Prestige position for local teen
Trevor Nichols - Mar 27, 2017 - Biz Releases

Photo: Contributed

An Okanagan teenager has officially entered the big leagues after landing a job at one of the country’s most prestigious restaurants.

Seventeen-year-old Carson Bibby, an Okanagan College culinary arts program alumnus, was recently hired as chef de partie at the upmarket Ottawa restaurant Atelier.

Atelier is known for pushing the culinary boundaries through its hyper-modern style and molecular gastronomy techniques. There, the high school student is working under the tutelage of award-winning chef Marc Lepine.

Bibby first worked with Lepine when he was just 16 years old, as a sous-chef during the Canadian Culinary Championship’s Gold Medal Plates competition.

It’s an opportunity given to Okanagan College’s culinary arts students, and Bibby made the most of it.

For two years running he worked with Lapine at the competition. Then, at the conclusion of the competition last February, Lepine offered Bibby a spot in his kitchen.

“I was floored by the offer,” Bibby recalled. “The opportunity to observe and support Chef Lepine at Gold Medal Plates was incredible. I was flattered and honoured that he wanted me to come and work with him.”

Bibby, who moved to the Okanagan when he was nine years old, said the dual-credit program at Okanagan College was a huge factor in his success.

Through the program the college partners with local schools to give Grades 11 and 12 students a chance to earn postsecondary credits while still in high school.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Carson,” said Chef Bernard Casavant, the culinary manager at Okanagan College. “[Carson] is an example of one of our students who has managed to open the door to an opportunity and seize it, through hard work and dedication.”

Bibby said the college gave him a solid foundation of skills and techniques he needed to make it to that higher level, but he also credited his father and grandfather with his success.

Both men were red seal chefs, and Bibby said they inspired him to pursue cooking as a career. That being said, he admitted he still has a long road ahead of him.

“I still have a lot to learn. It’s a very different kitchen than any I’ve experienced. Every technique, every dish is next-level,” he said.

While he’s in Ottawa Bibby is taking online courses, and he will graduate high school this year. He said he still plans to pursue more formal culinary training in the future, but that for now he’s content to let those plans simmer.

“We’re always trying new things, so I get to learn something different every day,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful and unique learning experience so far.”


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