This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview.
Daniel Henderson began his hospitality career in Waterloo, Ontario. Graduating from both Chef Training and Food & Beverage Management programs at Conestoga College, he pursued his Red Seal Qualification at the Waterloo Inn and Conference Centre. Striving for change, Daniel moved west to Vancouver Island where he began studying the art of Sushi under several Japanese Chefs. Landing in Victoria, B.C. with the Oak Bay Marine Group, Daniel worked his way through the Island at several Japanese Sushi Restaurants until finally managing the Sushi Bar at beautiful April Point Resort and Spa.
Ready for his next challenge, Daniel returned to his roots in Ontario in 2004, to French and Mediterranean kitchens. He worked at the Cambridge Inn and Conference Centre as Executive Sous-Chef and as Chef for Blackshop and Sole restaurants. It was in 2008 that Daniel took his passion back to the Asian cuisine and joined Bento Sushi as their Corporate Chef. In his role at Bento, Daniel managed culinary development for over 1300 chefs in over 400 locations across North America including 4 restaurants in Manhattan, New York. With Bento, Daniel opened more than 75 locations as well as led all culinary development during Bento’s rapid expansion to the North Eastern United States. During his time at Bento, Daniel’s sushi training also brought him to Japan where he experienced the art of Sushi first hand.
While leading the culinary team at Bento, Daniel completed his Certified Chef de Cuisine designation in 2012. Alongside his C.C.C., Daniel’s other achievements include having won the Alumni of Distinction award from Conestoga College and being nominated for the Ontario College Premier Award in 2013.
Moving on from Bento, Daniel led the Food & Beverage team at Holt Renfrew in 2014, helping define dining and food moments and refining Food & Beverage concepts within the luxury retailer, while leading the opening of 2 Holts Café locations in Yorkdale & Vancouver.
Shifting to the growing digital consumer demand, Daniel took his next step joining Chefs Plate in 2015 – Canada’s leading direct-to-consumer meal kit delivery service. In his role as V.P. Culinary Innovation, Daniel led the Culinary, Sourcing, FSQA and Operation teams with a focus on rapid production development to provide Canadians fresh, speed scratch dinner solutions for time starved families coast to coast. Daniel led these teams to acquisition when Chefs Plate was acquired by the world Meal Kit leader, Hello Fresh in October, 2017.
Today, Daniel works at Loblaw Companies Limited as Senior Director, Product Development – Meal Solutions. Currently, Daniel leads the Culinary, Sourcing, FSQA and Operations teams within Meal Solutions at Loblaw under the PC Chef brand - focused on helping Canadians solve dinner through both digital & traditional store fulfillment channels. The recent pandemic has led the Meals team to launch pcchef.ca – a next day delivery service of PC Chef and local restaurant meal kits with daily delivery.
Instagram: @chef.hendo.eats
Podcast Artwork by Zak Hannah @zak.hannah