Not very many people know this, but the Smos both graduated from NAIT Culinary Arts. The difference? We took different routes.
by Leanne Smoliak
As a wide eyed 17-year-old, I was one of the only women in the two-year commercial cooking program at NAIT. Women were rare in the culinary field at that time, but I knew this was what I wanted to do. I devoured Bon Appetit and Gourmet every month. When I read about Alice Waters’ restaurant, Chez Panisse, I knew I found my calling.
Back in the early 80s the culinary program was a different beast. Our access to ingredients was average at best, but I did taste prosciutto for the first time. Did I need to know the many buffet accoutrements that I learned then? Hard-boiled egg penguins, meats shiny with aspic gel, huge hams adorned with pineapple. You get it. The program was geared to large hotel or camp kitchens. The best part was learning great knife skills, Escoffier’s five mother sauces, butchery and baking.
I found peers who were like minded and our instructors seemed to enjoy teaching us. We had a blast. Together we started on our path of food and wine appreciation. I loved every second of it.
My first job was in a small nondescript restaurant; a year later I was the executive chef at the Café at Holt’s at Holt Renfrew. What a ride. The best ingredients, reign over the menu, discounted clothes shopping! It was terrific, but a big job for a gal of 20. I felt I needed to grow, so I left for a long trip to Europe. Not long after I got back my phone rang and it was Holt’s asking ‘did I want to come back?’ How fantastic was that.
It wasn’t long before I realized that I was craving the front of the house. You know I love to talk. I wanted to be with the guests, so I transitioned from the back of the house to the front of the house. As they say, the rest is history.
Brad always wanted to cook, but as someone with a congenital heart defect, his doctors and parents said ‘no way.’
Instead Brad took the Business Program at NAIT, majoring in marketing. During school and afterwards he worked in many restaurants as a busboy and then as a server.
This is our meet cute. We both loved the industry. I hired Brad as the assistant manager at Philip’s Fine Dining Room when I was the manager. Yes, I know, group eye roll. Nobody knew, but it wasn’t long after he was hired that we started dating (on the sly).
Then I took a job at the Hotel Macdonald and Brad became the manager of Philip’s. We were destined to marry. We both loved food, wine and people.
Not long after we were married Brad said, “I want to be a professional cook.” After I threw out many expletives followed by ‘cooks work all the time, don’t make any money,’ I then said; ‘go for it.’ Many of his dreams had been crushed because of his heart condition. Why not go for it?
His training ground was Earl’s. They had a fantastic training program, used quality ingredients and offered opportunities to grow. That’s where we met Larry and Melinda Stewart (and went on to partner with them in the Hardware Grill). The Culinary Institute at Greystone in the Napa Valley was Brad’s next step.
Back at the Hardware Grill he was in a position to be mentoring NAIT apprentices, so he fast tracked his apprenticeship and wrote the Red Seal exam, all in record time.
I loved being one of only a few women in the industry—I was breaking ground. I feel rather good about that.
As for Brad: the number of young chefs that were mentored by him and became major players in the restaurant game can’t be counted. He was also the first chef to put pyrohy on a fine dining menu. Pretty cool.