C U R TA I N S
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Executive Chef David Leeder
TEATRO by Sean Jeremy Palmer
her. And then, in my generation, me, all my cousins, we all have an appreciation for food because of her,” he says. “But, it was the exposure. Making stuff with her from a young age was always very important in our family. And going to a fine dining restaurant as a kid and seeing all the bells and whistles, it was like going to the movies. I was really struck by it.” David’s foundation fueled his culinary drive and after attending NAIT, he set his sights on Europe.
Voted Calgary’s Best Restaurant 2019, Teatro is Calgary’s premier fine dining destination. Led by Executive Chef David Leeder, it boasts an award-winning wine cellar and offers exquisite elevated contemporary Mediterranean cuisine with meticulously sourced ingredients. EDUCATED AT NAIT Culinary in Edmonton Alberta, Executive Chef David Leeder’s culinary journey has been an amazing race across Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden, and through a host of Europe’s most esteemed kitchens including 3 Michelin-star restaurant Martin Berasategui in the Basque town of Lasarte-Oria and Michelin-starred restaurant Frenchie in Paris. Returning home to his Canadian roots, David now leads the talented culinary team at Calgary’s premier restaurant Teatro. CW Magazine had the opportunity to talk with David about his culinary wanderlust and what fuels his inspirations.
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Asked about the roots of his culinary passion, David responds that he found the kitchen easily. “It was institutional,” he says. “My mother’s family is Italian and has a strong cooking heritage. And my grandmother was a Red Seal chef.” The Red Seal is a Canadian accreditation for culinary experts demonstrating superior skill and knowledge, through passing a national exam. “My grandmother’s influence on us from a food perspective was huge,” he continues. “It created generations of us--my parents, aunts and uncles are all amazing cooks, because they learned from
“My dream was always to get to El Bulli, but sadly it closed, so I went to San Sebastian and took a position that was basically for room and board.” David’s Spain experience spring-boarded a culinary tour de force taking him through Michelin-starred restaurants and Europe’s culinary capitals. Of his European experiences, David mentions his three to four years in Copenhagen at Noma and 108 as perhaps the most informative. Asked how it changed him, he answers, “It’s funny, I think it’s still changes me to this day. It was very demanding. A little bit like the wild west. I expected it to be more like Spain, where things are controlled and organized, but, no, Copenhagen was like organized chaos. Wild, like punk rock. The services were fast. The energy level was always high. It just seemed like we were always just barely making it by the skin of our teeth. They had a philosophy of like, don’t ever get comfortable. We had to create our own style. It was the most interesting group of people I’ve ever worked with. And everyone put everything they have into it.“
