Timothy Palmer, chef of EPIC Restaurant, comes to Toronto from Bermuda.
Until October 2010, he was the Chef de Cuisine of the Four-Diamond Waterlot Inn Steak House at the Fairmont Southampton hotel. Chef Palmer brings extensive experience to The Fairmont Royal York.
Raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the Canadian prairies, Chef Palmer began his culinary quest at the beautiful Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in the Rocky Mountains. He joined the apprenticeship program at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, with training at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary and NAIT in Edmonton.
His passion for food drove him to enter culinary competitions, winning awards in the Chaine de Rotisserie and the Best of Alberta Beef.
Palmer completed the apprenticeship program at Jasper and received his Journeyman and Red Seal certificates in 2005. He fortified his passion for great food as the Chef De Cuisine at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge’s Four-Diamond Edith Cavell Dining Room from 2003 to 2005.
Palmer next moved to Queensland, Australia as a Banquet Chef at the Sheraton Mirage Resort in exotic Port Douglas. The tropical climate, the Great Barrier Reef and a seemingly endless supply of the most flavourful produce he had ever seen, enabled Palmer to soak up the cuisine and culture of this unique part of the world.
In 2007, Palmer rejoined the Fairmont family in Bermuda at the Fairmont Southampton as Chef de Cuisine of the Four-Diamond Waterlot Inn Steak House. There he created dishes using classic and local cooking techniques and the highest quality ingredients. Beef and seafood are his signature mains.
Chef Palmer’s first hand knowledge of the water surrounding Bermuda, and his awareness of the importance of keeping the ocean healthy, provide a perfect fit with EPIC’s commitment to ocean conservation, through the Ocean Wise sustainable choices program.
EPIC’s new chef will be educating guests and its culinary brigade about the importance of making environmentally friendly seafood choices on every menu. Palmer’s focus on making sustainable purchasing and menu choices will ensure that EPIC is a leader in Toronto’s sustainable food movement.
In addition, Chef Palmer continues the hotel’s long tradition of utilizing the hotel’s rooftop for herbs, delivering freshness without packaging and keeping beehives to engage guests and deliver locally harvested honey. This relatively small undertaking in rooftop urban agriculture not only provides fresh product without packaging, but also cuts down on the need to source outside goods from long distances.
At EPIC local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients are always menu highlights.
