Devour! Chefs in the Spotlight: MICHAEL HOWELL

Guests at Devour! Osoyoos have the very good fortune to be able to taste the cuisine of Canada’s best kitchens in one of the country’s most stunning locales.

This year once again promises an incredible lineup of participating chefs. Devour! Osoyoos is so proud to showcase the talents of these industry leaders.

So much personality goes into the dishes every chef creates. What influenced the Devour! chefs to pursue their culinary passions, and what inspired their unique cooking styles? We were curious, and think Devour! festival guests might be, too. So we asked them!

In the spotlight this week, we’d like to introduce Devour! Executive Director, Chef Michael Howell.

Although he got his start in theatre, Chef Michael Howell has found his niche on a different stage: the one in the kitchen. As a passionate advocate for the Slow Food movement, and an enthusiastic ambassador for his home province of Nova Scotia, Chef Michael has done several world tours in pursuit of his culinary career, but always returns to play for his hometown audience. In his 30 year career, Chef Michael’s talent and innovation have brought him to the forefront of the Canadian culinary industry.

Chef Michael is a graduate of Dalhousie University and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. He has worked in award-winning hotels and restaurants in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Toronto, New York, and The Bahamas, and was for 10 years the owner and head chef of Wolfville, Nova Scotia’s Tempest Restaurant. He now works as the consulting Executive Chef at the Green Turtle Club in Abaco, Bahamas, and leads food and wine tours across Italy through Tempestuous Culinary, Inc.

Chef Michael has a plentiful pantry of accolades, as well. He is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and is a Slow Food Canada Local Food Hero (2017) for his contributions to the food movement nationally. Atlantic Seafood, Chef Michael’s tantalizing collection of Eastern seaboard-inspired recipes, was shortlisted for the 2010 Canadian Cookbook Awards.

Devour! The Food Film Fest is Chef Michael’s most recent coup d’état, deliciously combining some of life’s greatest pleasures: food, wine, & film. What started as a local Nova Scotia event has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon! We’re very fortunate to have a piece of it here in the South Okanagan.

Chef Michael will (of course!) be participating in all of the events at Devour! Osoyoos this June 15-17. Come out and meet the brains behind this fantastic celebration!

Tickets and special package rates for the Devour! Osoyoos festival are on now. Visit our Devour! page to book yours!