James McClellan

James came to Shawnigan from the Fireside Grill in Victoria where he was Executive Chef for four years. He trained in culinary management at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario and apprenticed in Four Seasons Hotels and restaurants in Toronto. James grew up in Burlington, Ontario, but moved to Victoria in 2002 where his wife, Gillian, is from. They now live on campus with their daughter, Molly.

James is Executive Chef and Director of Food Services at Shawnigan. He says that his main concern is to, “provide nutritious, balanced meals and to serve the best possible product. I write a new menu every week and try to incorporate fresh, seasonal foods. I use a 7-day, 3-meal template. In my job as ‘food speculator,’ I try to order the right amount and cut as close as I can so there isn’t too much food wastage. The students’ favourite foods are chicken and pasta (fried chicken, lasagna and homemade pizza), but I try to mix it up with beef, pork and seafood. I want to serve a wide variety of foods so that each week is different. I feel it is also important to cook from scratch, using little or no processed food—we are, after-all, cooks, so let’s cook! I also try to touch on different ethnic foods and specialty foods for cultural holidays.

“Today, we had meatloaf for lunch and just to give you an idea of the quantity of food we serve, I can tell you that we ordered 85kg of ground beef, 200lbs of peeled potatoes, and 90lbs of diced, roasted vegetables. We had enough to offer seconds and very little wastage.

“We have, at the moment, thirty-seven vegetarians and three vegans. We have four students with food allergies as well as some who need a gluten-free diet. For every meal at Shawnigan, then, we have seven different meal alternatives. It is the students whom we need to cook special meals for that we really get to know. We can tell if the whole student population is enjoying a meal though, by the sound of the dining hall. If it is very noisy, they are not eating and when it is very quiet, we know they really like their lunch or dinner.

“The whole culinary staff is committed to putting out good meals. Many of them have been at the School for years and they give me guidance and direction, especially for the big events that they know so well, like Closing Day, Founder’s Day, and the upcoming weekend with Super Saturday and the Shawnigan Regatta (which will be my first). I look forward to the special meals, too. My training is in fine dining, so part of the draw for the job here was the promise of the smaller, more intimate meals that I serve throughout the year. Overall though, I count on my staff and the food preparation is a team effort. Everyone in the kitchen is very responsible and they all take ownership of what we serve.

“The Shawnigan Lake School community provides my family and myself with great quality of life. After working in the hospitality industry, I find that the hours here are much better and, this year, we had our first-ever family Christmas holiday!”