INGREDIENTS FOR A CREATIVE LIFE – February 26, 2021

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our very first official CreativeMornings event on January 15th! It was wonderful to have such great speakers with Albertine Watson and Chris Pointon talking about the theme of PROMISE and hearing from local hip-hop band, Super Duty Tough Work. 

We are very pleased to announce our speaker for February – Chef Ben Kramer! Ben is well-known in Winnipeg (and beyond) for his creative and socially-minded approach to building and challenging the culinary community. 

Chef Kramer helped establish Winnipeg as one of the most vibrant food scenes in North America. He was one of the first to champion the use of local, sustainable ingredients and Ocean Wise certified fish at the dynamic Dandelion Eatery, here in Manitoba.

He then accomplished what most thought couldn’t be done: he made an institutional food services program at the University of Winnipeg a model of excellence, world-wide. 

As the Executive Chef of Diversity Food Services, Chef Kramer transformed cafeteria dining into a culinary experience of the first order. He introduced a low-cost, high-quality, deliciously satisfying menu to the campus community based on the belief that everything should be made from scratch using local ingredients.

Chef Kramer left Diversity in August of 2015 to focus on what he finds most satisfying – working directly with individual clients to create individually crafted menus. Funeventsonlydotcom focuses primarily on custom catering events.

He’s been a part of the RAW: Almond (the winter restaurant on the river) since it’s inception as well as Table for 1200. He is the executive chef of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, feeding thousands of volunteers each year.

Food security and giving back have always been a major pillars in every business he has been involved in. Ben partnered with the Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) back in 2014 when founder Nic Saul reached out and asked him to become a chef partner in Restaurants for Change. 

Since then, Ben has been involved in several CFCC projects including Made with Love where his team, in partnership with NorWest Co-op Community Food Centre, has produced and delivered more than 20,000 meals to some of Winnipeg’s most vulnerable. Through Made with Love, Ben was instrumental in saving food from restaurants that would have otherwise been thrown out at the beginning of Winnipeg’s shut down in March 2020 – and turning those into nutritious meals for community agencies to distribute.

Ben’s culinary career has been anything but ordinary. He has diverged from traditional career routes, taken risks, and has always supported a drive to social justice through his talent. CreativeMornings/Winnipeg is thrilled to welcome Chef Ben Kramer to our event on February 26th. Please join us!