Food as a lens on being

Jamie Kennedy awarded one of Canada’s highest civilian honours

Jamie Kennedy presides over the Hillier Fish Fry each June among other culinary pursuits.

Jamie Kennedy has been a celebrity chef since long before the Food Channel turned the preparation of food into a spectator sport. Likely Canada’s, and certainly Hillier’s best known chef, Kennedy was recently appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada. He is among 54 new appointments to the Order of Canada announced by Governor General David Johnston late last year.

The Order of Canada is one of Canada’s highest civilian honours. It was established in 1967, during Canada’s centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation. Over the last 40 years, more than 5 000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.

Kennedy was thus honoured for his promotion of Canadian cuisine and the use of organic, sustainable and locally sourced foods.

Kennedy trained at George Brown College in Toronto and apprenticed at the Windsor Arms in the Bloor and Avenue Road area. He studied classical French cooking in Europe where he met Michael Stadtlander. The pair became co-chefs at Toronto’s Scaramouche and rapidly attracted a loyal following. In 1985 Kennedy opened the famed Palmerston Restaurant serving seasonally inspired French dishes.

In 1989 he formed Knives and Forks along with Stadtlander in a pioneering effort to encourage farm to table practices and foster relationships between farmers and chefs. He has owned and operated a series of successful eateries since then. But for more than a decade Kennedy’s heart has slowly been migrating from the city toward his farm in Hillier where he dreams of opening a tavern one day.

He has been an active and inspirational force behind the slow food movement and the use of local food in his cuisine. Just next month Kennedy is presenting a workshop on the merit of Prince Edward County food at the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto.

In addition to being appointed to the Order of Canada, Kennedy, along with Stadtlander, were the first recipients of the inaugural Governor General’s Award in Celebration of the Nation’s table.

Overall, 2010 was a bit of a rebound year after peering into the abyss of financial collapse in 2009. Kennedy was forced to sell some restaurants but emerged with his business and reputation intact.

He says his insistence on using local ingredients and local suppliers nearly cost him everything. Sticking to these ideals after everything he went through in 2009 was in his own assessment a huge gamble—but a necessary one in Kennedy’s view.

It is likely this tenacity and vision that has earned him this high honour.