Imrun Texeira, Apprenticeship Award

Founder, Wanderlust
Cook Apprenticeship, 2014

With already more than 15 years under his belt in restaurants that circle the globe, Chef Imrun Texeira has made a name for himself in the culinary world.

His culinary stops include Noma in Copenhagen that many in the industry consider one of the top restaurants on the planet.

His list of recognitions includes the 2023 Leader Award of Excellence from Restaurants Canada. This award recognizes that in the development and progression of his career, he has set a new standard of excellence for his leadership, creativity, and ambition.

He has also been named as a recipient of the Top 30-Under-30 Award for hospitality leaders in Canada and as a rising talent in North America by The Art of Plating.

Texeira was a semi-finalist too on the Food Network’s Top Chef Canada Season 8 and a finalist on the Food Network’s Chopped Canada Season 3. He was also nominated for the Premier’s Awards: Most Successful Recent Graduate in 2016, which celebrates Ontario’s outstanding college graduates.

His second nomination for the Premier’s Award in the category of Apprenticeship and the recognition as an Algonquin College Alumni of Distinction means a lot to Texeira.

“Getting this award is like coming full circle. Now I’m getting this award and I am working with high school and elementary students teaching them how to come into this line of work and now working with Skills Ontario and working with Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Programs. I’m a testament to that whole program. So, it’s amazing to come full circle knowing there is so much success to be had in this line of work and with the offerings that the government and Algonquin College has offered me throughout my career.”

He got his start in the kitchen at Lone Star Restaurant at the tender of age 14. He moved on from there to work at the four-star Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata, owned by tech billionaire Terrence Matthews.

“For me, I have always loved eating great food, said Texeira, noting he always wanted to be a chef “because I thought I would cut out the middleman and create food for myself.

“I was always in and out of the kitchen trying new things to offer my tastebuds, if you will.”

Texeira’s post-secondary schooling actually started in Algonquin College’s Police Foundation. His switch to the Culinary School at the College was a lightbulb moment for him. He was heading to Brookstreet after classes one day, and it just clicked for him where his career path would take him.

“I loved going back to the restaurant at the end of every day. I thought I can actually see myself doing this for a living. There was just something inside me. This is what I was meant to do.”

When he told his mother where his true passion laid, she gave him all the support going into it.

“She said, ‘if you love it and you know this is something you can make work for yourself down the line, I will give you all the love and respect towards it, just make sure you put in the work that it is needed because obviously it is not an easy industry to make a good living in.’”

Texeira says one of the main reasons he got into this line of work “is that you can pick up that skillset once you are at a certain level and go anywhere in the world. There is so many more avenues now to follow than ever in the hospitality industry.

“It’s a pretty beautiful experience.”

His journey began with his formal training at Algonquin College’s culinary school, where he honed his technical skills and developed a deep understanding of culinary techniques and principles. Through hands-on experience in top-rated restaurants and working alongside renowned chefs, he gained invaluable expertise in various culinary styles, cuisines, and flavours.

Texeira stresses Algonquin College opened many doors for him.

The formal education training helped him with the key fundamentals of the trade. It also opened a wide network of leading industry professionals to help him advance and grow in his career.

“The industry exposure was key to meeting some of the city’s, and country’s leading chefs and industry leaders,” he said.

That exposure, Imrun added, offered valuable insight into the workings of the industry, and helped him develop his practical skills in a professional setting.

“The specialized programs were some of my favourites,” he said. ‘The fact I was able to come back upon graduating to take additional courses in areas of interest were vital to my success. Of course, the credential and credibility of the program and school is huge. The completion of all these programs and courses shows my commitment, dedication, and proficiency in the culinary arts. 

His five or six years working in kitchens before arriving at the College’s culinary program gave him a solid foundation.

“I was very lucky to have a good base, knowledge, and skillset before I even got to Algonquin College. I was definitely ahead of the average student being in that kind of environment. So, I had a solid foundation. But there I was really able to home in on the basics, re-learn the fundamentals and secure that base foundation. There it wasn’t so much putting your head down and working and learning. It was the fact I was able to take a step back, put my head up, work a lot more with the professors and see different avenues and ways for them to push me because they knew I had such a great foundation. They were able to give me harder tasks or put me into different realms that the average student wouldn’t normally be in.”

Without the skills gained at Algonquin College, Texeira said recognition from his peers wouldn’t have happened, like being selected as this year’s 2023 recipient of the Restaurants Canada Emerging Leader Award of Excellence.

The award recognizes his passion for culinary creations and his commitment to making the food service industry a better place for all.

The honour is an acknowledgment of his advocacy for bettering working conditions as an Ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, launched in May 2019 with the sole intention of eradicating the mental health stigma within hospitality. The industry, Texeira pointed out, is known for its long antisocial hours, tough environmental conditions, and pressures to perform.

Texeira sees this award as recognition for his mentoring and working with children and teaching them about hospitality & tourism.

Apart from his role as an ambassador for the Burnt Chef Project, he has volunteered with Shepherds of Good Hope and Cultivating Cooks.

His latest business pursuit is a passion he calls Wanderlust.

It is a luxury culinary brand that focuses on the idea of private chef work, “down to what the word Wanderlust actually means because the menus I curate are very globally inspired based on my travels, bringing ingredients back from my trainings around the world.”

Texeira enjoys highlighting the food scene here in Canada, in general, with it being very multicultural.

Instilling Wanderlust in the diners themselves is the goal for Texeira, but the emphasis for him is the fact it is not just a restaurant that is in one location, he said excitedly. “It’s in people’s private homes, or on private yachts or cottages or pop ups in different restaurants or spaces. It is just the fact that it is always travelling. It comes down to who I am as a whole.”

Texeira doesn’t like to pigeonhole himself in one type of cuisine or style of cooking.

“It’s very open. I would say that is the main premise of the day-to-day operations behind Wanderlust. But there is work behind brand partnerships with some of the biggest culinary lifestyle brands in North America and around the world and food styling for different magazine or newspaper shoots. A lot of keynote speaking when it comes to working with high schools, some elementary schools around pathways and careers in food and hospitality. There’s a lot of moving parts I would say about the Wanderlust brand in general.”

As for what’s next for Texeira, he says there’s always a next challenge.

“There’s been some amazing stuff that I have been able to do within my 15-year career already. Working at Atelier in Ottawa is one of the best restaurants in the country. To working at Noma in Copenhagen which was rated the best restaurant in the world last year, being on some of the best food shows on the air here in Canada. Some pretty wild amazing things, not a lot of other people can say they have done it the first decade or so of being in their line of work.”

Texeira believes in the power of food to bring people together and make a positive impact on the community. He actively engages in community initiatives, participating in charity events, and using his culinary skills to support local causes. He has collaborated with organizations focused on food security, culinary education, and promoting access to nutritious meals for underserved communities.

He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and culinary expertise, conducting cooking classes, workshops, and demonstrations, to inspire aspiring chefs.

The ambition to succeed in the industry has been there since he first walked into a commercial kitchen at 14. The ambition and vision were always there, he said.

“The hard work was always put in and that is probably why I have gotten to these heights. It’s a testament to what I always explain to students, if you have that vision and the work ethic you have behind it, you can entertain those goals.”

The best advice Texeira received starting out was to try and work in every single type of restaurant and travel as much as possible.

“That’s how your palate obviously really widens, and you get to try as much as possible. Just meeting different people, their styles, and traditions when it comes down to techniques. At the end of the day, it’s just so much fun to travel and pick up work as you go. It’s a lot of fun and I hope to do more of it in the near future.