Our Team
CHEF DERRICK Hoare
Proprietor/Chef
As far back as I can remember I have always chosen a unique path. My search for the eclectic has led me in a number of wonderful directions and to some very satisfying places. I have spent the majority of my adult life in the service of seniors, have played professional sports, flown planes, mediated labour disputes, acted in TV and movies, and trained as a Chef.
I was born and raised in small town Ontario, and grew up loving the outdoors. There is something special about being outside and at one with nature. The earth speaks to us through the fields, mountains, seas and rivers. All my life I have heard and seen the beauty of nature, and I really think that is why I have settled here on Prince Edward Island.
PEI is also known as the birthplace of Canada, and I love that the idea of creating a nation was born on this small Island. Even though I am “from away”, I have made my home here. I have had the opportunity to put my hands to work making lobster traps, earning my Cork designation on a 45’ Hutt fishing boat, helping to catch 4,000 lobsters, being part of a crew that caught both 400 lb. and 800 lb. tunas, making spat collectors for oyster farming, cleaning my fair share of eel nets, and most recently helping to build a barn. I relish opportunities to learn hands-on from Island fishers and farmers, and experience the hard work and ultimate joy of cultivating the food we serve at The Table Culinary Studio.
My most cherished pastime is creating culinary events for friends and family using fresh Island ingredients from the sea and red soil. I enjoy gathering people from different places together at The Table to share an Island experience built on incredible food, colourful stories and lots of laughs. My goal for The Table is to give you an Island culinary experience that will inspire you to recreate it and share it with your friends and family.
CHristine Morgan
General Manager
Prince Edward Island is my happy place. For me is it is a place of community, hard working people, breathtaking natural beauty and as Anne so aptly put it, plenty of “scope for the imagination”. Along with Chefs Derrick, Hunter and Alex, I take great joy in working in partnership with local farmers and fishers, and sharing the restored church, our food and Island stories with everyone who visits The Table.
Originally from Toronto, I have Maritime roots, with family still living in Nova Scotia where I spent many fun-filled summers. With an education in archaeology and work experience in corporate office administration, I have been a part of The Table since it’s inception. I organize, implement and help run dinners and events. It is my heartfelt goal to make each moment of your time with us into a wonderful memory.
I hope you will join us at The Table and let us share with you our love of the Island, it’s incredible food and the amazing farmers, fishers and producers who make it all possible.
Chef Hunter Guindon
Executive Chef
Chefs on PEI might be the most privileged in the world. We live alongside the most passionate food producers, on a floating farm surrounded by some of the worlds most pristine waters. My duty as a Chef is to show our guests why the hard work of our farmers, fishers, culinary artisans, and soil is so incredibly special.
From a young age food was more than just sustenance for me. My love for food quickly turned into an obsession. I want to know where it came from, how it was grown, who grew it, and how it ended up in my kitchen. The relationships I get to make with both the food producers, and the ingredients on PEI feeds my soul. Food sovereignty, seasonality, sustainability, and locality is incredibly important to me.
Originally from Peterborough, Ontario, I was drawn to PEI by its hyper-local culinary scene. Upon graduating from the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown in 2015, I was the opening Sous Chef of Fireworks at The Inn at Bay Fortune where I spent two years taming the live fires and working with some of PEI’s best ingredients. After working in Whistler, BC and across Ontario, I was drawn back to PEI to spend a summer working at The Pearl in North Rustico.
My pursuit of real, local, sustainable cooking then brought me to work as the Sous Chef of the former Terre Rouge Craft Kitchen, and to the formation of Local Supper Club, a tasting menu only pop-up using 100% PEI grown ingredients.
I am extremely excited to be a part of the passionate team at The Table and to be returning as the Executive Chef this summer. I can’t wait to showcase to our guests the incredible food that Prince Edward Island has to offer!
Chef KErsti Kass
Sous Chef
While
not an Islander by birth, I consider myself an Islander by heart. Born in
Edmonton, my family hauled their wagons East and moved to Charlottetown when I
was 5 years old. A semi feral child, I grew up saturated in sunshine and sea,
in the company of horses and dogs.
After studying in Montreal and Halifax, I moved to back to PEI to pursue a legal career and promptly discovered the magical food scene on the Island. A cooking class at The Table inspired me to pursue a new path and went on to study at the Culinary Institute of Canada. An internship at the Rossmount Inn in New Brunswick ignited a passion for cooking creatively with seasonal ingredients. While a summer at Lightfoot & Wolfville, a biodynamic winery, confirmed the importance of cooking simply with the season, and the inter connectivity of place, product and producer.
I am thrilled to be back home, learning with the incredible team at The Table and, like our guests, I can’t wait to see what each week brings.
