Chef Pam Fanjoy

07/19/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ArNKr5saU/

As we shift into our Not for Profit Cooking Up Change, if you are not already following us on that FB page, please follow and share so that you can see our summer adventures with teens in Guelph!

05/20/2025

My second day in the Canary Islands was spent at Las Palmas de Grand Canaria.

Time walking the beach boardwalk to take in all of the amazing restaurants, cafes and bakeries was beautiful, not to mention delicious. The weather was perfect.

Of course, we found the local food market but most of the vendors were closing up so it was slim pickings. I did however still appreciate having some interesting discussions with the locals about their favorite local ingredients, food traditions and also the culinary techniques used for some favorite dishes.

With the Canadian long weekend at hand, I am missing my first of the 2025 season weekly Saturday morning visit to the Guelph Farmers' Market, but also feeling very greatful for the opportunity to explore Spain's food culture on this "vacation." The chef's mind can rarely really turn off from all things food....:)

05/17/2025

Two stops in the Canary Islands occurred enroute to Spain this week. The best part for me was finding the local central markets and also exploring some interesting supermarkets with new "foodie" friends that I have made while traveling.

Our first stop was Santa Cruz de Tererife. I so love wandering through any marina and this one certainly did not disappoint! The public artwork and sculptures were absolutely beautiful in some lovely parks that we enjoyed walking through. Then, of course there were the PATISSIERES .....oh my, they were beautiful, with many delicious treats picked up along our way. My favorite was the custard (porteguese) tarts.

At the first central market I was able to pick up several varieties of paparika, paella spices and some local white pepper. The vegetable purveyors were incredible. It reminded me of my time living in France for four months during culinary school (2012) where lifestyles has folks just buying fresh ingredients when they need them, and as they need them. This certainly must contribute to why you don't see the same level of obesity in countries like these, not to mention the impact of lower stress levels and work pace - more on that later next week when I land in Barcelona.

So, overall, I loved Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Here's a glimpse of my day there.

05/08/2025

After a tough year of winding down my old restaurant Fan/Joy, it's time for a much needed vacation. Where does a chef go for holidays? Well, I love to go anywhere that I can learn more about food, how other cultures use it to feed connection, create rituals that enhance relationships and build ceremonies to strengthen communities. So, I'm off to Spain this month and what better way than to get there than by ship so my trip this week begins here.........

By far, Virgin Voyages has had the best food of any cruise I've taken to date. My first experience, was dinner on Day 1 at The Test Kitchen restaurant.

The concept is simple - 5 courses of an 'experimental' menu that invites the guest to try new combinations of flavors with a slight gastronomical approach to its' preparation. My favorite part however was the central prep stations where guests sat around on high top chairs, able to talk with the chefs preparing the food. Desert was one station, cheese tart appetizer at another etc.
Menus change every five days so i quickly ensured my reservations for the next two menus. The staff are attentive and it was easy to see how front and back of house teams worked smoothly with one another.

I look forward to sharing my vacation adventures with you in the weeks ahead.

03/24/2025

02/06/2025

Come join our recently launched Not For Profit, Cooking Up Change, as we open up opportunities for 2-3 new Board of Directors for 2025/2026 who will provide strategic leadership as we build capacity to continue and . We are looking to bring your experience in education, health care, mental health or finance to our table, in order to make a difference as we whisk together innovative solutions, to address social isolation and hunger in our community.

"I envision a world where everyone has access to healthy food, the knowledge and resources to know how to cook it and someone to gather around a table to enjoy it with so that they can nourish their physical and mental health, reach their full potential and live joyful lives, sustainably." Chef Pam Fanjoy

Applications will be open until February 15, 2025. We appreciate your interest and resume being submitted at the link below in the comments or directly to pam@fanjoycookingupchange.com

01/23/2025

When there is a cold snap we might as well teach teens how to embrace the weather and use our outdoor pizza oven in the winter months.

Leo and Joseph tried their hand at pizza and calazones last weekend. They learned about making dough, how high heat works and a lot about fire safety that clearly showed that they were superstars at the oven.

This made for a delicious dinner to take home to share with their families.

We are currently accepting new youth for our 1:1 weekend lessons this winter season. Please reach out to pam@chefpamfanjoy.com if interested in more information

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas to all of our Junior Chef families! We’ve had a wonderful year of learning with the youth in our programs and celebrated this past weekend with our individual students.

Our staff will be taking a well deserved break until January 10th with the exception of our weekend Junior Chef programs. Registration for January is now open with limited spaces, inquires can be directed to juniorchef@fanjoycentre.com or (519) 400-7558

12/19/2024

The perfect Christmas gift for the young cook in your family! We have limited spots available on weekends and have now opened up Wednesday/Thursday after school. Applicable for coverage under private insurance or Passport funding. For more information email juniorchef@fanjoycentre.com or call (519) 400-7558

12/11/2024

We pleased with our popular demand, we are now offering limited weekday after school availability for our Fanjoy Junior Chef™ Culinary & Life Skills individual classes in Guelph. These classes are specifically targeted towards youth 12-25 years old who manage ASD, Learning Exceptions, or mental health concerns including social anxiety. With individualized attention, we see progress within weeks in our culinary therapy programs.

Please email pam@chefpamfanjoy.com directly for more infomation and to book a Discovey Call to see if this program will be useful to your child.

The perfect Christmas gift this year!

12/03/2024

What a successful time we all had on our Trade Mission to Mexico City last week, between attending as Canadian Ambassadors at the Pride Summit 2024, meeting Government Ambassadors, attending a VIP event at the Embassy to discuss how we can advance cross-border trade for 2SLGBT2+ businesses, and of course exploring some good food adventures to top it all off as any good Chef would be obligated to do.

I feel privileged to be a Canadian Delegate leading the way for the (Canadian Gay Chamber of Commerce), and introducing the Fanjoy Culinary Therapy Model internationally these days. We specifically were looking to advance our youth programs, corporate wellness initiatives and find corporate sponsorship for our Fanjoy Rainbow Connections Culinary & Life Skills Groups to be relaunched in January 2025.

Taste Real

11/28/2024

We are excited to announce openings for our 1:1 private classes, held at our Surrey street location. Open to youth 11-24, the home kitchen environment offers more space and less noise than a typical commercial kitchen. Private classes offer direct parent/guardian feedback after each class as well as flexibility, with your 4 classes available to be used over 6 weeks. Individualized classes allow Junior Chefs to learn at their own pace and to their own ability level.