Kris Kabush
Executive Chef, Hart House Restaurant

Kris was born and raised in Surrey BC, where he currently lives with his wife Jill and son Ethan. He became interested in cooking as a youth, first at home and then as a participant in his high school’s excellent culinary arts program. Kris fell in love with the idea of cooking for a career when he got his first restaurant job at the age of 16: he says he felt that he had found what he was meant to do, and he still finds cooking to be an exciting, challenging and fascinating craft with an endless learning curve.

Toward the end of Kris’ final year in high school, he secured a position at the Wedgewood Hotel in downtown Vancouver. He successfully balanced the full time job with the remainder of his schooling until graduation. At this point he began to take a really serious interest in the industry, particularly fine dining, and he found he was fully prepared to take on the daunting challenge of achieving the technique and finesse it takes to be a great cook. He started his apprenticeship at the Wedgewood, challenging the first-year exam and moving straight into the second year of the Vancouver Community College’s Red Seal culinary program. He completed his apprenticeship at Vancouver’s Four Seasons Hotel about eighteen months later.

Kris says he considers himself to have had quite a few mentors over the years. He has worked at several highly respected restaurants and hotels such as Cioppino's, The Four Seasons, Lumière and the Wedgewood Hotel, and has very fond memories of working with people such as Pino Posteraro, Stephen Clark, Michael Brough and Prakash Seetul at the different venues. He says that the people he considers to have been his mentors have not necessarily been employers, or even the highest level of management: in some cases they have simply been cooks like him. The most important thing that Kris learned from his mentors is that to be a great chef one must remain passionate about all things that one does, and never allow complacency to overshadow one’s creativity.

Kris’ cooking style is influenced by many different cultures, but mainly French, Italian, Spanish and North American with a splash of Asian. He finds it very gratifying to cook for other people and to see how they react to dishes that remind them of their childhood, or alternatively that that are completely new to them. Since joining Hart House as a sous chef in the fall of 2008, he has enjoyed having the freedom to innovate and experiment. Having access to an on-site garden and working with a team of creative staff who are interested in trying fun new things like charcuterie and dry ageing give an element of play to his work. Now the Executive Chef, Kris’ enthusiasm and commitment to excellence mean that the guests at Hart House can always rely on fresh, inspired cuisine that will make them want to come back for more.