A long-time Vancouver Island chef who helped bring the farm-to-table movement to the Comox Valley has received one of the country\u2019s highest culinary honours.<\/p>\n
Ronald St. Pierre was named the 2026 Chef of the Year by the Canadian Culinary Federation during the federation\u2019s national conference in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. on Thursday, May 28. The annual award recognizes \u201cexceptional culinary leadership, mentorship, community involvement and lasting impact on the culinary profession.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Pierre, who co-founded Locals Restaurant in the Comox Valley and has spent decades advocating for Vancouver Island food producers, said he was caught off-guard by the recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little bit surprised that I was voted in for the award,\u201d St. Pierre told CHEK News. \u201cI mean, all the candidates that had been nominated for each region were deserving of the award, but I was also, you know, I\u2019m flattered that they voted for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chef\u2019s culinary career began in Quebec before he moved west in the early 1980s. He and his wife, Tricia, settled in the Comox Valley in 1990, where he became a leading voice for local food systems and sustainable sourcing. In 2008, the couple opened Locals, built around a philosophy of connecting diners directly with Vancouver Island farmers, fishers and food producers.<\/p>\n
For St. Pierre, the award reflects years of involvement with the Canadian Culinary Federation and the broader culinary community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe award is designed to recognize the involvement of the people within our Canadian Culinary Federation, and so it\u2019s recognition of the work and effort that the people put in over time into the organization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be recognized\u2026and it\u2019s also an honour to have my name added to the long list of the people that have deserved it before me.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Pierre said his passion for local food was shaped by his upbringing in rural Quebec before the globalization of food supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I moved to the Island, I got close to the food source again, being able to work with local producers for fish, for produce, for meat, and it really made me appreciate again what food was all about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Over the years, he became concerned that many small-scale producers were struggling to stay in business despite producing high-quality food.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started to think not only I need to use the local food, but I really have to become an advocate to try to get people to appreciate the fact that they need to support the producer as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Today, he says consumers have become far more interested in where their food comes from.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they come to the restaurant, they want to know where the food\u2019s from, where was it grown, is it organic? People now do mind about what they put in their body and where the food comes from, and that is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond his work in the kitchen, St. Pierre has spent years mentoring young cooks and chefs. He currently serves as treasurer of the North Vancouver Island Culinary Association and sits on the national board of the Canadian Culinary Federation.<\/p>\n
He said watching former apprentices build successful careers of their own has been among the most rewarding parts of his profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I found that makes me the most excited about that is when you work with really young people and they start in the industry, and I\u2019ve got many success stories of seeing them now being chefs themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to pass on that passion to young people, it gives me great joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chef Jonathan Frazier, president of the North Vancouver Island Culinary Association, said St. Pierre\u2019s influence has helped establish the Comox Valley as a culinary destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis commitment to mentorship, leadership, community involvement and the promotion of Canadian cuisine has left a lasting mark on the Comox Valley,\u201d Frazier said in a release.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, St. Pierre said rising operating costs and attracting young people to careers in the culinary industry remain significant challenges. But he believes growing interest in local food presents opportunities for both restaurants and producers.<\/p>\n
He also hopes more young chefs will become involved in professional organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would encourage any young chef in the country to consider joining our association,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to have mentorship and networking opportunities, and also a great tool for professional development as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A long-time Vancouver Island chef who helped bring the farm-to-table movement to the Comox Valley has received one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-707551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}