Roy Oh’s pathway to professional cooking has had a few detours. “I started cooking for my church, doing Christmas parties,” he says. “For a guy who didn’t have any experience, they were pretty good,” he remembers. But Oh didn’t immediately enter the culinary world after cooking at church, he had diversions first.

Mallard Cottage is a landmark house in St. John’s, N.L., which once sheltered farmers and fishermen. Today, the late 18th-century cottage is the culinary home of renowned chef Todd Perrin, a St. John’s native who has been restoring the site to serve as his new restaurant. The pared down building’s rustic wooden floorboards and reconstructed central hearth will form the backdrop for the 43-year-old’s menu that will feature Newfoundland cuisine with a twist.

Lee Cooper had his start at A&W. But helping his dad at franchise locations wasn’t necessarily his childhood dream, it was his fate. “I didn’t get an allowance; I had to work for it,” the chef confesses with a laugh. “I was about 11 when I started doing menial tasks in the restaurant.” And, he’s never left the restaurant scene since.

Transitioning from high school to a cook training program at Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University) in Nanaimo, B.C., was a natural progression for the 17-year-old. 

Justin Leboe took a job at the now defunct Umberto in Vancouver when he was 13 and immediately knew he wanted to be a chef — he just didn’t know for how long. So, Leboe remained in the kitchen, even during his brief stint at Burnaby, B.C.’s Simon Fraser University (SFU) where he studied political science, admittedly to satisfy curiosity and appease his parents.