Notch8 chef brings creativity to work
Dennis Peckham has been keeping busy since he joined Fairmont Hotel Vancouver as executive chef of Notch8 Restaurant & Bar last year. Born in Williams Lake, he graduated from the Dubrulle Culinary Institute in Vancouver in 2001 and went on to work at such acclaimed places as Lumière, West Restaurant, and French Laundry, a Michelin three-star restaurant in California. A fitness enthusiast and dog lover who hosts charity dinners in his own home for the SPCA, Peckham has a penchant for making fresh pasta.
We caught up with the Top Chef Canada competitor (2019) and Chopped Canada champ (2016) to hear more.
HOW DID YOU END UP PURSUING A CULINARY CAREER?
I was working construction in Victoria, and I hated it. I was building scaffolding and I was always wet and cold, and I was terrified of heights. I was laid off one winter, and a buddy was a cook at a private golf course in Victoria. He said, “Why don’t you come wash dishes for a winter?” It was on the ground and it was inside, so I figured why not?
I really liked the culture of the kitchen. I started doing prep, then I started doing banquet prep, then lunch, and I always had a lot of fun with it. It was my mom who said, “Why not go to cooking school?”
LOOKING BACK NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO YOUR YOUNGER CHEF SELF?
I thought I was so good, but in hindsight I was so terrible. I was a good cook but a terrible chef. Being a chef is about managing people and running a business and ensuring consistency and making sure the culture is positive and fosters progression and ownership. Cooking is such a small part of what you do as a chef. You teach it, but it’s a lot more about the culture that you bring to the kitchen.
A lot of people complain about staffing issues, but the bottom line is if you give people a reason to stay, they’ll stay.
WHAT DREW YOU TO NOTCH8?
I had worked at the Fairmont Waterfront before. When I got the call, I had also been working a ton running my own business [Fraiche Sheet Foods, with his former partner]. I was working 30, 35 hours straight. I was so tired I couldn’t think straight.
I met with the GM and the director of operations [at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver]. I really love the brand, I love the culture of the company, I love the hotels… There wasn’t much to think about.
Everything comes from the restaurant: room service, the lounge, the breakfast buffet, happy hour, afternoon tea, dinner… We describe the style as approachable sophistication. I’m just in the process of launching a new breakfast menu. I just love to cook. I love it here.
(GS happy-hour tip: Order the beer-battered oyster mushrooms with Parmesan dip (also available on the lounge menu); stay for the DJ, who spins twice a week.)