At the Tavola with... Chef Micheal Allemeier, Culinary Arts Instructor at SAIT

Chef Michael Allemeier is an Instructor of Culinary Arts at SAIT and former Chef at the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in West Kelowna. Michael was born in Johannesburg South Africa. Having lived most of his youth outside of Canada in places including Hong Kong he developed an appreciation for diverse culinary styles. He describes his cooking style as "Cuisine de Terroir". In 2017 Michael became the third Canadian to become a certified Master Chef.

Tell us about a favourite food memory.

There are so many but one of my favourites is on a recent trip to Italy with the family of eating Bistecca in Panzano with Dario Cecchini. It really showed my kids what food means to a culture. It was a four hour lunch outside that included so many Tuscan speciality dishes.

What makes a great host/hostess when entertaining?

The trick to being a good host is organization. Try to have most of the work done in advance so you can spend time with your friends and family. Chose a menu that can be organized a bit in advance so you are in control and its not the other way. Whatever isn’t done, get your guests to help out with simple tasks. Everyone feels comfortable to help out a bit.

What’s kitchen tool/appliance/gadget you couldn’t live without?

Sharp good knives. Knives touch everything, a good knife makes cooking better.

If you could have dinner with any notable Canadian - who would it be, why and what would be on the menu?

Its no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Canadian band Rush. Id love to have dinner with Getty Lee. He’s well read and articulate and a huge fan of food and wine. My favourite way of entertaining is to cook over charcoal. I have seven pieces of outdoor cooking equipment. It would be fun to use them all. A little pizza, something smoked and a lot of grilled fish, meat and vegetables. Naturally we would drink some big wines as well, with a mandatory bottle of sabred champagne. That really puts people to ease and is a great start to a fun meal.

Are you working on anything we should keep an eye out for?

Still working on finding balance in my life. Being a professional cook it can be tough. But, I'm still working on putting those who are important to me first while I maintain my standards professionally.