Rosebud’s new chef brings commitment, experience to role

Times Contributor        

 

Charlie See, Rosebud Centre of the Arts’ new executive chef, brings decades of experience and a high standard of commitment to his role.

See apprenticed and worked under European chefs for 10 years at the prestigious Sherwood Inn in Muskoka, Ontario, learning French cuisine. At the same time, he cooked roadside diner food at The Woodsman Inn.

When he took time to recover from a back injury, he thought hard about his life. Though he’d already earned his Red Seal, he wasn’t as good a cook as he wanted to be. He re-entered the kitchen with a new commitment – to become the best cook he could possibly be.

Continuing part-time at the Sherwood, See rose through the ranks at the highly-regarded Talisman Mountain Inn, being honoured as the best pastry chef they’d ever had.

But See wanted to work a longer ski season, and to add high-volume cooking to his resume. He decided to move to western Canada.

After a year at the Panorama Ski Hill as executive sous chef, See was sous chef at the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge for four years, then pastry chef with exclusive Canadian Mountain Holidays for two more. When Num-Ti-Jah Lodge offered him the executive chef position, he was quick to accept.

During his four years there, See’s daughter was born, and his priorities shifted again. 

“I had to start thinking about making more money and not just working for the experience,” he says. “I decided to move to Calgary and open my own business.” 

Since 2004, he’s operated one to three catering businesses at any one time.

The money was good, he says, but “it wasn’t uncommon for me to work 24-30 hour days,” he says. “After 10 years of catering, I decided I wanted to do something else.”

So he responded to the advertisement for a chef at Rosebud.

When he first visited the village, “I was taken with the place right away,” said See, who started March 1. “I said I want to be here … it looks like a great new challenge.”

The Rosebud people, both locals and customers, are the highlight of his new role. 

“I’m working with a great team of cooks and apprentices and dishwashers, and local people that are general helpers. Everybody’s awesome.”

He served his first theatre buffet Friday, March 28. 

“(People are) really expecting a show when they come here,” he says, “so we’re going to try and give them a good show on the food end that pairs up well with the show they get in the theatre.”

He’s excited about preparing more food from scratch, using more local products, and possibly introducing game like pheasant and bison. Wild Horse Jack’s Restaurant is also undergoing a transformation.

In future, he envisions a possible farmer’s market, and making more products to sell, including canned goods, and smoked salmon and trout.

See commutes from Calgary, which is a challenge this winter. He also faces the challenge of bringing varied foods to Rosebud. But, on the whole, the transition has gone smoothly, and all the challenges, he says, are “over-come-able”.

Angela Killoran, first cook in the Rosebud kitchen, appreciates the opportunity to work with Charlie. 

“He’s encouraging and stimulating,” she says. “He’s got a really good heart. I believe God totally brought him here.”