The Collective Kitchen brings together John’s passion for Pacific Northwest Cuisine. His farm to table philosophy begins with simple elegance and a culinary standard that includes the highest quality food locally available.

A native Texan, John has been passionate about food since he was a young man. He began his fine dining culinary career under Chef Geddes Martin of the Inn at Ships Bay on Orcas Island. He continued to gain knowledge and technical skills working in top restaurants throughout the Rocky Mountains, West Coast and Pacific Northwest including Portland’s landmark Veritable Quandary under Chef Annie Cuggino and the cutting edge cuisine of San Diego’s Nine-Ten Restaurant under award winning Chef Jason Knibb. This was followed by a year in Toronto with Chef Christian Serebecbere where John honed his pastry craft at the Patisserie Patachou. In 2006 John started what would be 5 years at Whistler’s celebrated Araxi Restaurant as Chef de Cuisine.

Over the past two decades John has acquired the skill and expertise needed through numerous events such as Puerto Vallarta’s Festival Gourmet, Whistler’s Cornocopia Gala Parties, the Pemberton Music Festival, Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics, Slow Food Cycle, Gold Medal Plates, BC Wild, Pakistan 2020, and the Gran Fondo. He brings this knowledge to planning and executing any event, large or small.

He has had the privilege to live in the bountiful Pemberton Valley, Whistler, Squamish and Vancouver where his passion and commitment for bringing natural ingredients together with sound techniques shows itself on every plate.

She started her hospitality career as a server and bartender in many different establishments in Whistler from fast paced après bars to fine dining mountain top restaurants. She developed her skills working alongside some of the finest chefs, sommeliers and service professionals. She continued her learning in the management and operations field which further enriched her love for food, events and people. She met John Ferris and his wonderful team in 2016 and immediately realized that his company, beliefs and passion for authentic West Coast Cuisine were right up her ally. He believes in supporting local businesses, serving fresh food that is organic and sustainable. It was an easy move for Carrie to join The Collective Kitchen team.

She carries the role as front of house and operations manager at The Collective Kitchen. She loves working with clients on creating special memories at some of the most important times in their lives.