michael steh, executive chef
Michael Steh began his journey towards a career in the culinary arts as a young child growing up in rural Oshawa. His parents immigrated to Canada from Slovenia in the early '50s and brought with them time-honoured traditions for cultivating and preparing food that they instilled in Michael and his siblings.
The family farm housed various fruit orchards and animals and Michael learned traditional techniques for pressing homemade wine and smoking meat from an early age. He credits these early experiences for his knowledge of food, his passion for cooking and his strong work ethic - a combination he feels is critical for success.
“You can teach someone to cook, and you can inspire them to be passionate,” says Steh. “But you can't teach work ethic. That has to come from within.”
Despite experiences working in kitchens as a teen, Steh began his professional career by pursuing an education in engineering. It was then that he began to appreciate his passion and skill for working with food and he shifted his focus to a career in the culinary arts.
Steh served an apprenticeship at Oliver Bonacini's Canoe and was awed by the possibilities he saw to combine his traditional style and talent for cooking with the flair and presentation of a fine-dining experience. He excelled in this new environment, and by age 23 was appointed sous chef at Biff's Bistro.
He left the Oliver Bonacini Group for an opportunity to build a new fine dining restaurant in the heart of Collingwood. Here he continued to develop his culinary skills, serving as executive chef, and participated in the design, construction and management of the restaurant.
He returned to Toronto to work alongside Susur Lee at Susur, and then moved to Splendido where he served as Executive sous chef.
Steh joined Service Inspired Restaurants (SIR Corp.) to collaborate with Far Niente Executive Corporate Chef Gordon Mackie, a long-time mentor and friend. In his new role as executive chef at reds he will continue to learn as much as he can about food and explore the relationship between food and science, a relationship he feels is imperative in order to give chefs more time to focus on the art of cooking.
Throughout his career Michael Steh has cooked at celebrated events including the Friends of Spinazzola Grand Benefit Dinner in Boston and at acclaimed James Beard House in New York. He was recently named one of the “Top 30 Under 30” by the Ontario Hostelry Institute.