The food industry clearly made a mark on Moss. She studied hospitality at the University of Guelph and graduated from the Stratford Chefs School in 1992. “I always wanted to be a chef.” she says. She apprenticed at Rundles and for a period taught the front-of-house service component at the School. As both a trained cook and a food manufacturer, she has a unique perspective on the history of Stratford’s food.
If you ask Ruth Klahsen, owner and lead cheesemaker at Monforte Dairy, how she got into making cheese, she’ll tell you, in that self-deprecating way she has: “I’m just an old broad who had a mid-life crisis!”
The real story is that Ruth is living proof of how an individual can have a transformative effect on local food systems. A graduate of the inaugural class of ’83 at Stratford Chefs School and a professional chef for 25 years, she embarked on an adventure that would see her become one of Canada’s most celebrated cheese makers.
Celebrating the Class of 2020, East Coast Kitchen Party-style, and more!
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I always knew I wanted to own my own business. One of my early jobs was working in a small café in Stratford, where I grew up. I worked there before and after school throughout high school and fell in love with cooking and decided this was the direction I would go. After working in numerous restaurants in Stratford and attending Stratford Chefs School, I traveled to the west coast to work at the Sooke Harbour House where my passion for creating menus and thinking outside of the box flourished…
Chef Rich Francis’ Gwich’in community is the foundation for his cooking, and he’s exploring the path to reconciliation through modern Aboriginal cuisine.
After being awakened to global food at the Stratford Chef’s School, Victoria Allman wanted to go out and taste the flavours she had been studying in their own countries. Victoria became a private chef, cooking her way around the world on yachts. This has allowed her to not only study what paella is but how it is made in Spain by authentic local cooks. Victoria has been lucky enough to visit 52 countries – cooking and eating her way through the cuisine of each. Victoria currently works as a Yacht Chef for Motor Yacht Odessa.