The Mise-en-Place Podcast

On this weeks podcast we do something a bit different. Chef Poyan Dinesh takes the helm and interviews our regular podcast host Robert Belcham. With 30 years in the hospitality industry, tells the stories of his career that help explain how he ended up here in Vancouver opening restaurants. From Fuel to Monarch burger, Robert has opened and ran a string of successful ventures and left an indelible mark on BC's hospitality scene. 

On this weeks podcast we have Kate Siegel, the Executive Pastry Chef of Fairmont's Pacific Rim Hotel. From humble beginnings in small town Ontario, to running the pastry program at the Fairmont's most premiere property in Canada.
Kate' unique perspective on the hospitality community and where it is and where it could go, shows her love and respect for the people within it. I truly believe we need more leaders like her changing the game. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I Read More …

So amazing to have my favourite Chef and Sandwich artist on the Podcast today. Lina Caschetto has an inspiring story about finding her own way through life and through our industry. Her background in design and many years of working and honing her craft in Paris, has made her unassuming little sandwich shop one of the best bites of food in the city. I hope you enjoy her stories of adventure and fun, but always with a very strong backbone of tenacity and grit. And Read More …

On today's podcast we have long time hospitality veteran Michael Ziff. With his vast array of experience of opening some of the best restaurants in Vancouver to running one of the best restaurants in the Okanagan. The iconic Poplar Grove Winery, which opened its restaurant five years ago with Michael at the helm and it has grown into the go to restaurant in Penticton/ Naramata. 
Hospitality in general is about telling the story of the restaurant, the food and the wine. It is integral to Read More …

Once in a while you can be really pleasantly surprised by a local business. That happened to me last December. I moved into a new apartment with my wife Tina and san Eli and we were discovering our new place and all that came with it. A new bakery/ pastry shop that I had not heard of before was in the new retail section of the complex and I wanted to try it out. They had coffee and a beautiful pastry case of really beautiful Read More …

I am very excited to welcome Chef John Bates from Interstellar BBQ in Austin Texas. We had the opportunity to meet and cook together at last months Tofino Wine and Dine event up in Tofino BC. Cooking over fire and chatting great food always brings cooks together, and he had a late morning before flying back to Texas to join me in the Podcast Studio, to chat food, the industry and all things BBQ. I had an opportunity 7 years ago to go and eat Read More …

On this weeks Podcast I am supper happy to have on the most humble and incredibly giving Chefs I have ever had the opportunity to call a friend. Chef Poyan Danesh, who has been working his whole professional career here in Vancouver, is a family man, a lover of great food, champion of the young apprentice and a successful entrepreneur. From his humble beginnings in this industry to some of the best kitchens, to the World Stage, Chef Poyan has accomplished many incredible things in Read More …

Hello Everyone, welcome back to this weeks episode of the Podcast. We have a very special guest that I got an opportunity to chat with. Born in Brighton, England, he started his career as an architect and through his desire to travel and open his mind to new opportunity, he found himself as a bartender in Whistler and has yet to look back. Now he is one of the most respected hospitality people in western Canada and is working with the amazing teams at Boxset Read More …

I am very happy to have had the opportunity to chat with two of the next great leaders of the hospitality industry. Co Chefs of the Restaurant at Poplar Grove in Penticton, Stacy Johnston and Minette Lotz, they share their work life and they share their lives as partners in marriage. Two extremely talented chefs that helped bring the Naramata Inn back to life,  tell their story of the journey through this business, from humble beginnings to running one of the nicest properties in the Read More …

On this weeks podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with my old friend Michelin Star Chef Joël Watanabe, of Kissa Tanto, Bao Bei and his new bar Meo. Chef Joël has been cooking professionally for over 30 years across Canada. His reputation of incredibly hard work, exacting standards, and absolutely delicious foods, has made Chef Joël one of the best in Canada. I hope you enjoy his stories of finding his calling in the kitchen from a young age, and what Read More …