M is for McAree
Posted Tue, Jun 2nd 2009, 10:22
Who: Kathy McAree
Lives: James Bay
Why she's here: Owner of the culinary tourism company Travel With Taste; organizer of Taste: Victoria's Festival of Food and Wine; director of the British Columbia Culinary Tourism Society; board member of the International Culinary Tourism Association; food writer; passionate cook.
Quote: "I love the stories. The food culture on the Island is so intriguing, so many interesting people with such dedication and such passion for what they do. You can't help but love and respect that."
Read someone's resumé and if past work included a hotel front-office job and selling cereal, it might surprise you at the end of the CV that the same person is successfully establishing Vancouver Island as a world-class culinary destination.
That person is Kathy McAree, born in Winnipeg, where family instilled a love of good food and the sharing of it.
Her mother Audrey, who died when McAree was 12, played a pivotal role.
"She shaped my whole food world from a very young age," McAree says.
Her mother made quint-essential comfort food, such as meatloaf, spaghetti and wicked apple pie.
McAree was often by her side. "When she died, I just started cooking. Years after, I asked my grandmother, when did I learn all that? She said, you watched every move your mother made," McAree says.
McAree cooked through high school, sometimes to relieve stress.
"When my father would come home and find me baking late, he'd say, you have an exam tomorrow, don't you," McAree says.
Her father, Doug, thought cooking might be her career.
"I knew even at that age that I didn't want to cook professionally," McAree says.
However, as banquet server she was in the kitchen at Winnipeg's Westin Hotel, where she also worked the front desk.
In 1987, she moved to Saskatoon to study commerce at the University of Saskatchewan, but cold weather curtailed her schooling.
"One January, I had to boost my car five times and I said I'm out of here," McAree says.
She moved to Vancouver, became a front office representative at the Westin Bayshore, put school on hold, but did keep learning. She travelled to Ecuador with a student organization.
Once home, inspired, she completed a business course at Capilano University. Her hotel work influenced what happened next.
"The most interesting and pleasant guests were the ones that worked for big food companies," McAree says.
Kellogg's in Vancouver hired her as a sales rep. She was a dynamo and was promoted to account manager in 1996.
"My boss called and said, 'Be on the first ferry tomorrow.' I was not happy," McAree says, on her transfer to quiet Victoria, not another big, bustling city.
In time, McAree discovered the Island was, gastronomically, a happening place, which interested her. Back surgery and two months off gave her time to reflect. I started thinking about what was next," McAree says.
The answer came in 2001, when she took a culinary tour in Spain, visited France and attended a cooking school in Italy.
The family running the school said she was "solo;" 9/11 had happened and the other guests, all from the U.S., couldn't travel.
"The family did the entire cooking class for me," McAree says, moved and motivated by that. "I was sitting outside, enjoying my breakfast and said, 'This is it -->Read someone's resumé and if past work included a hotel front-office job and selling cereal, it might surprise you at the end of the CV that the same person is successfully establishing Vancouver Island as a world-class culinary destination.
That person is Kathy McAree, born in Winnipeg, where family instilled a love of good food and the sharing of it.
Her mother Audrey, who died when McAree was 12, played a pivotal role.
"She shaped my whole food world from a very young age," McAree says.
Her mother made quint-essential comfort food, such as meatloaf, spaghetti and wicked apple pie.
McAree was often by her side. "When she died, I just started cooking. Years after, I asked my grandmother, when did I learn all that? She said, you watched every move your mother made," McAree says.
McAree cooked through high school, sometimes to relieve stress.
"When my father would come home and find me baking late, he'd say, you have an exam tomorrow, don't you," McAree says.
Her father, Doug, thought cooking might be her career.
"I knew even at that age that I didn't want to cook professionally," McAree says.
However, as banquet server she was in the kitchen at Winnipeg's Westin Hotel, where she also worked the front desk.
In 1987, she moved to Saskatoon to study commerce at the University of Saskatchewan, but cold weather curtailed her schooling.
"One January, I had to boost my car five times and I said I'm out of here," McAree says.
She moved to Vancouver, became a front office representative at the Westin Bayshore, put school on hold, but did keep learning. She travelled to Ecuador with a student organization.
Once home, inspired, she completed a business course at Capilano University. Her hotel work influenced what happened next.
"The most interesting and pleasant guests were the ones that worked for big food companies," McAree says.
Kellogg's in Vancouver hired her as a sales rep. She was a dynamo and was promoted to account manager in 1996.
"My boss called and said, 'Be on the first ferry tomorrow.' I was not happy," McAree says, on her transfer to quiet Victoria, not another big, bustling city.
In time, McAree discovered the Island was, gastronomically, a happening place, which interested her. Back surgery and two months off gave her time to reflect. I started thinking about what was next," McAree says.
The answer came in 2001, when she took a culinary tour in Spain, visited France and attended a cooking school in Italy.
The family running the school said she was "solo;" 9/11 had happened and the other guests, all from the U.S., couldn't travel.
"The family did the entire cooking class for me," McAree says, moved and motivated by that. "I was sitting outside, enjoying my breakfast and said, 'This is it -- I'm going to make culinary tourism my life.' "
She left Kellogg's, travelled some more and started Travel With Taste, described as Vancouver Island's first culinary tour company dedicated to providing fun and indulgent culinary adventures.
Her first tour was of the Cowichan Valley and was highly successful. The group of U.S. entrepreneurs who hired her showered her with accolades and fattened the amount owed.
"They made me feel I was on the right track," McAree says.
Since that food-and-drink-filled tour, which she still does, McAree has expanded her offerings, open to corporate and private groups, to include, among other things, tours of the Saanich Peninsula and Saltspring Island, and a culinary walking tour of Victoria, where individuals eat and drink their way around downtown. The tasty details of all her tours can be found at travelwithtaste.com.
McAree says the best part of her work is introducing people to the talented folk, from farmers to chefs to vintners, showcased on her tours.
"I love the stories. The food culture on the Island is so intriguing, so many interesting people with such dedication and such passion for what they do. You can't help but love and respect that."
Note: July 16 to 19, McAree is organizing Taste: Victoria's Festival of Food and Wine. There's an incredible array of events, such as gala dinners, cooking classes and wine tastings. For a list of events and to buy tickets, go to victoriataste.com.
Eric Akis is the author of the best-selling Everyone Can Cook book series. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
