By: Joe Lipovski
Photo by Justyna Marino
In April, NAIT will welcome Vancouver restaurateur, David Hawksworth, as this year’s Chef in Residence.
In 2009, NAIT launched a program called the Hokanson Chef in Residence program. The program was named after John and Susan Hokanson, whose generosity made the program possible. It was created to bring in a new top chef for a week each year to provide culinary students valuable experience with one of North America’s top chefs.
“We are ecstatic to have David join as our 2019 Hokanson Chef in Residence. He is such a great teacher, ambassador, and promoter of culinary education and entrepreneurship in Canada,” said Perry Michetti, from NAIT School of Skilled Trades.
“If I can share some ideas or talk about my experiences and that invigorates and inspires them to do great things, I’m all for that. I’m looking forward to cooking some food and having some fun,” said Hawksworth.
Past Chef’s in Residents include Lynn Crawford and Susur Lee.
Originally from Vancouver, Hawksworth spent 10 years perfecting his craft in Europe. Hawksworth has since returned to Vancouver where he opened several restaurants.
In 2013, Hawksworth created the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship Program. This scholarship program gives young chefs across Canada the chance to win $10,000 and the opportunity to compete for an apprenticeship in a restaurant of their choosing.
Third term culinary student, Noble Bains, is a fan of Hawksworth. Originally, Bains was interested in learning more about pub-style cooking. When Brains started in the culinary program, he got a taste of fine dining and hasn’t looked back.
“[It’s] humbling to know that chefs do care about up and coming cooks [and help them] to become head chefs one day,” said Bains.
Over reading break, Bains had the opportunity to go to Vancouver and visit Hawksworth’s restaurant. Bains also had the opportunity to meet the chef that inspired him to try fine dining. Since meeting the chef who inspired him. Bains hopes to learn how to properly make gnocchi, an Italian dish.
One of the things Hawksworth is known for is using local ingredients. Bains plans to begin his career with this in mind. However, there are some ingredients that Bains won’t be able to get locally, such as seafood.
“The plate is a canvas and [Hawksworth] just creates art,” said Bains.
