My Story...
My name is Dillan and I am a foodie. Through and through. I was basically born with a wooden spoon in my mouth. I grew up into a family centered around food.
My father, a executive chef. My mother, a former pastry chef. And just about everyone else in my family are either chefs, restaurant owners or really good home cooks. Its always been that way, me being a foodie. When you are brought up into that world you don`t know anything else. At about two, maybe three years old you start with mom or one of the aunts peeling vegetables. Then at around five to eight or so, you graduate to helping grandma with baking cookies and rolls. And after that you help dad with the grill. That to me is how a foodie is born.
I feel bad for some of the people I know that just don`t know good food. That are fine with a oven pizza or a microwave dinner. But the way i grew up, that wasn`t even kept in stock in the house. Not that we were rich or looked down on people who eat that kind of food, but that`s how it was. Good food or no food at all. Now don`t get me wrong, you can make some pretty delicious foods with less expensive cuts of meat and vegetables. I mean when seasoned and cooked properly, the possibilities are endless.
At 12 I got my first restaurant job. I was a dishwasher for my father after he moved home to manage a new restaurant. I barely ever got any of the dishes done because i was always over cutting carrots or stirring the sauce.
By 16 I was a baker in a local cafe. I worked there for about two years and then I felt that I out grew it and had more to learn somewhere else. So I went to one of the busiest restaurants in my city. I got the job, and started a week later. And let me tell you, at first it was so challenging. I was on pans. Which meant i made all of the pasta dishes, the fish, a lot of the chicken and hot sandwiches. Now it was a classic joint. A comfort food place. The basics. But every day when the clock hit five, you were run off your feet until about nine thirty. I only worked in that restaurant for the summer. I liked it but knew that it wasn't the kind of food i wanted to be cooking.
So about five months later i was offered a job in a Mediterranean restaurant. I took it the first chance i got. . I usually did most of the pastry and desserts for the shop. And worked the line from time to time.
After my time there I started working at Greek and Pizza restaurant for a good friend who was generous enough to support and sponsor Gourmet Everyday.
I started making cooking videos at the age of fifteen. Who would have ever thought that by the age of 20, I would have my very own cooking show on television? With the generous help of many, Gourmet Everyday aired October 20th 2016. We ran for 6 episodes of a trial season. And guess what? They wanted us back! We did another 12 episodes for a second season and then I decided to throw in the towel with that specific show. We had an amazing two years and so much fun, but when you`re working a full time job while being a host, producer, editor and doing half of the directing and set up for no check at the end of the day with a very demanding TV schedule, it`s hard to exceed in execution. But that doesn't mean that I will ever stop cooking on camera. A couple of years ago we made some cooking videos on Youtube, sort of a trial to what we hoped would lead us to TV. And after doing the show for local television, We became much more knowledgeable with the entire process. So with that being said we are coming back to Youtube with 12 brand new episodes of Dillan`s Best Dishes. But this time we are not only going to creating fabulous food. We are bringing on some guests to laugh, eat, drink and have some good food. I want to focus more on the food and comedy aspect of a show for viewers to have a relaxed and enjoyable time more than just an education program. So keep an eye out because this web show is going to be something you don`t want to miss!
I also did a show for the local station interviewing people in our community making a difference. It`s actually a really interesting program called IN FOCUS. I would have a half hour sit down conversation with community members making an impact such as Madonna Doucette. Or with local talent such as Bette and Maynard Morrsion, Wesley Colford and Tracy and Martina! We had a lot of laughs and some really deep and moving conversations with some really great people. By that way you can watch anytime on Eastlink on demand!
Moving forward I`m going to be in your ear every Wednesday at 1130 AM and every Friday at 5PM AST hosting and moderating my very first radio show "THE GROUP CHAT" on 107.3 FM!!! The show will focus on interviews, trending local and global topics, reviews and a whole lot of opinionated people.
