What is this place? Back to my roots. I believe everyone has an natural attraction to their passion. My passion is food and it started out completely involuntary. When I was a wee tot standing in my Nana’s kitchen, I watched intently as she poured the rum over the Christmas ‘Pudd’ shortly before setting it on fire; that was cooking? Or was it simply her way of recreating a holiday classic, word for word out of a cookbook in order to maintain the traditional feast? I always thought it was incredible to watch things unfold in her kitchen. She was my biggest culinary influence. Not to mention she always let me lick the bowl (see From Nana’s Kitchen for full story). I have spent the last 15 years cooking in an amateur setting; reading cookbooks, magazines and watching the cooking programs. The introduction of the Food Network helped to simplify the process and remove the fear out of cooking for me, and many other people. I cooked wherever possible, when I was growing up, I was the only one who ever took a keen interest in cooking. Creating our own history. On a really humid day in late May 2007, my partner at the time – Chef John Corsi – asked me if I would move to Vancouver. After a couple of hours pondering, I decided that in order to pursue the side of the culinary world that I wanted, the move to BC was required (see Satisfaction guaranteed, welcome to BC for the full story). Before July came, John and I spent days and days researching restaurants, wineries, markets and individual product to find the right place to start our new adventure. So here we are, ready and willing to eat, learn and thrive. A passion like this should be shared, never kept to oneself. Since those days, my expertise and happiness has developed into an incorporation of all things consumable. Between food science, culinary arts, classic mixology, contemporary bartending, molecular gastronomy, and my sommelier certification, I have become a monster in my craft – I get the most satisfaction out of teaching others, while continuing to educate myself. I am constantly inspired by the finest bartenders around me, and I have thousands more learn with. Why not continuously document my excerpts? Done and done. Welcome to Poivre. On September 9, 2007, Poivre Media Company was created. I hope you enjoy what you read.