Canadian Professional Profiles
Kenneth Titcomb, Grand Officier Maître Rôtisseur Honoraire Kenneth sees a real connection between a passion for the Outdoors, extreme sports and the Culinary Arts. “Why are all extreme sports important to me in terms of Physical Endurance and Technical Excellence? They all relate to working in a Kitchen under great pressure. Working very precisely, yet with speed and sometimes facing an avalanche of chits flooding into the kitchen at once. It’s just as applicable in a large scale operation where 1,000 portions of a certain hors d'oeuvres might be needed, or 1,000 portions of turned potatoes - all the same size, or 100’s of fully deboned quails please. During my Apprenticeship, Chef didn’t order semi deboned! To all the young culinary students today, stay in the best physical shape you can to enjoy as long a career as possible, it will serve you well. To be cooking at a very high level is not easy, stay in shape and enjoy your surroundings wherever you are.” At the same time, his appreciation for the beauty of art is no less relevant to an appreciation for the masterpieces that are created in Chaîne Kitchens around the World. His career has been a pattern of all of these aspects, woven together into a tapestry of success.
Born in Winterthur Switzerland, raised and educated in Canada, Executive Chef Kenneth Titcomb, Grand Officier Maître Rôtisseur Honoraire is a study in contrasts: Executive Chef at 5 Star establishments around the world, Ski Racer, Cyclist, Mountain Climber and Art Lover. Intronized in 1990 at age 30 into la Chaine des Rôtisseurs, becoming one of the youngest Maître Rôtisseur members of the Bailliage du Canada at the time, Executive Chef Titcomb was promoted to Officier Maître Rôtisseur at the 2014 national Meeting held in Calgary and again in 2019 to Grand Officier Maître. On June 9th this year he took Honoraire status. 34
Kenneth’s maternal grandparents were Italian and Swiss German, while his father was English-speaking from the Canadian province of Quebec, meeting his mother in Switzerland while working as a mechanical engineer on the Swiss Electric Locomotive works in building & design. “My Mother’s cooking inspired me towards the Culinary Arts and experiencing many different ethnic cuisines through my travels”. The family moved back to Canada when he was 2 years old, living for a few years in Brockville, Ontario and then moving to Fort McMurray, Saskatoon (both very brief stays) and finally to Edmonton, Alberta when he was12.
