Chef of Chef Works – Chef Mike Pitre

by Chef Works Canada,

Each month we feature a Chef of Chef Works®. If you’re a fan of Chef Works gear and are interested in being featured, email marketing@chefworks.ca. Pictured above is our Chef of Chef Works this month, Chef Mike Pitre, Former Executive Chef at Four Points by Sheraton London, in his Hartford Chef Jacket.

 

Chef Works: Who was your greatest culinary influence?

Mike Pitre: There has been many great Canadian Chefs, but Tasos Markides was the first, then Bruno Marti and I would have to say Grant Achatz. But most recently the Vegetable Culinary Institute in Ohio and Farmer Jones of the Chefs Garden with Chef Jaime Simpson. This place is a must see.

 

Chef Works: Best anecdote from the kitchen?

Mike Pitre: As an apprentice I was tasked with cleaning the fryer. Back then we used lard. I got a call in the main kitchen to go to the lounge across the hotel and forgot I put the lard on the fryer baskets with the fryer on after cleaning it. I got a call from the steward that there was a fire in the fryer. I ran back to the main kitchen to extinguish the fire by smothering it and using baking soda… I had to stay late scrubbing it again and getting the scorch marks off of it.

  

Chef Works: If you could cook for one person – alive, dead, historical or fictional – who would it be and what would you make for them?

Mike Pitre: My grandparents as I was young when they passed and yet to be a chef. I would make them my braised beef short ribs.

 

Beautiful dishes by Chef Mike

 

Chef Works: What’s the most rewarding part about your job?

Mike Pitre: When a guest stops you and tells you how great their experience has been and when you watch a young cook climb the ranks and make a name for themselves.

 

Chef Works: What’s something about you that would surprise people?

Mike Pitre: I am a recovering alcoholic with over a decade of sobriety and I volunteer to help others in detoxes, jails and institutions.

 

Chef Works: Your all-time favourite culinary tip…

Mike Pitre: Put the little extra into it. Handle it as if it’s the most fragile thing you’ve touched. Let the ingredients speak for themselves. Don’t mask the food.

 

Chef Works: How does your culinary uniform make you feel?

Mike Pitre: I absolutely love the Hartford jackets with the zipper. They are so comfortable and stylish. I especially love getting them with the Canadian Flags embroidered on them as I am proud to be Canadian and worked on the East Coast, West Coast and central Canada with a planned return to my roots in the East very soon.

 

To learn more about Chef Mike Pitre, visit his profiles:

Meet other Chefs of Chef Works:

Year 2021

Year 2020

Year 2019

Year 2018

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