At Blue Mountain we are lucky to have amazing staff members from across the globe from various walks of life. Meet Chef Oleg! I’d like to say you’ll see his friendly face around The Pottery but he is likely behind the scenes ensuring your meal is prepared to perfection.
Oleg was born into the food industry, his family owned a restaurant and his earliest memories are sitting at the counter watching the chefs and cooks at work. He spent as much time as possible in the kitchen with his mom and aunt which fed his curiosity into the world of food. At the age of seven, Oleg started his very first garden so he could better understand the entire farm to table process. Chef’s passion for gardening has continued to this day with lush gardens ready to harvest for every meal.
Oleg attended the Niagara food and wine institute and graduated from the Culinary Management Program in 2011. He worked at Pillar and Post in 2013, where he achieved his Red Seal. Oleg and his wife relocated to the Blue Mountain area because of the community and opportunities available to his family.
The Blue Mountains area is a perfect place to call home as Chef likes to specifically focus on local, seasonal foods with simple flavours. He likes to let the freshness of the ingredients speak for themselves. It’s not about reinventing the wheel with flavours, but taking old school recipes and putting a new spin on it. He likes to cook with a lot of flavor and preparation, but creates simple plates so that your palate is not overwhelmed. “Niagara college taught me classical French cooking and techniques so I am influenced with those flavors but with social media and the internet you can find anything and everything that you would love to cook so my cooking takes in all those techniques and I make my own kind of style” said Oleg.
Oleg likes to stay on top of his game and spends his free time in his garden and reading/studying about new techniques in the food industry. He feels that if you stop learning and trying new things, then you stop having fun, which is something he never wants to happen. When asked how he keeps his team motivated he said “Growing up I couldn’t picture myself in the office, I needed to be hands on and working in the industry. I found there was a lack of support from management. I told myself if I ever manage staff that I will always support them and be in the rough with them and then deal with everything else later. I want to lead by example and show my staff what it means to be a hard working chef”
