Roger Planiden, Executive Chef
While growing up, seeing his mother extract the best of each season left a lasting impression on Roger Planiden. Raised in British Columbia’s Kootenay region, the South Slocan native grew up with a family who preserved and canned the bounty of British Columbia’s offerings: Roger’s mom Doris would can cherries, peaches, apricots, beans, and tomatoes, to name a few. Pickles and relishes and preserves were also made in vast quantity, and stored in the family’s underground root cellar, capturing for the Planidens a big enough taste of the Okanagan summer to last through the cold Kootenay winters.
The family’s ability to appreciate food and seasonal offerings must have been what inspired Roger at a young age. When he graduated in 1985, he was the first male in Mount Sentinel High’s history to be offered a college bursary for cooking.
After completing culinary training at the Okanagan University College in Kelowna in 1987, Roger got his first job at the Lake Okanagan Resort. This position gave Roger a taste of the industry, and ultimately led Roger to a career in five star hotels, where he has spent the last 20 years working in both city and resort environments. Most recently Roger was executive chef at The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, a position he held from 2004. Other notable experience on Chef’s resume include the Four Seasons Hotels, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Westin Resorts and Delta Hotels and Resorts. This wide ranging experience has provides Roger with high standards and a definite eye for detail.
While working at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, Roger and his culinary team maintained a high profile, including becoming the 2004 BC Champions in the Knorr/CCF Junior Culinary Competition and placement in the 2004 Bocuse D'or Canadian Qualifications. During the last two years Roger and his culinary team have participated in an event presented by the British Columbia Wine Institute called “Chef Meets Grape”, and both years his team earned first place in both People’s Choice and Best Food and Wine Pairing categories.
Having recently completed the International Sommelier Guild Wine Fundamentals Level 1, and created menus for many VIP and winemaker’s dinners, Roger is ready for the next step in his culinary career: executive chef of the Great Estates of the Okanagan. In this role Roger will oversee sous chefs and foodservice operations for Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos, See Ya Later Ranch in Okanagan Falls, and Sumac Ridge Estate Winery’s Cellar Door Bistro in Summerland.
Roger also carries with him an uncommon triple threat of experience: food, wine and the knowledge of how to interpret them for the guest experience. “As visitors to the region, people want to be able to feel, touch and smell what comes from the area,” Roger enthusiastically states. “And I truly believe that in Okanagan wine country that can be achieved, with completely regional menus.”
Ryan Fuller, Sous Chef
2008 marks the first season for the Cellar Door Bistro’s newest chef, Ryan Fuller. Officially the sous chef, Fuller spends his days at the Cellar Door Bistro developing menus, training, overseeing kitchen staff, and doing a whole lot of cooking at one of the most enjoyable venues to dine in the Okanagan Valley.
A native to BC’s Fraser Valley, Fuller was born and raised in Chilliwack’s pastoral setting. While in high school at Sardis Secondary, he gained his first access to an industrial kitchen. Ryan immediately felt at home in the tempo of a kitchen, as he admittedly is the kind of person who can’t sit still at a desk, and needs a job where he is moving and creative.
After completing high school Fuller then attended the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook, where he studied Culinary Arts for a year and a half, and then to acquire complementary skills went into baking and pastry arts at Vancouver Community College. This proved to be a good move for Fuller not just for his career, as this is where he met his wife Diane (who is now a nutrition and foodservice supervisor).
From college Fuller spent time acquiring experience in various kitchens in Vancouver; at the Granville Island Hotel, the Pacific Palisades Hotel, and then in 2003 Fuller had a big year. In 2003 Ryan and Diane were married, and Fuller also accepted a position as a cook at the Westin Grand, where he would spend the next two years.
The time working at the Westin Grand greatly impacted Fuller, where he worked under the direction of executive chef David Foot, who was an inspiration to Fuller. It was Foot who introduced Fuller to putting food and wine together, and who was a driving force for Fuller to get his Red Seal certification which means that Fuller’s qualifications would be recognized across Canada.
In 2005 after earning his Red Seal, Ryan and Diane welcomed their daughter Isabella (Izzy), and Fuller changed jobs again, following mentor David Foot to the Sheraton Guilford in Surrey where Fuller was hired as jr. sous chef.
In 2006 David Foot relocated for opportunities overseas, and Fuller returned to Vancouver to the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel as chef de partie. Here he supervised all aspects of running the restaurant Herons during the day, performed menu development, costing, ordering, created the schedules and trained new staff.
Now, at the Cellar Door Bistro, located at Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, collaborating with and guided by Great Estates of the Okanagan executive chef Roger Planiden, Fuller serves up bold-flavoured dishes to accompany the area’s award-winning wines. Menus include items such as seared tiger prawns with spring pea ravioli and a lemon emulsion and pan seared Arctic Char with a celeriac gratin and wild mushroom ragout. Their approach to the Cellar Door Bistro is as it has always been: as a traditional bistro but using local ingredients available at the time. “This opens a lot of opportunities for us,” says Fuller. “We are able to include innovative things you might not find at a bistro, but the customary techniques are there.”
Ryan appreciates the change of pace in Okanagan. “It is nice to be able to take the extra time to produce something,” says Fuller. “There’s more time to experiment,” he continues. “And being located right in Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, the access to the different wines to use in the food as well as pairing is pretty amazing; I am lucky to have the chance to see how one kind of wine affects a dish versus another one – how subtle the differences are.” Ryan and Diane's family continues to grow as they welcomed the arrival of their son, Blake, in September, 2008.
