Liaison College
Kitchener Campus

1780 King Street E.
Kitchener, ON N2G 2P1
Tel: 519 743 8335
Fax: 519 743 6081

Chef Brian Clafton : Chef Instructor

Born and trained in England, today Brian Clafton is Chef Instructor for our Cook Basic, Personal Chef Training, and Hospitality Administration programs.

Chef Brian loves training students to be cooks and chefs and recently took on the task of teaching our Recreational courses.

Chef Brian was born in York, England; he was a baby boomer who loved cooking with his mother and grandmother. At 13 he decided that food was his passion and by the time he was 15, he left home to go to another town to work in the food industry. Growing up he experienced food shortages, but as he grew so did the availability of foods. He learnt classical cooking, because many products like strawberries, only lasted a month, and sweet peppers and other warm climate veggies were not very common. As Brian aged so did his culinary styles, he adapted his style as fresh fruits and vegetables became more readily available.

Chef Brian received his training in England at Thomas Dandy College and Leeds Poly Technical College. His apprenticeship was served over the course of 4 years, where he attended college and worked in a restaurant and catering company in an old tourist city.

Chef Brian has had a fascinating career, and can brag a little when he tells the world that he has cooked for royalty. His list includes Queen Elizabeth, movie stars, rock stars and international personalities like Archbishop Desmond Tuttu.

Chef Brian is community oriented and often gets involved with local events. He is featured on Rogers Community TV, speaks at the local libraries, giving talks on food and its history. He is often involved in activities in theatres, schools, farmers markets and Taste Local Taste fresh program.

He is a contributor to the John Wiley and Sons textbook called “Professional Cooking” by Wayne Gisslen.

Chef Brian has been able to bring balance to what was a very hectic life. After many years of working 7 days a week, weekends and nights he now has the pleasure of being able to enjoy his garden. His present interest is in growing a variety of herbs and edible plants, which he uses in his recipes, because of course, he still loves to cook!

Chef Brian is not one to enter competitions. Instead, his challenges are in running a clean, profitable and popular kitchen. He enjoys teaching the various styles of cooking to a myriad of people. After 40 years of cooking, he still likes what he does. Often with the help of students, he researches the purchasing and cooking of international foods.

Chef Brian teaches students basic skills, such as knife work, stocks and sauces, butchery, baking etc. all leading to them to being able to cook and serve a full meal with taste and skills. He finds this work very satisfying, as long as he doesn’t have to attend meetings or do all the paperwork! What is his best accomplishment? Being part of Liaison College, Kitchener Campus – sharing his skills with students who want to learn.