HONOURED AT HOME
Island chef Irwin MacKinnon receives national award on P.E.I, thanks to votes from colleagues across Canada
Island chef Irwin MacKinnon receives national award on P.E.I., thanks to votes from colleagues across Canada
Winning a national award in front of a hometown crowd was the icing on the cake for Irwin MacKinnon.
The executive chef at Papa Joe’s in Charlottetown was awarded the Canadian Culinary Federation Chef of the Year at the federation’s annual award ceremony in Charlottetown last month.
Chefs from all over the country attended the ceremony, which was part of a weeklong national conference.
MacKinnon was pleased to be granted the award in front of his family and wife, Donna.
“It was a nice coincidence that I was being put up for chef of the year in my own home province,” he said.
MacKinnon also received the Eastern Regional Chef of the Year in March and the P.E.I Chef of the Year award in September 2017.
Since MacKinnon won the regional award, he was put in the pot of potential recipients for the national award, along with the winners of the Western and Central regions.
What meant even more to MacKinnon than the award itself was that it was his colleagues from across Canada who voted for him.
“You might think that mostly just your region is going to vote for you, but it was nice to know that a lot of other branches from across Canada recognize my contribution and they voted my way,” he said.
MacKinnon has spent 30 years in the food industry. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of Canada in 1988.
He went on to cook in Europe for a few years before moving back to Charlottetown to be a chef at the former Joseph’s restaurant.
In 2003, MacKinnon left Joseph’s and started at Papa Joe’s.
MacKinnon wears a number of different hats in the food service industry on the Island. He is also the president of the P.E.I. Association of Chefs and Cooks.
Finding different things to do with the same ingredients is what keeps the food industry interesting for MacKinnon.
“Everything I create usually starts just with that little tiny ember,” he said. “Sometimes it’s as a result of something that’s in season or it can in some cases be as a result of something that you
just have a lot of, so you come up with inventive ways.”
MacKinnon is now preparing for two cooking events in September — the P.E.I Fall Flavours festival and the Gold Medal Plates competition in Moncton.
Moving forward, MacKinnon plans to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
“You never know what’s going to be down the road,” he said. “There’s always lots of opportunities and things that happen in this industry.”
“You might think that mostly just your region is going to vote for you, but it was nice to know that a lot of other branches from across Canada recognize my contribution and they voted my way.” Chef Irwin MacKinnon