IN THE SPOTLIGHT
George was born and raised in Terrace, BC and is proud of his Nisga’a and Wet’suwet’en background. As an accomplished chef, he is delighted to be working with K5T on the commercial kitchen and fine dining projects.
From a young age, George enjoyed cooking. He spent countless hours helping his mom in the kitchen and watching the Food Network. His potential as a chef was recognized when he was hired to cook for Grouse Mountain Restaurant in North Vancouver at just 17 years of age.
After losing his mother, George became even more determined and enrolled in Vancouver Community College for formal chef training, during which time he became the head chef of the Roundel Café, an honest diner in East Vancouver. After finishing culinary school, he interned at Joe Beef, a high-end restaurant in Montreal, where he truly fell in love with cooking. After showing up day after day, working long hard hours, he secured a full-time long term position. After several years at Joe Beef, George moved on to Foxy, another fine dining restaurant in Montreal, where he has treasured memories of working with a strong female-led team.
Despite his amazing experiences in Montreal, there were plenty of lows. George came to the realization he will never become a french chef, after facing countless racist interactions. Moving back to Terrace in 2018, he helped open the Skeena Bar & Social House then soon after leaving to stand up against the CGL/LNG pipeline. Not too long afterwards, he decided to try a career change, after seeing the peril and exodus of small mom n’ pop restaurants, and became a participant in the Kitselas Five Tier (K5T) carpentry program. While gardening in their food security & sustainability program. The K5T team quickly recognized George’s primary skill set leading to persuading him to further develop and apply his culinary skills in the community. George is now working with K5T to open a cultural eatery, build a commercial kitchen space, and develop an Indigenous professional cooking program.
George could not be more excited about the opportunities to apply his culinary skills with K5T. Starting an Indigenous restaurant has always been George’s dream. He is thrilled to be able to support the Kitselas First Nation while bringing awareness to Indigenous food systems, battling the local fast food culture, and promoting healthier, wholistic, and environmentally conscious ways of being.
