STAR POWER: MICHELIN-STARRED CULINARY TALENT STEFAN HARTMANN JOINS THE TACOFINO FAMILY AS NEW REGIONAL EXECUTIVE CHEF

Pedigreed Chef Joins Forces with Co-Founder Jason Sussman, Takes on New Menu Creation Duties and Mentorship Role for Young Cooks at Tacofino Kitchens Across BC

A new star is set to shine on the line in Tacofino kitchens across BC when Michelin-starred international culinary talent Stefan Hartmann joins the family as Regional Executive Chef beginning in May.

Hartmann, most recently Executive Chef at Gastown’s Bauhaus, will join forces with Tacofino co-founder Jason Sussman to oversee menu development and continued expansion for the group of restaurants as well as take on a key role in mentoring up-and-coming cooks. An avowed fan of Mexican fare and the full palette of flavours he has sampled in his travels around the globe, Hartmann aims to elevate Tacofino’s menu while still paying homage to the Baja-by-way-of-West-Coast cuisine for which the brand has become renowned and beloved.

Originally from Uelzen, Germany, Hartmann cut his teeth working for acclaimed chefs in some of Europe’s top restaurants, including Michelin-starred establishments Vau in Berlin and Jacques Maximin in Vence, France before opening his own namesake restaurant in Berlin in 2007, where he earned a host of culinary awards such as Master Chef and Newcomer of the Year before being bestowed with a prestigious Michelin Star of his own in 2010. He went on to open the Marriott Hotel in Berlin before being lured to Vancouver by director and restaurateur Uwe Boll to helm the back of house at Bauhaus in late 2015.

“Stefan’s reputation as a world-class chef precedes him and we’re stoked to welcome him to our ever-growing Tacofino family,” says Sussman, who cofounded Tacofino with Kaeli Robinsong. “We look forward to bringing Stefan on board and know that he’ll bring a great energy to the team to not only develop new menu items, but also to inspire the rising stars in our kitchens.”

Ever since the brand set down roots as the Tacofino Cantina in the back of the Live to Surf parking lot in Tofino in 2009, the restaurant group has become instantly synonymous with serving up some of the West Coast’s most innovative, eclectic and made-from-scratch Baja-inspired cuisine. From its humble beginnings, Tacofino has since grown into a phenomenon that now encompasses a fleet of food trucks, four brick-and-mortar restaurants in Vancouver and Victoria and a legion of loyal followers.

“The Tacofino name speaks for itself and I’m excited to join the team and be able to bring a new perspective to the back-of-house operations at all of our restaurants and food trucks,” says Hartmann. “We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel here — we want to maintain and reinforce what people know and love about the brand, but also add some new inspired flavours and dishes to what is an already awesome lineup of Baja-inspired fare.”

For more information on Tacofino, go to www.tacofino.com, become a fan of /TacofinoVAN on Facebook or follow @TacofinoVAN on Twitter and @TacofinoVAN on Instagram.

ABOUT TACOFINO | Since its inception, the Tacofino brand has been celebrated for its trademark fusion of sun-dappled, surf-centric spirit and quality, fresh and affordable fare with an environmental and nutritional conscience. From its humble beginnings in Tofino, where the Tacofino Cantina was first launched at the back of the Live to Surf parking lot in 2009, the brand has now grown to include the original Cantina, a fleet of three roaming food trucks, four brick-and-mortar restaurants in Vancouver and Victoria and a legion of loyal followers. | www.tacofino.com