Liaison College
Lakeshore Campus

2974 Lakeshore Blvd. W.
Toronto, ON M8V 1J9
Telephone: 416-259-1010
Fax: 416-259-7848

Chef Shawn Whalen: Chef Instructor

Shawn G. Whalen, CCC, CEC

Owner/Culinary Director –
Liaison College Toronto West

Team Manager – Culinary Team Ontario 2008
International WACS Judge
Team Captain, Culinary Team Canada 2009-2013

Chef Shawn Whalen, CCC, CEC

Born and raised in Toronto, Shawn got his start and a taste for the Culinary Arts working part-time in various restaurants.  After his time as an apprentice, Shawn held positions as Sous Chef over the next five years in various establishments notably the Metro Toronto Police Association, Ambiance Restaurant, Viscount Hotel and the Radisson Hotel Don Valley, when he entered the field of Culinary Competitions for the first time.

In 1989, Shawn began his position as Executive Sous Chef at the Novotel North York.  He decided to accept the challenge of the new two-day in-kitchen practical cooking examination, part of the new pilot project for the Certification of Chefs de Cuisine, which was formally only a theory examination. Upon successful completion of the examination, Shawn acquired his C.C.C. designation and at 25 years old, was the youngest Chef in Canada to achieve this honour.

In 1990, Shawn moved on to Executive Chef positions at the Chimo Hotel Mississauga and then the Oshawa Golf and Country Club.  It was in 1993 that Shawn accepted the position of Executive Chef at the newly built Bank of Montreal Institute for Learning, a Dolce International operated corporate training centre with a full service hotel. In addition to the his duties as Executive Chef, Shawn also served as Corporate Resource Liaison for Food and Beverage for the U.S. based Conference Service Company.

Executive Chef

In 1996, an opportunity arose for Shawn to realize one of his goals: Executive Chef of a downtown Toronto property.  He accepted a position at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville, where after one year, he was promoted to Executive Chef/Director of Food and Beverage. Shawn continued on as Regional Executive Chef for Larco Hospitality and oversaw the daily operations of the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville and the Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel. In April of 2007 Shawn accepted the position of Executive Chef at the prestigious Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto. Shawn has now gone into partnership with Lesia Burlak and David Bakker, CCC at the Liaison College Toronto West Campus on Lakeshore Boulevard in Etobicoke.

Culianry Achievements

Shawn has earned several culinary achievements which include 50 gold Medals; most prestigious awards include:
Gold in 1995 at the World Banqueting Championships in Limerick, Ireland as Team Captain for Team Canada, a Silver in 1996 at the World Culinary Olympics, Berlin, Germany with Culinary Team Toronto, 4 Gold and the World Championship in 1998 at Expogast in Luxembourg, Gold in 2000 at the World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany as Team Captain for Culinary Team Ontario and 4 Gold in 2001 at the World Culinary Grand Prix in Glasgow, Scotland with Culinary Team Canada, where they were also declared World Champions.  One of Shawn's most prestigious awards came at the 126th Annual Salon of Culinary Arts of New York City, where he won the Grand Gold, Best of Show Award and was honoured by receiving the "Silver Cup of France" by the Philanthropique Society of New York.

Over the years, Shawn has been an avid supporter of the Apprenticeship program for training young Chefs. Shawn has taken pride in teaching apprentices the Culinary Arts for competition, hoping to instil in them a passion for quality, self-esteem and attention to detail that will follow them throughout their career. Apprentices and cooks under his guidance have won an outstanding 200 Gold Medals and 25 Best of Show Awards to date.

Shawn currently has memberships in the Canadian Culinary Federation, the Epicurean World Master Chefs Society, Les Toques Blanches International – Toronto Chapter, and the Escoffier Society of Toronto.  Shawn won Chef of the year 2000 for both the Escoffier Society of Toronto as well as Chef of the Year for the Central Region Canada for the Canadian Culinary Federation for the years 2000 and 2001.

Shawn was Team Captain for Culinary Team Canada 2001 – 2005, representing the Canadian Culinary Federation that competed, Luxembourg, Chicago and Germany over the last 4 years. Culinary Team Canada recently came home from the Olympics with 4 Gold Medals and 1 Olympic Championship Gold in the Restaurant Category Cold Display.

Shawn will manage and coach Culinary Team Ontario in their quest for Gold at the World Culinary Olympics 2008 in Erfurt, Germany this October.

Shawn has been selected as Captain of Culinary Team Canada 2009 – 2013 that will compete in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Chicago, Singapore and Germany.

International Competition Resume