Collier named Chef of the Year

Dereck Collier of St. Alban’s was recently named Chef of the Year by the at the 29th annual Chef’s Ball and Auction that was held at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s on January 14. The Newfoundland and Labrador Chef’s Association named Collier...

Published on January 27, 2012

Cindy Cox

ban’s native among best chefs in Canada Deck:

On January 14th, 2012, Dereck Collier, originally from St. Alban’s received the Chef of the Year award for 2011 from the Newfoundland and Labrador Chef’s Association. Collier received his award at the 29th Annual Chef’s Ball and Auction that was held at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s. There were 250 guests that attended the Gala Ball and among these guests were Carl Wells and Amy House who co-hosted the event. Steve Watson who also attended the Chef`s Ball is one of the co host for the TV Show “One Chef One Critic”.

The award is presented to someone who helps out with the chef association, participating in events such as culinary competitions and contributes their spare time to helping chefs across border. Dereck has been very active and has put his best foot forward to promote the association and enjoys doing so.

Mr. Collier has been involved in the Provincial Skills Competitions, National Skills Competitions, Hot Soup Cool Jazz Fundraisers, Local Collunarium Competitions, and Cupcakes for Breast cancer Acting Vice President of the Chef Association, and participated in The World Chefs Tours against Hunger in South Africa. He is an Instructor for the College of North Atlantic and is very well respected in the community.

The non-profit Canadian Culinary Federation is a national association of chefs and cooks that promotes gastronomic excellence, funds bursaries for up-and-coming young talent, and organizes special events to support charity and community causes.

A number of slide show presentations were held throughout the evening to highlight Dereck’s experience earlier in the year from South Africa.

Mr. Collier stated that he was unaware upon entering the gala that he was about to be honoured with this award. “Chefs get nominated and there were 10 -15 nominated for this award. A secret ballot was cast and I was nominated,” stated Mr. Collier.

“It was an amazing experience to be given this honour by my peers, in front of my peers and co-workers. I enjoy what I do and the true reward is knowing that I am helping others and that’s all I need.”