Chris Koetke
Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc.
Corporate Executive Chef
Chef Christopher Koetke was the executive chef at Les Nomades in Chicago for five years and also worked at the famed Le Francais restaurant in Wheeling, IL. He formerly served as the executive director of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago, and vice president of culinary arts for Laureate International Universities, where he was responsible for strategic leadership of culinary arts programs at 48 campuses in 12 countries. Koetke is a well-known expert on culinary matters, especially given his travels experimenting with ingredients and flavours worldwide and his knowledge of amino acids as flavour elements. In 2010, he was given the inaugural Chefs Collaborative Pathfinder Award for his work in making sustainability mainstream both within foodservice operations and education and serves as the Chair of the Feed the Planet Committee of Worldchefs.

Chef Koetke has an MBA from Dominican University and a BA in French literature from Valparaiso University. He has been honoured with the Outstanding Alum from the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University, alumni achievement award from Valparaiso University, and Worldchefs Educator award. He has hosted his own national TV cooking show on the LiveWell network for almost 5 years, written for prominent newspapers and trade publications, and authored a well-known culinary textbook - The Culinary Professional.

Mark Kondrat
Alberta Beer Festivals
CEO
Through his work at Alberta Beer Festivals, and as the host of the popular Let’s Meet For A Beer Podcast, Mark Kondrat has spent over 20 years showcasing some of the world’s greatest craft breweries and distilleries. Mark loves introducing consumers to new craft beers and spirits, but his true passion is having the opportunity to share inspiring behind-the-scenes stories from the people who have built the unique Craft Beer & Spirits Community!

Kevin Kossowan
Story Chaser Productions Inc.
Filmmaker / Forager
Kevin Kossowan has been on 100+ wild food adventures in the Canadian wild for his twice James Beard Foundation award nominated web series ‘From The Wild’. He’s taught field cookery at the Global Bushcraft Symposium, co-created the series ‘Wild Harvest’ with Les Stroud and chef Paul Rogalski airing on PBS and National Geographic Asia, has led numerous foraging workshops and forage-to-table workshops, and regularly works with chefs exploring the culinary potential of the Canadian wilderness.

Blair Lebsack
RGE RD - Eat Off the Beaten Path
Blair is a graduate of the NAIT Apprenticeship Cook Program as well as Food & Beverage Management at Red Deer College . Upon graduation, he began working at The Owl’s Nest in Calgary’s Westin Hotel where he further honed his skills under a German master chef. Following his time there, he secured Chef positions at The Living Room in Calgary and Rocky Mountain Resorts in Banff as well as the Executive Chef with CHIP Hospitality based out of Saskatoon. In 2006 he returned to Edmonton to take the helm as Chef at Union Bank Inn and Madison’s Grill. Having had an accomplished career as an executive chef for both corporate and boutique hotels, Chef Blair took on a role mentoring future chefs as a culinary instructor at NAIT from 2010-2013. This was a highlight for Blair, but he yearned to establish a restaurant of his own; he took advantage of the summers off to put on extravagant dinners in the middle of farmers’ fields. Blair Lebsack is now the co-owner and chef of RGE RD (Range Road) and The Butchery by RGE RD.

RGE RD was built out of a desire to connect further with Alberta’s unique culinary landscape. The restaurant grew out of a series of farm dinners held on rural range roads around the province, hence the name. While he wanted to exemplify the philosophy of local, healthful and ethical food, there was also a desire to reimagine the dining experience as belonging to a specific time and place. Rather than emulate a style of cuisine or be pegged as something instantly identifiable or categorical - like Italian, French, et al, RGE RD endeavours to be “untamed”. This means reflecting the changing landscape and the spirit of this city and province. Within the four walls of the restaurant, guests can feel a sense of adventure and be complicit in a culinary investigation. Ultimately, RGE RD is a restaurant that is wholly familiar and yet strangely underrepresented in our city —a terroir driven restaurant where common ingredients are presented in new ways and the high end experience becomes as inviting and nostalgic as a night around a campfire. Admittedly, when people ask what kind of restaurant RGE RD is, there is still a struggle to answer. The desired answer is terroir or Albertan, somehow this seems to be a strange concept to grasp.

The brick and mortar restaurant is an urban gathering place where the farm dictates the menu. A strong team has developed and continues to push forward with expansions of the dining room, private event space and full-service whole animal butcher shop. The work reaches beyond the four walls and into the fields on range roads where farmers steward the land, grow vegetables and raise the livestock that is showcased on the menu. The priorities are to produce outstanding food and offer great hospitality, but always be evolving… the cooks, the menu items, the style of food and the ability to best promote this circular community which has been created.

RGE RD quickly caused a stir locally and nationally. RGE RD was recognized by EnRoute Magazine as ranking fourth of the ten “Best New Restaurants in Canada 2014”.

Blair’s passion has not gone unnoticed and led to even more acclaim. Alberta Venture Magazine counted Blair among the Fifty Most Influential People of 2014. He was also named a Top Forty Foodie under Forty by Western Living Magazine and Top Forty under Forty by Avenue Magazine (now Edify). RGE RD was chosen as Best New Restaurant in Edmonton by Avenue Magazine (Edify) and and Best New Restaurant in Edmonton by Where Magazine in 2013. RGE RD has also received Best Restaurant Overall by Edify Magazine in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 in addition to recognition in Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants. Accolades include Vancouver International Wine Festival Wine Program Excellence Awards as well as an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. The restaurant has been featured in numerous publications nationally and internationally from the Globe and Mail, House and Home, to Vogue and The BBC.

Matt Malo
DrumBo Ltd.
Pitmaster
DrumBo started in 2017 with the preproduction prototype that Alex built from an unused oil drum. Alex had been a keen Barbecue enthusiast and competed with the Team Q-Up for a number of years. Matt joined the family in 2018 and we knew right away there was a special connection with our combined passion for BBQ and building Barbecues. By 2019 we began our venture in creating a quality, affordable, handcrafted Canadian made product for everyone to enjoy. In January of 2021 we started building production prototypes and within a few months began daily production.
Now in our 4th year of production we offer 3 different models. The Pit Master and Legend Full size drums and the half size DrumBuddy.
Our mission is to “Take the fear out of charcoal cooking” and show the versatility cooking with live fire can offer along with the efficiency of no power and no gas; Just you and your pit creating masterful flavour combinations.

Our backgrounds as qualified tradesmen and specialization in power engineering, welding, coatings, mechanics and quality control allow us to bring you total confidence in choosing DrumBo as your only Charcoal Barbecue.

We are both passionate about cooking on our DrumBos and enjoy coming up with ideas and recipes that everyone can recreate and enjoy.
Each DrumBo is the result of countless hours of testing and tweaking to get each one to be uniquely yours. Our components and parts are laser cut and hand fitted to give each DrumBo a handcrafted feel. We have designed the DrumBo to be the Simplest of outdoor culinary companions to all your gatherings.

DrumBos are Handcrafted by Matt and Alex, Albertans who cook on them. We use our smokers every day. We don’t even own propane grills because of everything we’ve learned about cooking over charcoal and live fire and we’re happy to share all our barbecue secrets with you so that you can get the most from your DrumBo.

Matt Malo is a Journeyman welder, CWB Level 3 welding inspector, NACE level 2 coating inspector, ABSA welding examiner and Project Management Professional with a major passion for BBQ.
Alex Heath is a 22-year restaurant owner and entrepreneur. A Pit Master and KCBS Certified Barbecue Judge. Qualified British Army Bench fitter and mechanic. (A long time ago lol.) Alex is also a Red Seal Auto Technician, a Classically French trained Chef and a Power Engineer Class 4.

Rob Reinhardt
Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ
Owner
A hobby started in 2000 has transformed into to a full-time career and the most successful competition track record in the country. Rob Reinhardt lives, breathes, and endlessly displays his passion for the world of Barbecue. “There is no greater feeling than watching someone bite into a piece of championship barbecue for the first time – most people don’t realize just how good this food can be”, says Rob.

Rob and his wife Jacy run Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ, a business and competition barbecue team started in 2007. Rob’s obsession with cooking perfect barbecue has shown some stunning results, including the Canadian National BBQ Championships, and a 2-time World Championship category win at the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, TN. With 22 Grand Championships and over 250 awards won in competition, Rob has blazed a trail across the country and won awards in Europe and Australia.

Rob has a long history of being an Influencer in the world of Canadian BBQ – long before such things were measured by Likes and Followers. Rob also runs Canada’s largest BBQ School, with over 4000 students trained in the art of Low ‘n Slow cooking so far, and classes running across Canada every Spring. He also makes appearances at trade shows, as well as regular appearances on Global, CTV, and City’s Breakfast Television in Vancouver.

In 2016, Rob was invited to be the featured International Chef at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cook-off – and shared his unique spin on Canadian cuisine cooked on a smoker with VIPs, and local / state government officials.

In addition to their success in the competition world, Prairie Smoke & Spice is a successful catering and concession company, operating at the biggest festivals across Western Canada, and keeping their crew working at Ribfests for 12 weeks during summer. Prairie Smoke & Spice caters to parties from 50 to 5000 across Saskatchewan, though their reputation has brought them into special parties in three other provinces as well.

Rob organizes a KCBS-sanctioned BBQ festival in Saskatchewan. Rob serves as Treasurer of the Canadian Barbecue Society and is former director of the Pacific Northwest BBQ Society. He is a certified BBQ Judge.

• 20-year history of being an influencer in the world of Canadian BBQ – through forums, websites, social media, television, and print
• Founder and primary instructor of Canada’s BBQ School, with 3 of Canada’s best BBQ’ers on board, teaching over 750 students per year across the country
• 3-time Canadian National BBQ Champion, 2-time World Champion (Chef’s Choice), 26-time Grand Champion, 20-time World Championship Invitee
• Co-founder and Treasurer, Canadian BBQ Society
• Purveyor of Championship BBQ Rubs and Sauce, several of which have been named as the #1 product in the BBQ Industry by the National BBQ Association
• Operates Prairie Smoke & Spice, with the largest fleet of mobile commercial smokers in Canada – serving up to 5000 people per day
• Canada’s representative BBQ Chef, Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest
• Food Network’s “Firemasters” guest chef and finalist
• Experienced brand representative with such companies as Yoder Smokers, Drumbo, Gateway Drum Smokers, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Memphis Grills, and Fireboard