We are pleased to announce that Chef Jeff Van Geest of Miradoro Restaurant at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards has joined our group of top chefs. Chef Van Geests’s first recipe will be published on Thursday, March 24th and will include a demonstration video. Welcome Chef Jeff Van Geest.
Jeff Van Geest, Executive Chef
When it comes to modern, local and sustainable cuisine, Chef Jeff Van Geest is one of British Columbia’s most celebrated chefs. Jeff owned and operated Vancouver’s Aurora Bistro for over five years. During this time, Jeff and his restaurant won several prestigious awards: including being named one of enRoute magazine’s top new restaurants in 2004, gold for Best Regional Restaurant and silver for Chef of the Year at the 2006 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, and the 2008 Vancouver Magazine Green Award.
Jeff was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario – right in the heart of Ontario’s Niagara wine region. Growing up with farmers as grandparents, Jeff developed his respect for fresh local produce at a very early age. In 1992, Jeff headed out west to Vancouver, where one of his first jobs he found was working in a restaurant as a cook. He immediately knew this was his passion and enrolled in culinary school.
Jeff completed his culinary training at the Vancouver Community College in 1994 and went on to complete his apprenticeship at Bishop’s – one of Canada’s finest restaurants and a pioneer in sustainability. At Bishop’s, as he worked his way up to Sous Chef, Jeff further developed his deep appreciation for the importance of supporting local farmers and producers, a passion he ingrained into the philosophy of Aurora Bistro, where he built a reputation as a leader in local, sustainable cuisine that was prepared elegantly and with a respect for the ingredients.
After closing Aurora Bistro in 2008, Jeff worked as the Executive Sous Chef at the Diva at the Met until 2010. It was always Jeff’s goal to raise his family in a small town, so Jeff moved to he Okanagan in the summer of 2010 and began researching local farmers and producers. Now heading the kitchen at Miradoro, Jeff is truly in his element – his passion for fresh local products fuelled by B.C’s best fruit and vegetable growing region.
