Max Wang started his culinary career at the age of 16, working full time in a restaurant while still in high-school. Max competed in the Skills Canada Culinary Competition and won gold in the regional with only five months of working experience and no culinary training.
After high school, Max went to the Vancouver Community College for professional culinary arts training. He has worked in different areas of the trade from restaurants and lounges to catering companies and resorts. Now working as an apprentice at Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, Max is enjoying the challenge of working in a hotel environment.
He continued his competition success with a silver medal in the 2006 Junior Hot Competition and was the winner of a high-profile salad recipe contest in 2006, beating out top chefs who also submitted recipes. In 2007, he won the Sodexho BC Junior Chef of the Year because of his untiring efforts in the BC Chef’s Association.
Max has been the Junior Chapter President of the BC Chef’s Association since he was 18, where he built the junior chapter membership as well as organized competitions and education seminars for the juniors. He enjoys sharing his experience with other juniors and being the president of the junior chapter enables him to reach out to his peers.
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Francis Lo was born and raised in Hong Kong, entering the culinary profession at a late age after previously pursuing a career in fine art. He attended the Vocational Training Council's Hotel Industry Training Institute, studying both Chinese and Western cuisines before becoming an apprentice of baking and pastry in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hong Kong.
He worked for several years in the restaurant industry in Hong Kong before deciding to further his education abroad. He spent 3 years in the United States, and received two associate degrees with honours in culinary arts and restaurant management, as well has having participated in a number of ACF competitions, winning gold at Texas state level and silver at the Central Region Conference of 2001. He was also one of 20 nationwide finalists at the Accellis Culinary Arts Challenge 2000, held in Napa Valley, California.
Upon returning to Hong Kong, Francis joined the Mandarin Oriental group as Chef Tournant of the Excelsior Hotel, later moving on to become Sous Chef of One-thirtyone and eventually Chef of the Centurion Restaurant and Bar in the Hong Kong Jockey Club. There he had the opportunity to work with such chefs as Magnus Ek of Oaxen, Sweden and 3-Michelin starred Alain Passard of l'Arpege.
He helped to found the Hong Kong Young Chefs Club in 2007 as the youth arm of the Hong Kong Chefs Association, and remains there today as its chairman. It is the first club of its kind in Hong Kong's history, specifically geared towards promoting the interests of young chefs in Hong Kong and currently numbers 140 members aged between 18 and 25.
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