And I didn't- Did you get an A? I did okay, I think. But it was weird because I never wanted to be a baker. Right. And do anything along those lines because it's just, it's so scientific. Yeah. And a lot of measurements. A lot of measurements and I don't follow direction well. Yeah. Either from- We won't get into that part of following directions. Well, yeah, no, no, yeah. It's one of those things. So I did a placement in a restaurant in Peterborough called Park Hill Cafe. That's where I met my first mentor. Okay. And- Is he still there? No, it's moved and unfortunately, he's not either. But he laid a lot of groundwork for me before I went to school. And it was, and I know this sounds silly. He's like, you make really good pie crust. I don't know what it is, but your pie crust is fantastic. So again, this affinity with baking kind of stemmed. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Well, we'll see how this goes. And I remember even in my high school yearbook, there's a picture of me holding a pie. And I was like, is this what I want to be remembered for? I was going to say like that. But apparently- Everybody's signing your yearbook. I can hardly wait for more pie. This is great. Yeah. So that was, I think that kind of stemmed everything. And from there, he really nurtured and fostered the idea of here's what you could do, here's what you can do. Right. And I have believed that you can go further. And it was one of those things that for me, as a young cook, I really wanted to learn as much as I can. So he helped me get into the culinary school that I went to. So I went to the Stratford Chefs School just outside of Toronto, in Stratford, Ontario. Okay. Tiny, it was fairly tiny, private school. Yeah. But their whole idea, which is a little bit different than NAIT, they set you up, you were taught in the school. There was two restaurants during... So you were like actually cooking for people. Cooking for people, yeah. Yeah. So in Stratford... Like Hell's Kitchen. Well... I watched that show once. That's what they do, they cook for people. I bet he probably had a nice instructor. Yeah. Well, maybe not. There's a few stories that I can't tell, that I can tell you off the air. But in Stratford, they have the Stratford, the Shakespeare's festival. Yes, I was gonna say. So in the downtime, they needed something to do. So all of the chefs started working together and then get funding from the Ontario government to start training the next round of cooks and chefs. But it was real time. You got trained in the restaurant. We would go into the dining room and we would have classes. We worked with George Brown in Toronto, which was nice because they could send some of our people there. And there was a lot of comradery on that. Okay, so I have a question though. If people were coming to this restaurant where you were doing this, did they know that you were chefs in training? Yes, we would bring our family and friends. Oh, okay. So that we would have real time. So sometimes when you got into your first year, it was only a two-year course, but it was quite fast-tracked. So when we would start, we would just start in every little position you could. Right. From prep cook to gare-manger to patissiere, and we would start working our way up. The second years, we become the chef in residence as of work. Okay, yeah. And they would be mentored with a chef from Toronto or around the area. Okay. And it would be on those chefs to recreate their menu. Right. Oh, interesting. Okay, I like it. So this is good. So if I'm a patron coming to this restaurant, I know that there are chefs in training. You guys are chefs, but you have a mentor there, but you're a chef in training. And so this is kind of cool, because I'm getting to taste the food of future chefs who could, will and are great. That's amazing. It was a really unique opportunity. We got the opportunity to chat with a lot of chefs. They were bringing in people like Chef Lynn Crawford from Toronto. Michael Smith came, Rob Feenie came. Rob Feenie! And so you would get paired with one of them. You would recreate their menus. You would talk about how they came into prominence. And it was on the job training mentorship, which was great. But you learned all facets of the industry. So at one point in time, you would have to go out front and you would be the sommelier for an evening. So you would talk about the wines that Chef Crawford had picked out and exactly why it works with the food. And then you would have to do dishes. You would run tables. We would do table. It was a full experience from start to finish. Yes. It was incredibly immersive for us because you would have, it would be two o'clock in the morning and you would be, oh, we have a veal stock on that has to be taken off. So you would go from your B&B and you would have to go into the school, which was the restaurant, take this thing off and it was a full experience. It was the first time I had done 12 and 14 hour days in the industry. Can I just say, I think that most people don't understand, really, how much work it is to be a chef. I didn't. I just went into a restaurant and you order your food and they bring it, and you don't realize how much time and effort has gone in. And then I read Anthony Bourdain's book, his famous book. What was the name of that book? Kitchen Confidential. Kitchen Confidential. And I realized, wow. Like, you don't just go in 20 minutes before and whip stuff up. I mean, you work hard. Being a chef is hard. It's a lot of work. It is. It's a very demanding job. There's a lot that goes into it behind the scenes, whether it be the prep work, the training, the understanding of how you get food to a plate. And why it's so important to kind of give back. Right. And that was one of the biggest things that I had learned throughout this whole venture that we're still on. It's just, it's about giving back. So it's giving back to your customers. It's giving back to your associates. Yes. It's giving back to the person that employs you by putting your best foot forward and doing what you need to do on a daily basis. Right. So year two, you're finishing school. What was the plan? What was your vision? Where did you want to work? What type of restaurant did you envision yourself going to after this? I had worked for a chain that I don't think is around anymore. I learned that that probably wasn't for me. So it was pub food. It was a big restaurant, family style. It just didn't really gravitate with me. So we did have recruiters that would come to our school and they would kind of reach out. And the chef at Jasper Park Lodge at the time, Chef David Garcelon had come and he said, listen, if you want to try a different experience, the mountain experience, come to Alberta. So after my first year was kind of wrapping up, I was kind of torn. I was going to work on Niagara on the Lake. I had a gig set up there. And just for a laugh, I'm like, I've never been to Alberta. Let's go. Let's go. Good choice. Can I say why? I've been to Niagara Falls and I was unimpressed. We talked about this. No, we talked about this on the podcast. I wasn't impressed. I mean, it's a nice place and all, but I think you made a great choice, Jasper. It was a trip. So I went, there was downtime for three months. So we went, or I went for three months, packed up everything and moved to Jasper. Living in staff accommodations at JPL is an experience. I'm sure. But just so people know who are, because we have listeners all around the world. Jasper Park is a national park. Beautiful, beautiful national park here in Alberta. Banff and Jasper always together because they're very close together. And unfortunately, a couple of years ago, Jasper had a devastating forest fire that went through. And part of JPL, a little part of it was also affected by that, but not that much. But Jasper is a world class, people come from all over the world to Jasper. Absolutely. Yeah. And it definitely left an impression with me. So we did three months there. And I thought, while I'm getting out of culinary school, I've got the world exactly where it needs to be. And that was the first time I got humbled in the industry. Coming from a private school, I'm very falutin at that point. And in time, I thought that I knew everything. And a little bit too big for my own britches. Okay, I have a question. My question is, when you work in a kitchen and you have a number of chefs and there's one head chef, do you have to call him chef all the time? Is that how you refer to him? Chef? Yes. Okay, I saw that on TV. They don't say, hey Adam, they say chef. Yeah, usually. Is that a respect thing? It is. You've earned that moniker. There's a hierarchy in the kitchen. There is a hierarchy and everybody has a position, but somebody has to lead the charge. So once you reach that designation, even still today, if I'm seeing some of my associates that have that designation, they are chefs. Okay, because that's why every time I see you, I call you chef. I know you're Adam, but I call, because I feel like you've earned that. That's right. That you've earned that designation. That's a very important thing. It's not all about the designation, though. It's the journey that you had to get to that point. And that's what I mean. Like you just didn't go from school to being the head chef somewhere. I thought I should have been. But yeah, I got humbled really quickly. And one of my other mentors, he said, it doesn't matter where you came from, it's where you're going to end up. Right. And at that point in time, I was put into the staff cafeteria. Oh, okay. Do you remember the year? What year was this? That was, oh, 95, I think. I'm asking because I did a wedding once at Jasper Park Lodge. And the reception was there and everything. It was fabulous. It was absolutely fabulous. Anyway, sorry, just seeing if maybe that was around that time. But anyways, so I did that and left Jasper after my three months. I'm like, I'm never going back. I'm like, mountain life is not for me. I was really disappointed. I remember getting. Over what? What was it? Were you disappointed because you were in the staff cafeteria? Is was that part of it or just the mountain life? You're like, I'm not an outdoorsy person. I've got to leave. I really it was funny when I got off the plane. And it's the first time I kind of looked around and we landed in Edmonton. Then I'm looking around and I'm like, where are the mountains? Yeah. This is disappointing. No, that's true. That is acccurate. No, exactly. I flew in last week and said the same thing. Where's the mountains? It's true. Yeah, very true. But as soon as you get past Hinton and you're like, oh, there they are. The Rocky Mountains. Yes. Unbelievable. OK. But yeah, mountain life wasn't for me. So I went back. Did you go skiing at Marmot Basin? I used to snowboard a little bit. Really? But that was. The snowboarding chef. I like that. All right. OK. So you left. Sorry. I left and I went back and finished school. And same thing came up. It was like, OK, where are you going to go? I'm like, well, maybe I'll give Niagara a try again. And I had called. We had another chef at that point in time, Chef Patrick McCleary, and I called him up and called his office and said, can I come back? And he's like, absolutely. When can you be here? I said, I'll get on a plane tomorrow if I have to. He's like, I'll see you in a week. Wow. So back to Niagara. No, this was back to Jasper. Oh, back to Jasper. Oh, okay. There was just something that I didn't feel completed with that aspect. Right. So eight years later, it was time to go. Wow. So it was a long time. It was. It was one of the longest stints I'd ever done. Yeah. It was really cool, though, because we would trade off staff at times. So you would do Lake Louise. You would do Banff. As part of the Fairmont properties. Yeah. Oh yeah. Lake Louise and Banff, unbelievable. So that was a lot of fun. Yeah. Just once you get to the Banff Springs, you're kind of looking around and you're like, okay, I thought Jasper was a big hotel. This is exceptional. And Banff Springs is just world renowned. I mean, world renowned. It's unbelievable. Yeah. Kitchens on multi floors, you would get lost. Yeah. But again, it was eye opening. So I think after that, I had done hotels now for just over eight years. Like time to try something different. And I ended up getting in contact with the people from Moxie's, and they were coming up with a new concept, which would be Chop. Right. Oh yeah. Okay. So again, for people who don't know, Moxie's, are they throughout Canada or are they just in Alberta or BC? They're all throughout Canada. Yeah. So they're a very nice chain of restaurant. And then Chop also is part of that Moxie's chain. Yes. Which is a very nice restaurant. So everything kind of under that umbrella, they also have Denny's in Canada. Yeah. But they were looking for the Chop concept. And we had chatted kind of back and forth. And they said, we'd love to give you an opportunity to come. We're opening our flagship store, which was the one in West Ed. Oh, okay. So we'd like you to come in and kind of help us. So I had no idea about corporate structure at that point. Yeah. So I came in and I was their original KM for the concept. KM is? Kitchen Manager. Kitchen Manager. Okay, yeah. So learning and understanding ordering and inventory and hiring and releasing people. It was completely eye-opening because at that point in time I'm not going to lie, I was a troublemaker when I was in Jasper. Like trouble, trouble, like law trouble or just kitchen trouble? No, it was kitchen. It was kitchen trouble. Kitchen trouble. Oh, okay. So were you rebellious? Were you... I would like to say a free spirit, but probably a little bit too free. Okay. I like that though. I like that. I was in the chef's office multiple times and unfortunately for the wrong reasons, it's like going to the principal's office. Yeah, that's right. I like to push the envelope, but... But you know what they say, people like that are creative. The creative people tend to want to push the envelope. I would like to think so. Just stick with it. That's a good way to explain it. Yeah. We won't get in trouble for that one. At least I can't do it now. Yeah, that's right. So, I had always wanted to get to that next step. So, working for CHOP, it definitely helped me understand more the business aspect of it. Yeah. You know, where all the money comes from and where it goes. Right. The importance of proper training and staffing. Were you still cooking? You were cooking still or managing? Very much more managing. Yeah. It was more the hands-on manager. I think I walked around more with a clipboard than I walked around with a knife in my hand. Did you miss cooking? I did. It's different when somebody kind of dictates to you exactly what goes on the plate. Right. I learned a lot. Sure. But it was a facet that I didn't know anything about before. Okay. Yeah. At that point in time, I still wanted to get back into the hands-on, the creative, understanding how and what things are and where they come from. Right. So for two, two and a half years, we did that or I did that and I was like, well, you know what? It could be a great opportunity to try something else. Yeah. And a position opened just on Whyte Ave and Vaughn's Steakhouse and Oyster Bar was looking for a chef. Vaughn's. I love Vaughn's. I've spent a couple of New Year's at Vaughn's. Very nice. Very nice. In Cook County too, probably. Yeah. Well, yeah, Vaughn's. Yeah. So that was just when the oyster bar was taking off. Yes. So that was a very interesting opportunity because I didn't know a whole lot about oysters. We're landlocked here in Alberta. Well, we sure are. I don't really like oysters, but you're right. We don't have oysters here anywhere. To try to bring. Prairie oysters. Yeah, prairie oysters. Prairie oysters. That's a whole different show. That's a whole different show. If you want to know what prairie oysters are, drop me an email and I'll tell you what they are. Okay. Yeah. So now you're at the steak and oyster bar. Yeah. So that was a unique opportunity. At that point in time, I think it was early 30s, 29 or 30. Yeah. And I helped kind of get that started with actually the oyster program, which was very interesting because again, you're now having to get oysters from all over Canada. All over the States. And you can't mess around with oysters. No, you don't mess around with oysters. Because that could cause a big problem. Yeah, you get really sick. So yeah, that's a big deal. Again, this is the stuff people don't really realize. You don't just phone up somebody and go, send me some oysters. There's more involved. Put them on a truck. Put them on a truck. That's right. If they get here in a week, good job. Okay, yeah. It was on that, again, now kind of moving towards more the management style of ordering and, you know, being on the phone with suppliers and be like, you know, can you get this to us? Can it come in? Yeah. Is it going to come in fresh? It was a bit of a life-changing experience. Yeah. That restaurant was just a beast. Yeah. It was a monster. But a good restaurant. A fantastic restaurant. Yeah, good food. Absolutely. Nicely done. It was all nicely done. Yeah. That classic steakhouse. Yeah. And it was made a lot of really good friends. Made a few enemies, too, unfortunately. But it was... I'd like to do a follow up podcast on the rebellious side of Chef. That would be interesting. OK. All right. So, Vaughns, you were done at Vaughns, then where? At that point in time, I took a couple months off just to kind of get my bearings. And I wanted to try something completely different after that. And I actually went and worked for a golf and country club. I had no idea what I was going to get into. So I went and I worked for the Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club for two years. Okay, see, we get all excited because these are we, you know, of course, being in Edmonton, we know about all these. These are awesome. Yeah, that was an experience. Yeah, private club. So yes, right throughout the summer. Yeah. And I am a terrible golfer. So I didn't unfortunately pick up any new tricks from that. But wonderful place. It was great. You drive out there in the middle of the morning and you leave in the middle of the night sometimes. Yeah, there were long days because there was always tournaments. It's a beautiful golf and country club. It's beautiful. Absolutely. But after two years, I thought, okay, I still haven't found my niche. I've done hotels, I've done restaurants, I've done chains, I've done golf courses. What's next? Yeah. And it just happened that Hilton was looking. So I figured it was worth a shot. So they reached out to me and they said, listen, we've got a newly renovated hotel. Right. We're looking for someone to come in and work at one of the restaurants. Are you interested in coming in? Yeah. Being a sous chef. I'm like, well, I've been the head chef everywhere else for the last 10 years. Right. Do I want to take a step down with it? Okay. So a sous chef is below a head chef. Okay. Yeah. Do you want to come in and take a chance? Yeah. And I said, yeah, you know what? I actually, I really do. Yeah. I want to see what the corporate life is like again. Right. So after eight years of working for Fairmont, I had a really good idea and Hilton came calling and we agreed and I've been there ever since. There you are. So I have a question about, you worked for all of these different type of restaurants. How creative can you be in some of them? For example, let's just say some of the chains. Is it pretty standard, pretty set menu or do you have a license to be a little more creative about what goes on those menus? For the chains, that one is usually dictated from their corporate chef. So these recipes are tried and tested and true. So if you're going to Lethbridge to have this, it's going to be the same that you're going to have in Calgary, that you're going to have the same in somewhere else in Alberta or Ontario. And that's where that familiarity with those brands comes in. And it's so important for it to be exactly the same experience. So creative license kind of flies out the window. Is that frustrating? Was that frustrating for you? It was at a certain point. But again, at that, I was still trying to learn. But it does teach a lot when it comes to discipline. And I think that, especially in this industry, if the younger generation doesn't have that experience, following rules, following specifications, you won't see that return of those guests. So it's a training thing. It's like many other professions. You work your way through and you did certain things to learn this and certain things to learn this and certain things to learn this. Yeah. And it has a time and a place. And I think that every young cook should go and learn that discipline because it is going to help you in the long run. Right. But yeah, creative license, there really wasn't. So how long were you Sous Chef for? I was Sous Chef at DoubleTree for about three years. Then I became the Exec Sous. Exec Sous. I like that. The Exec Sous. No, that's good. Exec Sous. And then when my mentor retired, I had the opportunity to become the Executive Chef. Right on. Which you are now. Which I am currently. And can we just say, one of the best chefs. You really are. Yeah, I started out by saying, he's amazing. And the reason I say that Chef Adam is amazing is because, Jennifer, this is where you do the Acheson Business Association Gala every year. That's right. That's right. And we don't just do a gala, we have a theme every year. We have a theme every year. And this is where we like Chef Adam to be creative. Creative. Yes. So you tell Chef Adam your theme, and then he runs with it. Yeah. And you've told him already today, while we were waiting in the technical... He had a little bit of panic in his eyes when I told him today the theme. Because, are you going to say it or no, you want to say it? Not yet. Not yet. Okay, we're not going to let the cat out of the bag. Not going to let the cat out of the bag, Chef. Okay. So, but this is where you have been... So we've done this three years in a row at The Hilton. Four now. Yeah. Three or four? Four. We've done it four? Yeah. Okay, coming up to five? Coming up to five. Unbelievable. You have been absolutely amazing. Every dinner, people talk about it. They talk about it all year till the next one. Like they talk about how amazing it was, and then they come to the next one, and then they talk about that. How much even more amazing it was. You are amazing. Well, thanks. You are incredible. You take our theme. What if some of our past... We did a James Bond theme. The James Bond theme. That was my favorite. That was. Now, can I also say one of the things I love the most... Here we go. The dessert. How many desserts did you take that day? Okay, but wait. Let me back up. We get... You always bring... Jennifer, you always bring me along for the tasting. I do. I think just because you feel bad, and because by now, if you didn't, I'd like just yell and scream. And we get to go, and we go and chef presents dishes to us that he thinks would be good. And the year we did James Bond, he did all James, and every one was a James Bond theme. I know. It was great. And the desserts, no offense, chef. Don't take offense to this. I could have not eaten anything else that night. I could have eaten 10 of them desserts. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. That was, you always keep us on our toes. We do. Our team has to be very, I don't even know how to put it, because our, after we talk with you guys and you kind of drop the theme, and I was a little awestruck. I can't wait for this one. Yeah. This year, and we do have. We will tell you folks what it is when we get closer, but not right now. Yeah. It's going to be a little, we had to do some more research on this one. I'm very unfamiliar with this, but it's going to be a lot of fun. But this is where you're amazing, is that you have rang the bell every single time. You outdo yourself every year. Every year, you do. And we hope that you feel you get to be creative with this because you're amazing. You're very creative. It's one of my favorite times of the year, and I'm not playing it just because I'm a homer to you guys. It really is, you have that carte blanche, and it's so unique. And I've got a really passionate and hungry team that I work with. So when I drop what your ideas and your themes are, I can see the wheels starting to spin, and we go and we'll sit, and then we talk with the catering team, and we all start coming up with plans, and then meeting after meeting of how we're going to execute it. We do a trial usually before even you come in, because we want to make sure that we have that right. But it's one of the times that I actually get up, and I'm out in the kitchen cutting board out, and knives going, and it's a great time. I'm excited. Hilton, DoubleTree, beautiful new ballroom. Beautiful, you've renovated the ballroom. Fantastic. How many big events do you do in a month? Like how many major events does Hilton, DoubleTree do? Are you going every day? Are you going three a week? Or what are you doing? It all depends. Right now we're right in the middle of conference season, so we've got some really big events that are coming down and we've done a few over the past couple weeks. You know, now that Easter is behind us, we're going to keep going with conventions and then we'll get into wedding season. So we do have the ballroom was renovated two years ago and now we're working on our guest rooms. So it's still bright and shiny and everybody's really enjoying it. It's a beautiful hotel. It is a beautiful room. It's an amazing place. So let me ask you a question. All these events you do, weddings, all these kinds of things, bar mitzvahs. I know you do bar mitzvahs. I know that because you told me that. All these things, what is the most extravagant event you have ever done? What was the, what is just, money was not an object, menu was extravagant. What was the most, you don't have to say a name, but just an event. And we, we've had some very challenging bar and bat mitzvahs. Yeah. They're a lot of fun. Yeah. One of them was about three years ago. I've never seen anything like this before. The theme was incredible. Again, I don't want to give too much away. Yeah. But the planning on everybody that was involved was just insane. Amazing. Yeah. Our team were all decked out in the theme, so there was a custom outfits for everybody. All decked out. I know I like that. All decked out. I think we heard about that. We did. I think Tracy was telling us about that. But this all decked out, we got to run with that a little bit. Okay. Shouldn't have said that, but now that's good. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Cool. So I want to circle back to a theme that's been playing throughout. Chef, you talk about mentors and the mentors you have. Yeah. Tell us about the importance of having mentors in this industry. I think in all industries, it's great to have someone that you can rely on, that you can learn hard and soft lessons from. Yeah. What I mean by that is when you make a mistake, obviously, you need to correct it and hopefully, you're not going to do it again. Yeah. But when it comes to mentorship, you do have to have that ability with these people to have rapport. Some of the soft skills that I've learned was just being patient, empathy, listening to people. Right. Then working for Hilton, obviously, that's all part of our framework, part of our moral system and with our managing company, Silver Birch. A lot of these things that we don't take for granted, our industry has changed. Yeah. It's not the old school way and the stuff that you see on Hell's Kitchen. Yeah. It's, that is the old way of doing things and it's unacceptable. Right. We need to ensure that we're training the people because my industry is hurting. Sure. After COVID, we have found a lot of people aren't going to tolerate. Really? Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, that's really interesting to me. So, how many in your kitchen, how many people would work in your kitchen? I... How many do you manage? So, our team with our stewarding team is about 72 to 76. Really? Okay. Right now. It depends on the day sometimes. Sure. And that's from our food porters who take food out to our Mayfield Dinner Theatre, to our cooks, to the sous chef team that I have, to my pastry team. It's a pretty big brigade. So, when you say you're hurting, especially in the kitchen area, do you find that young people just, it's not something they're wanting to get into, they're not wanting to do what... Because to me, it seems pretty fascinating. I think... How do we encourage more young people to get into the kitchen? It's very difficult right now. We were away last week, and we were listening to a chef at a symposium talk, and it's North American-wide. You know, this isn't just an Alberta problem or a Canada problem. It's all throughout North America that it's very difficult to keep these people engaged and to kind of bring on that passion. Because they see TikTok, and they see Pinterest, and they see all of these names. Well, I want to do this. I have to do that. And you see memes about it all the time. And I used to be one of those people that would do that. You know, I want to come out of school and be a chef, but you know, you have to pay your dues. You have to put the leg work in. Yeah. And I think, yeah, you're right. I think that's part of it. I think young people today, they got to realize you have to put the work in, but you have to be passionate about it. Because it's like hearing you talk, long hours, long hours, probably hard work, probably not, I'm going to guess at those levels when you're starting out, probably not the best pay in the world. I mean, decent maybe, but not the best. Like, it's like starting out plumber, starting out electrician, that kind of thing. And you work your way up. That's what you have to do. Yeah. And that's, it's a process. Sweat equity when you're an apprentice is a huge thing. Yes, absolutely. And it's, it's great that we have fantastic programs like NAIT and SAIT here in Alberta. Yeah. But I don't think that we're seeing the turnout of those passionate cooks. Right. You know, we call it the 25 cent rule. If you don't treat your staff right, yes, they'll leave for 25 cents. Yeah. Right. That's right. Right. Yeah. That's a huge illness in the hospitality industry. Makes me think of Amy. I know. At the Lingnan. Everything she does for her staff. Like just she does everything she can to, because she wants to keep them. She loves them and so she goes out of her way to make sure that she takes care of them. But so what? Okay. We got to wind down here. But what has to be done to get more people interested in this? More young people interested in this? What can we do? I think it starts from the top. It's the responsibility of chefs like myself and others in the city to ensure that these young cooks are trained properly. That they have that passion, that they're given opportunities. Yeah. You know, everyone's going to make a mistake. And Lord knows I've made enough of them in my career. I've actually made a career of making mistakes. Depends who you talk to. But look where you are now. But you have to. That's how you learn. That's right. That's how you learn. It's that nurturing that we have to get back into and make sure they're trained properly because it costs a lot of money to train people. Yes. That doesn't matter where you are. So we have to do a lot more. We hear that all the time. Every industry, they pour money into training people and then they leave. They go somewhere else. And so, yeah. Wow. This is fascinating to me. It really is. Because there has been, without a doubt, there has been on TV. Of course, we see all these cooking shows and all of this. And I've sort of demised or figured out, not demised, but figured out right from the beginning. That's not really the way it's like it is. And so, I think hearing from you is fascinating as to how it really is. I think it's incredible. And I would love to see more young people just find a passion. Because I know there's young people out there love to cook. Yeah, absolutely. There is, yeah. And so, yeah. So I think that's really cool. This has been fascinating to me. We know you, we know your food. That's what makes it even more fascinating. And I think it's absolutely incredible. But, as we wind down. We have one final question. One final question. Chef, what is the best piece of advice you've been given either personally or professionally that you carry with you to this day? That's a good one. I think something I heard a long time ago, and it kind of stuck with me, is if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got. Right. That's good. Which, in my industry, it's evolution, everything evolves. So if you keep doing the same thing, you're going to get the same result. Right. You need to change things up every once in a while, whether it's your delivery, whether it's an ingredient, whether it's your mentality to things, because you do need to evolve. Yeah. That's great. It is great. That is excellent, actually. That's amazing. I love it. I know. Evolve. Yeah. It's good. So listen, if you have not gone to The DoubleTree by Hilton West Edmonton, you need to go and check out their food because it is phenomenal. You do brunches. Yes. We do brunches in our Mayfield Dinner Theater. We also do dinners, obviously, getting ready for our next show, which is going to be starting next week. So Footloose comes next week. I'm excited for Footloose. It's going to be incredible. Wow. The numbers look amazing for it right now. Yeah. Yeah. So come and join us for brunch. Cool. You have a great restaurant there. It's a great place. It's a great atmosphere. If you go and just maybe say to the manager, can I get my picture taken with Chef Adam? Maybe not. He's busy in the kitchen, but nonetheless, because you've listened to this, and let him know you've listened, and it's a great place to go. Absolutely. Check it out, everybody, and this has been fascinating today. I love learning about things that, again, most of us go into a restaurant, we sit down, we eat a meal, we have no idea what goes on behind those doors, what the lives of the people who are making our meals, where they've been, what they've done, how they've gotten to where they're at today, and this has been absolutely fascinating. It sure has. Chef Adam, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Incredible. You're married. I am. And you have two dogs. I do. Big dogs, not little dogs. No, they are full size monsters. Full size monster dogs. So you're a busy man. You got lots going on. Yeah, it's good. That's one way to put it. Yeah, no, that's good. That's all good. Excellent. And I know I'm hungry now. So if you're hungry and you can't get to the Hilton, get to Wing Snob. That's right. www.wingsnob.ca That's right. Best wings you're ever going to have in the city. I guarantee it after listening to this, you're going to need like a lot because I'm starved now. I'm really hungry. But anyway, I look forward to our gala with Chef. And hey, make sure you tell everybody about this podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your coworkers, tell your enemies. If you don't have a friend, make one, just so you can tell them about this podcast today. Be great, eh? Sitting at a bar. Have you heard the podcast? Chef Adam, why don't you listen to it? Now your friends, you talk. It's unbelievable. And you have to make sure, wherever you get your podcast, or at www.coffeeinthepark.com, and you need to make sure to... Subscribe so you won't miss a new episode. That's right. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Thanks everybody for listening, and we'll see you next time around. See you next week everyone.