Over the past year and a half, those who love to travel have mostly been kept waiting at home. Borders have closed and flights have been grounded, as the world put health and safety at the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As normalcy starts to creep back in, though, jet-setting opportunities are starting to pop up. This timing couldn’t be better for Culinary Arts grad Denice Linag. After graduating with honours last spring, she learned about the chance to go to Dubai to work at World Expo 2020 — a massive event planned for last year, which was postponed to start in fall 2021. Without any hesitation, she jumped at the chance.

“My instructor, Chef Melissa Hyrb, did the Expo ten years ago in Shanghai,” says Linag. “She remembered that when I was in class with her, I told her that I wanted to travel to learn more about cooking. So, she got back to me and that’s how this whole opportunity was presented.”

“To be honest, I’d never heard of the World Expo until this opportunity was presented to me — but I wanted to take advantage of it because during COVID, nobody was able to do much of anything. I have nothing tying me down, so I told them I was more than willing and I’m so happy I did. I couldn’t pass that up.”

Linag, 22, is part of a small contingent representing Canada at World Expo, a massive, six-month event put on by the United Arab Emirates, which opened on October 1 and will continue through to March 31, 2022. The Expo 2020 site takes up 1,080 hectares and features pavilions from 192 countries, which allows visitors to explore many different cultures, and — the focus area for Linag – their cuisines.

“Canada’s pavilion is huge,” Linag describes. “The inside of it has a panoramic theatre, which shows what Canada has to offer and what it went through during the pandemic, so it’s very interesting. We also have a VIP room and a boardroom, which is mainly who [the culinary team] is serving to. We also do casual event food for those walking through — teas, coffees, canapés — that’s mostly our role in the pavilion.”

Expo attendees get a small passport and receive a stamp for each country they visit, creating an immersive cultural experience. It’s the type of event that Linag’s experience in the culinary world has been building towards, one that started all the way back in her family’s home kitchen.

“I was able to witness from a young age my grandma and my dad making home-cooked dishes for every meal,” says Linag. “I would be on the side taste-testing, helping cut onions, or something simple, and that kind of carried into home economics classes, where I realized I really enjoyed cooking.”

After attending Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, Linag entered her next level of education at Red River College Polytechnic, where the more technical parts of working in a kitchen were taught as part of the Culinary Arts program.

“It’s tough to say what the best lessons from Culinary Arts were because they all play a role in the industry,” says Linag. “I learned a lot through Jane’s Restaurant because that resembles how it is in the real world, how each guest’s order has to be called out, how basic food prep works. It really introduces you to a wide variety of cooking techniques and dishes from all around the world.”

Linag also benefited from two outstanding co-op opportunities, the first taking her into the Rocky Mountains at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. The second came at Bergmann’s on Lombard, where Linag got a job right after graduation.

“That was a great experience,” she describes. “Their Five P’s start with preparation and it really does prepare you for future settings. They basically tell you your ‘mise en place’ is what gets you ahead in the game. Bergmann’s does multiple events in a day and only one or two people are in charge of those events. They can vary from 20 to 200 people, which is much larger than it was in College. I realized I like doing mass production and plating for that setting and Bergmann’s really helped me enjoy those things together.”

Appropriate, then, that Linag has just begun work at the largest event in the world — outside of the Tokyo Olympics — since the pandemic began.

When RRC Polytech spoke with Linag, she had just finished the first day of the World Expo, with some of the basic prep work well underway for visitors arriving in early October. Linag is already excited for the learning opportunities the Expo will provide for her culinary career.

“[The Expo] is definitely a team effort. We have to come together, help with the menu, and make sure we’re showcasing Canada in a certain way. For example, if guests wanted a specific meat like salmon or Alberta beef, we can all come together — with three of the four of us working every day — and we can be in charge of one of those courses for the three-course meal.”

“I’m also hoping to learn plating and the management side of things, and techniques I wasn’t able to learn at school.”

Her goal eventually is to reach the level of executive chef, where she can really put her enthusiasm for cooking into practice.

“I’ve watched people like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver on TV owning their own restaurant, and they kind of inspired me to take cooking and turn it into a passion. I can see they’re doing a job that they really enjoy and that’s how I feel when I’m cooking. I like to see where my dishes go and see people eat them and them be happy.”

It’s not all work in Dubai, though, as the UAE’s modern paradise offers plenty outside the Expo to explore — some of which Linag is already looking forward to.

“It’s amazing. Skyscrapers, waterparks I would like to experience,” she says, smiling. “Of course, the tallest building in the world is here — the Burj Khalifa — I would like to go there, even though I’m afraid of heights.”

Profile by John Gaudes (Creative Communications, 2012)