For Jed Grieve, growing up in his mother’s speciality retail store in Victoria paved the way for the birth of his own thriving business, Cook Culture.
The original Cook Culture location opened its doors in Victoria in the fall of 2010. By January 2011 his store was struggling to keep up with demands for the cooking classes. By 2017, three out of their four locations were running cooking classes in conjunction with their operations as cookware retail stores.
“It absolutely lit on fire,” Grieve says.
In its inception, Grieve had the idea of opening up a kitchen retail store and turning it into a space where people could, in addition to buying cookware, come in and learn how to make their own home-cooked meals.
Working alongside his mom for 13 years gave him a good grounding in retail and what it took to be successful in the business, Grieve says.
At his mother’s store, Muffet & Louisa, Grieve says that from time to time they would have guest chefs come in and give small-scale demonstrations to the public. The special events were well received and from this, he kept hearing how successful it would be if it turned into a large scale operation.
Before he entered the world of cookware and kitchens, Grieve had been in the real estate industry. He learned a lot during those years but always knew that he wanted something more. “I really missed my own business and doing what I loved every day for myself.”
For Grieve, starting up Cook Culture was a life shift.
“I didn’t really know what it was going to be [but] I’ve always loved to cook,” he says.
The owners of the Atrium in Victoria, were looking for a business to inhabit part of their space with “unique retail.” Grieve shared what he was envisioning, albeit a rough idea, they took to it fondly.
“When Cook Culture opened it was the only one of its kind in the city.”
Giving the public access to a gourmet kitchen shop alongside a teaching kitchen where they can get hands on experience is a better way to buy cookware, Grieve says.
Choosing North Vancouver as a location for a store was not originally planned. Grieve had always heard about the bridge traffic being a barrier and troublesome for people.
“I started going to North Van to check things out and I couldn’t understand what the big deal was,” he says.
Grieve quickly fell in love with the community and the atmosphere on the North Shore and is, in fact, in the process of moving here. He says that it closely resembles his beloved hometown, Victoria. “The connection and the trustworthiness of everyone is very similar.”
Christina Erdman, the fulltime in-house chef at Cook Culture Lonsdale, has been a part of the team for a year.
Born and raised in North Vancouver, she started getting her hands dirty in the kitchen at six, with her grandmother her biggest teacher.
Erdman has been a professional chef for 30 years and was the culinary director for Burgoo before joining the team at Cook Culture. Being in an environment where she has the opportunity to teach people how to cook for themselves has been a very positive shift for her career.
“I love interacting with people and teaching people who don’t know how to cook or (for those who have) basic skills to be more confident in the kitchen, and try new things,” she says.
Cook Culture offers a wide range of cooking classes at their Lonsdale, Howe Street and Victoria stores.
One recent evening Erdman helped a North Vancouver class prepare a Basic Thai menu.
“It’s just a self-taught love so it’s really doing some research on the different ingredients and how they’re used really goes a long way,” she says.
Erdman has a big love for combining flavours and learning about other cultures and finding out what’s important to other people.
Cook Culture looks for that sweet spot where family, friends and food all come together in the kitchen.
“Our main goal is that people learn how to cook at home. That’s our number one thing that we want people to do. To eat at home with their families, more often,” Grieve says.
