Youngest Head Chef In Canada, Then The Shelbourne

Canada was where Kevin Dundon's career took off. He spent around eight years there with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts^[1]. Part of that time he worked at a five-star Fairmont hotel in Calgary^[3].

Twenty-Two And In Charge

He moved up fast. At just 22 he became the company's youngest ever executive head chef^[1][2]. That meant running a large hotel kitchen, with its own brigade, menus and budgets, at an age when most cooks are still learning their stations.

Royal Guests

The job brought famous guests. While he was in Canada he cooked for Queen Elizabeth II at a horse show in Calgary^[2]. He also cooked for President George W. Bush's party at a NATO meeting in Canada^[2].

Those years gave him a deep knowledge of large-scale, high-end cooking. Banquets, room service, fine dining and events all came through the same kitchen.

The Call Home

Then an advertisement caught his eye. The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin was looking for an executive chef^[3]. He applied from Canada. It was 1994^[3].

He got the job. In 1994 he returned to Ireland as executive chef of the Shelbourne^[1][2]. It was one of the top kitchen jobs in the capital.

Thinking Bigger

But he had another dream. He did not just want to run someone else's kitchen. He wanted a place of his own, a house where he could cook, host and teach^[1][2].

Within a couple of years he and his wife Catherine began looking for that place. They viewed between twelve and fifteen properties before they found the right one^[3].

The Irish Times later met the couple and heard how the move home happened. The Shelbourne post was advertised while they were still in Canada, and they came back to Ireland soon after he applied^[3].

The young chef who ran a Canadian hotel kitchen at 22 was about to become a hotelier himself^[1][3].