Remembering Chef Dan DeMatteis

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DanDeMatteis-JamieKennedy

TORONTO — The foodservice industry was shaken by the recent news that chef Dan DeMatteis died suddenly on July 4, 2012. DeMatteis was a strong proponent of the slow-food movement and had a passion for food and the cooking industry. The popular chef had many interests including farm to table cooking, and a love of books and Leonard Cohen.

Born in Toronto in 1979, DeMatteis was raised in Nova Scotia. He graduated from the University of King’s College in Halifax. His cooking career took him to Montreal, Italy and Toronto where he cooked at Dufferin Grove Park, Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and Café Belong at the Evergreen Brick Works, where he was executive chef.

Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy paid homage to his friend and former co-worker via online media. “Dan had a zeal for the work of Slow Food and the ideology of celebrating and protecting traditional food ways in the wake of the industrial era,” read Kennedy’s statement on Twitter. “He was drawn into our field because he felt he could make a difference; that he could raise the bar. He recognized the currency of the work we were doing in the local food movement.”

Tobey Nemeth, of Toronto’s Edulis Restaurant, remembers DeMatteis as an engaging, intelligent, natural cook. “Dan was affectionate, funny, smart as hell, and an outstanding, natural, genius of a cook,” read her statement posted at GoodFoodRevolution.com. “[Dan] had a calm, quiet devotion to beautiful food and a reverence for the people who craft it. We were kindred spirits in our love of delicious things. His generosity, gentleness, sincerity, [and] his affectionate nature made him a great friend.”

A memorial fund has been set up to honour chef Dan DeMatteis to share Dan’s spirit, values, his love and work ethic.

This has been a tough week for the foodservice industry with losing of chef Sedlak to an undiagnosed medical condition on Friday, Jul. 6.

photo courtesy of Joanna Dickens

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