Chef aurelio gualtieri, cuisine culture eat well, live well

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• Publié par: oeufdepaques
• Nombre de lectures: 173
• Langue: Français

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Chef Aurelio Gualtieri, Cuisine Culture

Eat Well, Live Well.

Passion, dedication and an undeniable love for food best describe Aurelio Gualtieri,

owner, operator and executive chef of Cuisine Culture. Born and raised in Montreal in an

Italian household where all of his family members had a passion for food, most of his

childhood years were spent canning homemade tomato sauce with his mom, crushing

grapes for the family wine, packaging wild mushrooms picked by his dad, drying herbs

from the garden and watching cooking shows and testing new recipes with his sister. It

seemed only natural that his destiny in life was to become a chef.

Aurelio was fortunate to grow up in city where restaurants are a way of life, from small

neighbourhood mom and pop operations to upscale fine dining establishments and hotels.

All he had to do was pick and hope that someone would give him a chance to pursue his

passion for food. He spent many years working in French, Italian, Lebanese, Spanish and

Greek restaurants, yet he still wanted more. He enrolled in the Cuisine program at

L’institute de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Quebec

(ITHQ) and spent seven years

perfecting his trade in baking, fine cuisine and hotel management.

In 1997, Aurelio took a major step and packed his bags for Calgary. He was fortunate

enough to find employment in a small Italian restaurant, Il Girasole, within only 48 hours

of his arrival. An open kitchen atmosphere, romantic setting and carte blanche from the

owner ensured that he could experiment and “play” with food. Six months later, he was

awarded the executive chef position. In his words, “I can truly say that working for this

Calgary restaurant was one of the most rewarding experiences in my chef life.”

In the summer of 1999, Aurelio moved on to become executive sous chef at La Caille on

the Bow, one of Calgary’s most renowned restaurants. He learned a lot from La Caille on

the Bow and considered himself truly fortunate to have worked in such a fine

establishment.

A quick change of careers took place with the birth of his two children, when he felt that

something was missing. He missed discovering, creating, tasting and playing with food.

This is when he took what was to become a monumental task and created Cuisine

Culture, a “playground” for food lovers.

Today, Aurelio has the mandate of serving balanced and nutritious meals to Olympic gold

medal hopefuls. The

Fuel for Gold

program is the only one of its kind in Canada, backed

by generous sponsorships from Alberta Egg, Beef, Turkey and Pork producers.

Fuel for

Gold

is organized through the involvement of the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary.