| General Information |
| What is ChefDb? |
| ChefDb is an ongoing project that documents the names and work history of people associated with the foodservice & hospitality industry, both past and present. In addition to promoting present-day chefs the website includes people and places dating back to the 18th century, making it a robust reference tool for industry historians. |
| Who started ChefDb? What is the history of the site? |
| My name is Brian and I'm the 'proprietor' of ChefDb. I was
born and raised in Toronto and spend my days working as a marketing consultant for a large law firm, although my background is in information technology. The idea
for ChefDb came about in 2003 when I was living in Scotland
and kept track of the many bars and restaurants I visited around the UK and
Europe. With
an interest in food, drink, restaurants and web development,
I created a simple page to record the places I visited and
the people I knew who worked there. This
idea soon developed into The Toronto Chef and Restaurant Database,
created from my flat in the shadows of Edinburgh Castle.
The focus of the original database was primarily historical Toronto chef and restaurants from the 1960's through the 1980's (I guess I was homesick or nostalgic, or both). In 2004 I moved back to Toronto and enlisted the help of my father George—a retired Professor at the University of Toronto—to assist in maintaining and growing the database. After opening up the site to chefs and restaurants from around the world, the site was re-named The Chef and Restaurant Database.
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| Adding or updating information |
| Who is eligible for listing? |
- You must be currently employed by a restaurant or institution in a BOH or FOH capacity, or be "between jobs";
- Catering, consulting and personal chef services are also eligible, but you must have an existing Website before you can be listed on ChefDb.
Eligible positions
- Any back of house position;
- Senior front of the house positions
(General Manager, Sommelier, Maitre 'd, etc);
- Owners, partners, executives, officers and directors
of restaurants or restaurant groups;
- Consulting positions are eligible if the services
pertain to the food. Design consultants
may be listed if you are the
designer of record for the restaurant,
in which case your name is listed
below the restaurant name (as "Designed by ... "). Other
consultants (Business, Web design, marketing, financial, legal etc.) are not eligible;
- Host/Server/bartender/busser/food runner/dishwasher positions are
only eligible if you have since moved into a more senior
FOH position, a BOH role or ownership/partnership in a restaurant;
- Culinary students are only eligible if associated with a restaurant in an internship or externship capacity.
The following positions are not eligible for listings on ChefDb:
- Distributors, importers, recruiters, HR or marketing professionals, representatives and agents.
|
| How do I get myself listed on ChefDb? |
NOTE: Visit the full desktop version to register and add/edit listings.
It's easy to get listed. Provided you meet our criteria for inclusion (see above), you only need to:
1. Create an account with ChefDb by selecting the 'Register' link found on every page;
2. Wait for the auto-reply email and click on the activation link in this email to activate your account;
3. Submit your information by selecting the 'Add Record'
button from the top navigation menu.
We'll take care of the rest!
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| How do I update or correct information already listed on ChefDb? |
NOTE: Visit the full desktop version to register and add/edit listings.
Select the  button
on the left-hand side of the page you want to change.
You must be registered and logged in before you can submit updates or corrections to existing listings.
|
| How do I add records for people not already listed? |
You may not submit new information on behalf of others. If you wish to add information for yourself, see "How do I get myself listed on ChefDb?" above.
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| How long after I submit information to ChefDb will it be reflected on the Web site? |
Information is usually
posted in 1-2 weeks but if it's particularly busy, there
could be a longer delay.
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| Registration, login and password information |
| How do I register/create an account with ChefDb? |
NOTE: Visit the full desktop version to register and add/edit listings.
To create an account with ChefDb, click on the "Register" link found on every page and submit all of the required information. You will receive a system-generated email with an activation link. You cannot log into your account until you click on the activation link.
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| Why am I being asked to use my personal email address when registering? |
| We are asking for a personal email address so that if you forget your password we can send a reset password link to an active email address, instead of an old address from a job you had several years ago.
|
| I submitted my registration information to ChefDb but never received my activation email. Why is this? |
| The activation email is sent by an automated process at the time your registration form is received. Most emails are sent and received almost immediately, but depending
on email traffic there may be a delay of several hours, so be patient. If your email client or host use anti-spam filters, check your spam or junk mailboxes to see if the email has been flagged as spam.
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| How do I change my password or email address? |
| To change your password or any of your profile information (email, city, education, etc.), log into your account and select the 'Member Services' link.
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| I'm being told my login name and/or password are incorrect. How do I fix this? |
| This message means you've either typed in the wrong username, the wrong password or that you have not activated your account with ChefDb. If you have not activated your account with ChefDb, please click on the link in the confirmation email you received from ChefDb at the time you registered. If you have activated your account and you're sure you haven't made any
typos when entering your username and password, the best thing to do is reset your password from the "Forgotten Password" page.
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| I've forgotten my password. How do I get a new one? |
| You can reset your password from the Forgotten Password page.
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| I've requested a new password, but it was never sent to me. What do I do? |
| When you reset your password an automated process sends you a link that expires in 30 minutes. Most
emails are sent and received almost immediately, but depending on email traffic there may be a delay, so be patient. If your email client or host use anti-spam filters, check your
spam or junk mailboxes to see if the email has been flagged as spam.
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| Member Profiles |
| What is my member profile page? How is it different from my ChefDb profile page? |
|
If you are a registered member with an existing ChefDb profile, you can include a link to your member profile page. Your member profile page includes additional information about yourself not found in your ChefDb profile. The content of your member profile page is maintained by you and can include:
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- A personal bio, written by you
- A photo
- Your full resume/CV (Word or PDF)
- A link to your social media sites or your personal web site
- Personal contact information (email; phone)
|
 Click the image to see a sample member profile
Your member profile page includes a personal bio written by you, your picture, contact information and a link to your full resume.
|
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| How do people view my member profile page? |
| A button called "View Profile" will appear on your ChefDb profile page (see image below).
 Click the image to enlarge
A link to your member profile page will appear on your ChefDb profile page.
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| I don't have a ChefDb profile page. Can I still display my member profile information? |
| No. Member profiles can only be viewed by selecting the "View Member Profile" button on an existing ChefDb profile page.
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| What can I include in my personal bio? |
| Your personal bio is a great opportunity to sell yourself, so include information about your work experience, skills, travel or anything you think will help promote your career.
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| How do I upload my resume? |
| Log into your account and select the 'Member Services' link from the homepage, then select 'Edit your member profile'. From there you can upload your resume to ChefDb.
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| What resume formats do you accept? |
| Resumes are accepted in Microsoft Word or PDF.
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| Why isn't my member profile information appearing on my member profile page? |
You must select the 'Show' radio button next to the information you wish to appear on your member profile page.
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| How do I hide or replace my existing resume? |
| To hide your existing resume, edit your member profile and select the 'Hide' radio button next to your resume. This prevents these elements from appearing on your member profile page. Uploading a new resume will automatically overwrite your existing resume.
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| Questions about our data |
| Where do you get your information and how reliable is it? |
|
ChefDb originally focused on historical chef
and restaurant listings. As such, the database initially grew based
on research
conducted by ChefDb editors in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites and from information gathered
through acquaintances. No
online submissions were accepted from the chef and restaurant
community. Today,
approximately 50% of new database listings are derived from
such research, conducted primarily in several major newspapers offering online, subscription-based archives dating
back several decades.
In an effort to grow ChefDb beyond a historical source of
information, we began to offer a registration and submission process
in January 2005, allowing chefs and restaurateurs the opportunity
to submit a profile of their career. Although information
submitted in this manner is carefully vetted, we don't have
the time (or the ability) to independently verify every submission
made to the site. We simply ask that those submitting information
do so with good intentions and include a source or reference if possible. If
we have questions regarding submissions made to ChefDb (as we
often do), we will contact the submitter or use other resources
to verify the information.
A considerable effort is made to provide accurate information,
but there is no guarantee regarding the accuracy or completeness
for any particular listing. To
suggest additions or corrections to the database, please use the
online tools as outlined in the ChefDb FAQ.
|
| How much information do you have? |
| Visit our Statistics page for a current count of our data. |
| How do you accurately determine a person's position or title? |
Determining the position or title of an individual can often
times be difficult. We
are sensitive to the fact that some
individuals will be identified with the wrong
title. This is usually a result of conflicting, incomplete, or
incorrect reference information. Below are the general guidelines
with respect to position descriptions.
Chef or Executive Chef
The individual is specifically identified in reviews, articles or
other reference material as being "the Chef" or Executive
Chef of the establishment. This may or may not be the person
responsible for the day-to-day cooking and may actually be
the Sous Chef or Chef de Cuisine. In some cases the individual
could also be the owner or co-owner of the restaurant, although
he or she is not specifically identified as such in available references.
Other titles (e.g.
Owner, Co-owner, Sommelier, Maitre d', Manager)
The individual is specifically identified in our sources as having this
title. This person may have had other roles at the restaurant,
but the position listed is the only one identified
in our references.
No title listed (i.e.'--')
A title of '--' indicates the individual's
specific role is not known. Our references
will usually indicate the individual is "a
veteran of such kitchens as Canoe and Auberge du Pommier" or
that "Chef Smith spent 1989 to 1991 at Centro." We have no
information to support a title of any sort for these listings.
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| How do you accurately determine a person's years of employment or ownership? |
Unless
the individual has personally submitted their profile
to ChefDb, the process of assembling a "complete"
profile for a chef can be extremely time-consuming. A
chef's profile is often developed over a period of weeks, months
or even years, using small pieces of information gathered
from various sources. As
there can be a great deal of speculation with respect to years
of employment or ownership, the styles below are being used to
manage the inevitable uncertainties.
| Style |
Description |
Meaning |
| xxxx - Present |
Any year - Present |
At the time of our last update this person is still working at this establishment and is believed to have started in the year indicated. |
| 2011 - 2015 |
Black font |
One or more sources indicate the individual
worked at this establishment during this specific time period. |
| [2011 - 2015] |
[Bracketed] |
The duration specified is known for certain, however
the individual may have occupied this position before and/or
after these years. |
| -- |
Dashes |
No specific years of employment are known. |
|
| I've noticed some restaurants list personnel as working at the restaurant before it opened. How is this possible? |
| The year listed underneath the restaurant's address is the year
the restaurant opened to the public. The year listed next to
the individual's name is the year they became involved in the project. Owners,
Executive Chefs and key management almost always have an association
with a project long before the restaurant opens to the public,
which can account for an earlier year listed next to the individual's name.
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| Can I obtain a copy of your database for my research project? |
| Surprisingly (at least to us), this question has been asked several
times. The very short answer is no. While we appreciate
the interest, ChefDb is still a part-time hobby and we just don't have the time to discuss bulk distribution of the data.
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| Looking for people or information |
| I need to speak with a chef listed on your site. Can you put me in touch with him/her? |
| No. Assuming the individual is even a registered member of ChefDb, member contact information is confidential so we cannot provide this information. If the chef has elected to display their Member Profile, there will be a link on the profile page to "View Member Profile", which may include an email address. Failing that, your best option is to contact the establishment where
the chef works.
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| Whatever happened to .... ? |
| We don't know any more about an individual than what is currently listed on their profile page. Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow ChefDb on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to be alerted to new additions to the database. |
| Contacting ChefDb |
| I contacted ChefDb several days ago and still haven't heard back. Why aren't you answering me? |
| We read every message sent to us, however we are not able to provide personalized responses to questions that have already been answered on this FAQ page. Thanks for understanding.
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