Team Profile

Daniel Davyduke

Being a self-described 'Rustic' kind of guy, Daniel isn't the image you would necessarily find in a group of well trained foodies of the Culinary circuit in Canada.

Daniel, growing up in farm-country Chilliwack, British Columbia, has a different eye to the high end cuisine that comes to plates and flavours of Junior Culinary Team Canada. Daniel started cooking later on in his life, in comparison to the others on the team. He is currently 27, which is too old to actually compete in the Culinary Olympics in 2012, but is the last remaining member of the winning culinary team that took Windsor by storm in 2010 at the national CCFCC conference.

Daniel is the youngest of three boys, so he was typically the one who was always left behind or legged with keeping up with the boys, so Daniel found comfort in the kitchen and feeding his brothers and family whenever they came home from anywhere. To Daniel, cooking is an extension of appreciation and a symbol of love that is reached out no matter where or what you come from.

Upon finishing the Culinary Arts program at Vancouver Community College with distinction, he focussed his time on the Team before entering the workforce as an apprentice at Terminal City Club in downtown Vancouver under the powerhouse brigade ran by Ben Pernosky.

Daniel's role on the team is definitely a hard one to define, let alone place into a single category. He is often referred to as the 'Mother Hen' to the kids and often the first one to show up to any practise or function and typically the one locking everything up at night. Daniel has a strong work ethic, a passion for working long hours on little to no sleep and has the patience to work and learn to better his team before himself.

Daniel realizes that his life would not be going on this path had it not been for JC Felicella, team manager, who helped to guide Daniel towards being a part of the team. JC is the manager of the Junior Culinary Team Canada and also the Department Head of the Culinary Arts Program at Vancouver Community College - Which is where the team is based out of.

Daniel's love of food and his simple styles brings another dynamic to the already vast and varied dynamics of the team. He is thrilled beyond belief for how his life has turned out and is looking forward to celebrating the IKA Culinary Olympics in October, no matter the outcome.