Amid the fresh cut hay and apple blossoms, Jeff Brandt led a Dylan Thomasesque childhood in the North Okanagan Valley. The summers, endless with simple culinary pleasures - running barefoot amid the orchards heavy with ripe fruit, picking fresh corn for the already boiling pot, harvesting sun warmed tomatoes - occupied his carefree days.

One thing led to another, and soon he was wearing shoes and learning to cook in some of the best restaurants in Toronto. After many years, despite the foie-gras, truffles and the salty language of the kitchen, he longed for a return to the simpler country life of his youth. The snap of a freshly picked green bean or the fragrance of a ripening apricot or the welcoming warmth of a fire in the open hearth called to him.

As executive chef in the South Okanagan Valley, Jeff experienced the explosive growth of the BC wine industry first hand, pairing many of the best wines of up and coming vintners with the finest local meats and freshest seasonal produce during dozens of festival dinners and special restaurant wine events. The Toasted Oak Wine Bar and Grill was named a top 100 Canadian restaurant in 2007 by Wine Access magazine. In 2008, Jeff had the honour of cooking a multi-course wine dinner for the Governor General of Canada during her tour of the Okanagan.

When another busy Okanagan summer seemed like a morning after too much young cabernet, Jeff and his wife spent a summer getting to know California and Vancouver Island, camping in their vintage Boler trailer from Paso Robles to Port Hardy. Eventually, the cool and contemplative forests and tranquil waters around Vancouver Island became home.

Jeff instructs occasional adult cooking classes with Nanaimo Parks and Recreation at Bowen Park. He is working on a Masters degree in Tourism Management at Royal Roads University in Victoria. “Fern Hill” remains his favourite Dylan Thomas poem.