Chef Ellie graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco, California, USA, and was in the top one percent of her class. She says that she started cooking at the age of eight. Chef Ellie has a passion for cooking and it shows when she is teaching. She discovered this passion while teaching her grandchildren to cook, and now offers classes in her kitchen to children aged five and up, and adults. She also cooks for corporate events using the freshest ingredients from the coast-side area.

Chef George has always been passionate about food. He holds the very prestigious Canadian Red Seal and had the great privilege to expand his culinary education with the Canadian Federation of Chefs and Cooks with the Certified Chef de Cuisine program. Many fine Cowichan Valley restaurants in the Cowichan Valley have laid claim to Chef George Gates's talents such as Odik and the highly-acclaimed Sawmill Taphouse. He was chef de cuisine and teacher at Foxglove Inn and Cooking School, and received high praise from guests and students who traveled from around the world to attend his classes