Every year, Algonquin College celebrates the incredible achievements of its alumni through the Alumni of Distinction Awards. These awards honour the extraordinary contributions our graduates make to the community while achieving career success. Here is a closer look at the Alumni of Distinction – Apprenticeship Recipient Adam Vettorel.
Co-Owner and Chef, North & Navy and Cantina Gia
Cook Apprentice, Class of 2007
As a young man, Adam Vettorel’s intended goal was law school. Restaurant jobs were just what he took on to pay the bills along the way.
Vettorel began working in restaurants in high school, and continued working his way up the line while taking a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at Carleton University and then a second degree in political science. “I loved working in kitchens, and I had a proficiency for it,” he says, “so I was able to pay my way through university without taking out a student loan.”
But as his political science course load grew heavier, Vettorel was compelled to step away from the kitchens. He had a mentor at the time, a lawyer to whom he confided that the kitchen was where his real passion was, not the law. He gave the younger man the life-changing advice he wanted to hear: if he was passionate about cooking, that is what he should pursue.
Two of Algonquin’s gold-medal winners at Skills Ontario – the Horticulture and Landscape team of Thomas Hawley and Blaise Mombourquette, and Nick Denny in Auto Collision Repair – will compete at the Skills Canada National Competition in Edmonton this week on June 4 and 5.