Connecting, teaching and inspiring others to cook whole foods at home with passion is what I love. Keeping it fresh & fabulous in all realms is my mission!
Fresh
  • It's always tastier when you grow it yourself
  • Enrich the community you live in
  • Preserve culinary traditions, techniques & ingredients
  • Respect the cycles of nature and always give back to it
Fearless
  • Cook with love and don’t be afraid to be different
  • Good food inspires conversations so cook with others
  • Get out and meet the artisans, farmers & fishers who nurture our food
  • We are all here to shine; don’t ever be afraid to do so
Fabulous
  • Cooking with passion is the key ingredient to having fun with food
  • Out-of-the-blue connections are the spice of life so stay hungry for life
  • Reward your soul and teach kids to fall in love with real food
  • Get in there, be adventurous & go where you heart leads you
Chef Ilona's Blog
Connecting, teaching and inspiring others to cook whole foods at home with passion is what I love. Keeping it fresh & fabulous in all realms is my mission!

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Let's Connect
chef.ilona.daniel@gmail.com
902-316-0993
Address: Usually near a kitchen somewhere on PEI
  • KITCHEN MAKEOVERS
  • Kitchen Party Cooking Classes
  • Intimate Group Dining
  • Tribe Fresh Cookery
  • Speaking & Appearances

  • KITCHEN MAKEOVERS

    I am a one-stop shop offering your operation the full makeover experience including:
    • Facility design 
    • Food styling
    • Procurement initiatives 
    • Equipment optimization 
    • Menu engineering
    • Cost control systems
    • Organizational systems 
    • Team building & training
    • Menu optimization
    • ollaboration through conflict resolution
    My social media background and training will push your culinary directive continually forward in authentic, meaningful, & bottom line centered trajectory. Let me be your secret ingredient!

  • Kitchen Party Cooking Classes

    Learn how to make your favourite restaurant dishes or International cuisines with me right in your own kitchen in a festive, and informal setting, or let me teach you my secrets to achieving success in the kitchen in a demonstration-style experience.

    Oyster shucker needed? I’m here for you.

  • Intimate Group Dining

    Let me do all the work — I’ll even do the dishes. I specialize in creating custom dining experiences for all of your special occasions.

    Afternoon high tea, intimate weddings, birthdays, or staff/team building experiences, and gallery cocktail parties are just the beginning; if you can dream it, let me bring it to life!

  • Tribe Fresh Cookery

    Connect with the earth, and the wild food table. Explore the world of foraging with me, and enjoy the fruits of your labour. An experience you will remember for a lifetime, with skills and knowledge you will use again and again.

    If you’d like to join me in other interactive culinary experiences, you can find me at  
    PC Cooking Classes & Culinary Bootcamp 

  • Speaking & Appearances

    I love talking, planning, writing, teaching, promoting and celebrating food as much as I love cooking with it. Whether you're a private brand, new restaurant or an event/organization looking for punch of culinary, let's connect!
    • TV & Media Appearances
    • Classes & Demonstrations
    • Writer
    • Speaking Engagements
    • Menu Consultations
    • Recipe Development
    • Brand Ambassador
Marilyn Denis' Seafood Smackdown
I had the pleasure of showcasing Prince Edward Island's aquacultural bounty on Marilyn Denis' first ever LIVE Seafood Smackdown! Watch how I did on the show by clicking here!
Breakfast Television Winnipeg
Great Canadian Cookbook
When asked by Food Network Canada to contribute an authentic PEI recipe for the Great Canadian Cookbook, it had to be a recipe for Golden Mustard Pickles. Check out my recipe by clicking here!
Kitchen Makeover!
I have taken on the role of Culinary Director at The Alley to bring my signature eclecticism, and playfully fresh take on cuisine in my latest Culinary Branding experience. Expect big flavours you can enjoy on and off of the lanes!
Ask Islanders, PEI Culinary Ambassador
I'm honoured to have been asked to be a Prince Edward Island Ambassador as part of the new Tourism PEI 'Ask An Islander' marketing campaign. I'm looking forward to answering tourist questions about PEI and sharing all my inside secrets on the best ways to experience our Island culinary!

Click here for my Ambassador profile, or watch this video about the idea.
Cooking Classes featured in Chatelaine Magazine
My cooking classes at the Culinary Institure was recently profiled in Chatelaine Magazine as part of their "A culinary tour of Charlottetown, PEI" top 13. Here's what they had to say: 

"Sign up for one of the day-long workshops at Holland College’s Culinary Institute of Canada and feel like a pro for a day. For the Island Flavours class, you’ll help chef Ilona Daniel oversee every part of the meal: visiting the local market for ridiculously fresh ingredients like lobster straight from the ocean and famous P.E.I. potatoes, cooking dishes like whitefish chowder and wild-blueberry compote with biscuits, and plating it all beautifully. At the end, enjoy an unforgettable Island feast."
My Island Bistro Profile
A big thank you to Barbara from the popular blog 'My Island Bistro' for her profile on yours truly. It was fun getting to know Barbara, and discovering that we both live to be "outside the box". For Barb's blog, click here.
Bon Appetit
I was invited on behalf of tourism PEI to cook a summer seafood luncheon at bon appetit magazine HQ in NYC. I cooked for editors, photographers, bloggers, and writers for the publications housed in the Conde Nast Building in Times Square. There were 125 guests in total. Check out my blog on the fun day!
Fall Flavours
I'll be a part of the Signature Fall Flavour's Event "Oysters on the Pier", hosted by Food Network personality, Chuck Hughes. I'll be serving up my Double Smoked Bacon and oyster brushetta, and a sparkling oyster shooter.
Kitchen Party Cooking Classes
I'm hosting a Kitchen Party Cooking Class at The Fairholm Historic In as part of the National Chamber Spousal Program during the national chamber conference in september

"The event I'm creating is a custom Kitchen Party Cooking Class. A fun, interactive, and hands-on culinary experience!"  - Chef Ilona Daniel 

Learn tricks of the trade from an internationally trained chef, while laughing, and taste-testing as you go. Recipes for this custom package will draw from Asian-Maritime Fusion, so expect lots of PEI's best seafood presented in unexpected
formats.
Talking Beef
As one of the first chefs profiled with Canadian Beef's 'Chefs #LoveCDNBeef' Q&A, it was great to talk about my love of beef and my favourite ways to work with it! Click here to read the full Q&A. X
Plan your ultimate foodie weekend

Where to eat in Charlottetown? Check out my piece written for Discover Charlottetown to plan your ultimate foodie weekend!





PEI2014 Global Calgary TV Appearance
Penny Walsh-McGuire and Chef Ilona Daniel join Global Calgary with details on 150th Anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which paved the way to Canadian Confederation.

Click Here
Ilona Talks Food, Passion & More
Untamed Gourmet - Screen Award Nomination
Untamed Gourmet - a TV show shot on PEI has been nominated for the 2014 Screen Awards. Karen spoke with Chef Ilona Daniel, who hosts the Untamed Gourmet episode on PEI and reached director Ian Toews, by phone.

Click here to listen to interview >>
Untamed Gourmet
Watch Chef Ilona's PEI wild food adventure from the PEI episode of Untamed Gourmet. CLICK HERE to watch the full Episode (Season 2 Episode 6) >>
On the Job
On this episode of NEXTnetwork's On The Job, Ilona show the host how to make tasty spring rolls. NEXTnetwork is a unique career planning initiative created for young people in Prince Edward Island.
Next Network
I was asked to share my personal career path with young people looking to carve out a path of their own. This was for next tv network. Chef Ilona dishes up some wisdom
  • Bio
  • PEI 2014 Roadshow Culinary expert & Oyster Shucker

    Resident food writer for G! Magazine

    Received full entrance scholarship and graduate of the Culinary Institute of Canada's inaugural class of the Applied Degree in Culinary Operations

    Graduate with President's Honours of the Culinary Management Program at the Niagara Food & Wine Institute

    Executive Chef of Stanhope Bay and Beach Resort & Off Broadway Restaurant 

    Founding Chef of the Daniel Brenan Brickhouse

    Executive Chef to His Honour the Lieutenant Governor of PEI

    Represented PEI in the 2010 Canadian Chef’s Congress

    Executive chef at Holland College Culinary Institute & Instructor of the Culinary Boot Camps

    Involved in many community initiatives including: Nigwek: Organic Street Fesitval, The PEI Shellfish Festival, Savour Food & Wine Show, Organic Harvest Meal, and Breakfast for Learning to name a few

    Touring guide & host for North Cape Coastal Drive's 'Canadian Oyster Coast' experiences