Ian VandeGraaf TREADWELL
Ian VandeGraaf was just 15 and still in high school when he landed his first restaurant job — at Capers, in his home town of Belleville, Ont. “The chef there had me making sausages on my first day,” he recalls, “and I thought, this is awesome!” Four years later, in 2015, he was the top culinary student at Niagara College, finishing the course with a six-month co-op at Chef Stephen Treadwell’s restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake. And he just stayed on, currently working as sous-chef in the open kitchen that backs the elegant dining room. “I felt nervous the first few days; now I love talking to the customers while I cook, telling them about the farms that supply us.” This summer, Treadwell opened a new, more casual property across the street and VandeGraaf added catering and event experience to his resumé. “It’s a continuous learning process,” he says cheerfully. “It’s not work when you love it so much.”
“It really does make for a superior product when every ingredient is fresh and local. Our customers expect it—and appreciate it.”