Our Chef

	Chef Rob MacDonald
	Rob MacDonald has had an extensive career as a chef, beginning in the mid-1980s at Café Henry Burger, then moving on to apprentice under Jamie Kennedy at his first Toronto restaurant, Palmerston. Kennedy is one of the first Canadian chefs who made a point of shopping in the market daily, as well as changing menus frequently, in order to reflect seasonality and locality of ingredients. This influence has remained for Rob through the years, and the Pelican currently sources much of its fresh produce from local organic suppliers when possible. From there, Rob traveled to Prince Edward Island where he was the opening chef at the Dunes Café, which received critical acclaim in 1993. From there it was back to Ottawa as opening chef at Maplelawn Café in 1995, where again the restaurant won very positive praise. Travels through California led to several stages at restaurants in San Francisco and the Napa Valley, providing exposure to many different styles and methods of cooking, from The French Laundry to Masa, to Rubicon, Stars and the acclaimed seafood restaurant, Aqua. Rob was also the executive chef of The Embassy of France in Ottawa from 1998-2000. From there, a culinary sabbatical was taken, of sorts, to pursue academic interests where an honours undergraduate degree in Public Policy and an MA in Political Economy were realized. Currently, Rob mixes his time between cooking (most of the time), coaching Nordic skiing at Carleton University, and researching social issues, with a focus on food-related policy, in particular.