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By Taylor Merkley
Cole Millard of Canmore, Alberta is quickly establishing himself as one of Alberta’s next great chefs. The truly impressive part? He’s only in the ninth grade!
Cole’s braised duck leg, pickled and roasted shiitake, green curry, root beer gastrique, potato, tomatillo and shallot relish.
The fifteen-year-old chef began cooking at the age of five and has been honing his culinary skills ever since. He has learned much from working with names like Andrew Winfield, Mark Lepin, Curtis Stone, and—one of his particular favourites—Daniel Boulud. Although Cole enjoys most fine dining endeavours, French cuisine is his specialty. He loves experimenting with new ingredients and techniques and especially enjoys the art of presentation in plating food (he cites plating tweezers as being among his must-have kitchen tools). The young chef hesitates to declare a single “signature dish,” but his lychee and red pepper smoked prawns certainly rank near the top of the list. If he could work with anyone anywhere in the world, Cole would choose Joël Robuchon in Paris; the world renowned culinary professional was named Chef of the Century in 1989 by the prestigious restaurant guide Gault Millau, and Cole’s flair for French cuisine has only been fanned by his admiration for M. Robuchon. When he’s not in the kitchen, Cole enjoys science, boxing, and football.
Alberta has opportunities aplenty for young chefs like Cole. Alberta’s polytechnic institutions, like NAIT in Edmonton and SAIT in Calgary, provide training for a career in the culinary arts with expert instruction and hands-on training. Internships, like the ones that Cole has completed with the Crazyweed Kitchen in Canmore and Calgary’s Teatro Ristorante, are frequently available to young culinary enthusiasts. Competitions like the Chopped Canada Teen Tournament award cash prizes and culinary scholarships to the lucky winners.
But being a young chef in Alberta isn’t always a piece of gateau basque. “I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” Cole laughs. “Honestly, it’s a lot of self-motivation…you have to be able to get turned down. Once you get good—once you get passionate—it becomes easier.”
Cole (far right) at the Taste of Markerville dinner with chefs Andrew Winfield (River Café), Jessica Pelland (charbar), John Jackson (CHARCUT), Duncan Ly (Yellow Door Bistro & Raw Bar), and Darren MacLean (downtownfood, Shokunin)
At just fifteen, Cole Millard has already established himself as a leader of Alberta’s continually evolving culinary landscape. Perhaps one day his dreams of opening a restaurant in Spain and cooking with M. Joël Robuchon will be realized; for now, however, his eyes are set on finishing high school and moving on to postsecondary. When asked about the future of the culinary industry in Alberta, Cole said that there is nowhere to go but up. “It will just continue to grow,” he predicted. “More events, more great chefs, more opportunities.”
This article was posted in Blog and tagged: alberta Canmore chef food youth
