Since he graduated from NC a decade ago, RJ Fortes has sharpened his culinary skills at several reputable fine dining establishments in Toronto and New York City – including three-Michelin-starred Per Se. Now he’s ready to return to NC as a featured alumnus for A Chef’s Journey with Scott Baechler on May 8 as part of an ongoing dinner series at Benchmark.
InsideNC caught up with Fortes who dished on some of his NC memories, career highlights, and more.
NC program
Culinary Management (Co-op), 2015.
Hometown and current city
Toronto
Current role
I am currently the Chef of 1 Kitchen restaurant at 1 Hotel Toronto. I also oversee Flora Lounge and in-room dining for the hotel.
Career highlights
I started my career with Oliver and Bonancini in 2012 in high school when I did my co-op at O&B Bayview Village. I worked my college co-op at Canoe.
After college, I started as Third Cook at Shangri-La Toronto and stayed there for three years. I transferred to the Four Seasons Toronto under Chef Daniel Boulud which led me to DB Bistro in New York City. While there, I did stages at Del Posto, Per Se and Eleven Madison Park.
I returned to Toronto to work at 1 Hotel as Chef De Partie, left to become Sous Chef at Silent H. Then I returned to 1 Hotel as Chef De Cuisine. I now oversee 1 Kitchen restaurant, Flora Lounge and in-room dining.
Path to NC
Born and raised in Toronto, I wanted to be different and move away from home. I decided on applying for the Culinary Management program at Niagara College. That ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.
Standout NC memories
Chef Scott [Baechler] was one of my chef professors in my second year at Niagara. When I entered the Skills Ontario competition that year, he was also my coach along with Chef Olaf [Mertens]. We ended up winning gold and he then continued to be my coach when we went to Saskatchewan for the national competition.
Rewards /inspiration
The most rewarding part of my career is the ability to inspire and pass along the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my culinary journey. That’s one of the most important things I’ve learned from not only Chef Scott but from all the chef professors at Niagara; it’s to always pay it forward.
A Chef’s Journey involvement
I’m very excited to be part of Chef Scott’s A Chef’s Journey dinner. I was thrilled when he invited me to be one of the featured alumni for the event. I can’t wait to return to the college and reconnect with my old chef professors and to see all the changes that have happened since I graduated.
Words of wisdom
Some words of wisdom for the students would be to always be yourself. Be humble and trust your instincts. Find a mentor (or many) and learn from them, keep them close and never forget where you started.
There’s a big difference between being confident and being arrogant. Always choose to be confident. The sky’s the limit!
