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Getting into the Swing

Bryan Gibson began his career at age 14 making lasagnes and pizzas at a pizzeria. By age 16 he was working at Ancaster Mill, an elegant restaurant in Ontario and one of Whistle Bear’s sister properties. Bryan then went on to chef school at age 18 and, after graduating with honours, returned to serve 16 years at Ancaster Mill, becoming its Executive Chef. During that time he had an opportunity to cook a dinner with colleagues at the James Beard House in New York and was awarded the Top 30 Under 30 Ontario Hostelry Award in 2010. Bryan became Executive Chef at Whistle Bear Golf Club in the spring of 2014.

“I started in fine dining and this year I changed pace to try something different. There’s been a bit of a learning curve, but it’s been fun. They’re totally separate experiences. With fine dining, guests take their time, lingering over five course meals in a formal setting. In the golf course environment, people might drop in briefly for a burger or sometimes they’ll want amazing food done right. Either way it doesn’t have to be in a stuffy setting. They enjoy the open air, fire pits, a place to sit and have a good time and enjoy a good meal. The biggest event we’ve hosted here is close to 400 people. But on any given weekend we do about three weddings a day. Which can be challenging. It’s always good to be ready, making sure you have the right equipment and a good team behind you.

I love to cook with the seasons. It inspires me. We have anything and everything we want close by. Dairy, cattle, chickens, lots of organic farmers and great wineries. Name it and we can get it within an hour’s drive from here. Using fresh local ingredients, things that are in season, really means a lot. When we’re cooking in season, we’re purchasing things locally and that helps out local suppliers and farmers.

I HAVE A HUGE PASSION FOR GRILLING. IT’S ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT BEING OUTDOORS.

You can do so many things on a grill. You can smoke with it or just char on it. It’s one of the best things about being outdoors. Crown Verity stands apart from other grills because of their versatility. Transporting it, moving it around is very, very easy. When we do member events, we can start on one hole, then turn around and move to a different hole and do a totally different dish. It’s so simple to move, you can do it yourself, you don’t need a team of people to help you.

We do a lot of off-site catering as well, so we can just pop them on the back of the truck very easily and roll it off and start cooking. The Crown Verity grill we use has two roll domes. It lets you have two different temperatures so you can do two different dishes on each one if you want. It’s an incredibly versatile grill.

So if you are a young aspiring chef you really want to source out a good product. You don’t want to cheap out or cut corners. Buy something that’s half decent and good quality. This applies to anything from knives to even buying a grill. You want to buy quality and you want something that’s going to last.

This has been an interesting year for me. Challenging, but look around at the setting, the atmosphere. It’s been worth it. And being able to rely on Crown Verity’s performance has helped make it go more smoothly for me