- Words by Joanne Peters Photpgraphy by Lia Crowe
Dennis Peckham鈥檚 high-school home economics teacher worried about his future self. After he failed the class, she told the Williams Lake native that she hoped he would one day find a partner who knew how to cook; she feared he would otherwise starve.
Oh, if that instructor could see him now!
As corporate executive chef for Glowbal Restaurant Group, Dennis oversees the company鈥檚 seven Vancouver restaurants, with another opening in Toronto next spring. After studying culinary arts in Vancouver, Dennis built his career on experience at acclaimed dining establishments such as Lumiere, West and The French Laundry, a Michelin three-star restaurant in California, among other places.
Over the years he has also worked for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and operated his own food business. A competitor on Top Chef Canada鈥檚 Season 7, Dennis earned the title of Chopped Canada champion during its third season.
The path from flunking a high-school cooking class to being one of the country鈥檚 most in-demand chefs wasn鈥檛 straightforward. Although he helped out at his dad鈥檚 strip-mall diner before leaving Williams Lake鈥攚ashing dishes and making clubhouse sandwiches and breakfast burritos鈥擠ennis pursued construction upon graduating. He hated it. But when he landed a job as a dishwasher at the Colwood Golf Course, it clicked.
鈥淚t was an Anthony Bourdain moment,鈥� Dennis recalls. 鈥淚 remember by day three, I loved it. I took to the culture quite quickly. I loved the excitement of it, the stress, the drive of it. The chef was this cool guy, and I just thought, 鈥業 want to be that guy.鈥� Then I thought, 鈥業 want to be better than that guy.鈥� I developed a passion for it.鈥�
Passion is just one characteristic needed to 鈥渕ake it鈥� in the restaurant business, an extraordinarily competitive industry known for its long hours. Dennis鈥� role involves overseeing Glowbal Restaurant Group鈥檚 multiple properties: Glowbal; Black+Blue (a sexy, sleek steak house with an enormous glass-encased meat cellar, aglow against a wall of Himalayan salt); The Roof; Five Sails (at Canada Place); Coast; Trattoria (Kitsilano, Burnaby and Park Royal); Italian Kitchen; and its newest addition, Rileys Fish+Steak. He鈥檒l be leading the launch of Black+Blue in Toronto, a homecoming of sorts for Glowbal founder Emad Yacoub, who got his own start in the business there after moving to Canada from Egypt. It will be the group鈥檚 flagship restaurant. The stakes, so to speak, are high, but it鈥檚 a challenge Dennis embraces.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very personal project for me, and it鈥檚 important I do my best to make sure their vision comes to life,鈥� he says.
Across the board, Dennis creates tantalizing dishes, enhancing menus while supporting individual chefs at each property with their ideas for new items. At Black+Blue, for instance, he recently helped introduce a lineup of indulgent options: a show-stopping lobster carbonara with pecorino and squid-ink linguine, the latter dramatic in black; tender green asparagus with sauce gribiche and cured yolk; creamed spinach with crispy fried pancetta and a sunnyside-up egg; and the Black+Blue Steak Diane, a modernized classic.
Then there鈥檚 the new Miyazaki Wagyu; Black+Blue is the only restaurant in Canada to hold an official certificate to serve the Japanese kuroge washu beef, one of the most in-demand meats in the world (and also one of the most marbled, to a lusciously buttery effect).
鈥淲e push ourselves creatively to build dishes that people will appreciate and not be intimidated by,鈥� Dennis says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a painter, you can be as creative as you want within those borders. It鈥檚 the same thing with food. What [Glowbal] is looking for with all of the locations is to create that box for the chefs to work within. Each environment is different, but that doesn鈥檛 stifle your creativity; you just find your creativity within those parameters. And anybody, no matter what their culinary knowledge or experience, will find something on the menu that will satisfy them.鈥�
Playing with ingredients is just one small part of Dennis鈥� role, however. Quite literally running from restaurant to restaurant in the downtown core, he mentors people and handles administrative and financial duties. Then there鈥檚 fist-bumping: high on his list of priorities is interacting with staff members.
鈥淓very employee, from the bussers to the dishwashers to the managers to the GM, knows that if they need any help or assistance, they can pull me aside,鈥� Dennis says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a people business, and having a positive culture is really important to me.鈥�
Being a chef has influenced his life outside of work: Dennis is accustomed to structure and routine, for one, and his fridge is always clean and organized. His kitchen staples include Valentina hot sauce, hummus, egg whites, ground flax seed and watermelon when it鈥檚 in season. His freezer is a food fanatic鈥檚 dream. At the moment, it鈥檚 stocked with goods like Bolognese sauce made with veal, pork and lamb; two loins of albacore tuna from Tofino; wagyu beef; foie-gras torchon; fish, chicken and veal stock; and chicken-curry gnocchi. There鈥檚 always at least one kind of stuffed pasta鈥攎aybe tortellini with ricotta, English pea and lemon. He loves the process of making noodles from scratch, desiring it as meditative and disciplined. During the pandemic, he hosted intimate multi-course dinners at his home, announcing dates on Instagram with guests required to show proof of a donation to the SPCA.
Work-life balance is crucial to Dennis, and he鈥檚 routinely outdoors with his beloved Doberman Pinscher, Gyver. (Many of his tattoos pay tribute to the three dogs he has had, all from the same lineage.)
With a keen interest in health and fitness, he loves swimming, hiking and running. He鈥檚 also passionate about reading world history.
鈥淏eing a chef is what I do, not who I am,鈥� he says.
Whether he鈥檚 inside a kitchen or not, Dennis draws on an important lesson he鈥檚 gleaned from his years wearing whites.
鈥淏e confident,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e working with confidence and you are confident in your ability and your knowledge, everything flows. It鈥檚 easier to work when you鈥檙e not second-guessing yourself, and you end up more excited.鈥�
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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