Later this October, Scott Redekopp returns to Yellow Door Bistro as its new Chef de Cuisine taking over for Chef Katarina Edwards who is heading to the West Coast with her partner to explore some exciting new opportunities.
Chef Scott is no stranger to Yellow Door Bistro as we joined the team in 2013 as the Breakfast Chef de Partie overseeing the popular brunch and breakfast program including its renowned Feature Pancakes.
Chef Redekopp was raised in Saskatoon and developed his love for cooking when he travelled to Italy when he was sixteen. A simple 3-ingredient pizza in Capri with fresh burrata instilled an abundant respect for ingredients and peak seasonality of produce. A few years later while backpacking in Australia, Scott starting working at an Italian restaurant and learned how to prepare sauces, stocks, risotto and other staples of Italian cuisine. Upon his return to Canada, Scott worked with Michael McEwan at the Saskatoon Inn for a year as a pastry cook and baker before broadening his role. Redekopp paid close attention to McEwan’s passion for rustic plates with great simple flavours using ingredients sourced locally.
With some great work experience under his belt, Scott moved out to the West Coast to train at the Arts Institute of Vancouver’s Dubrulle Culinary Arts while working at the Listel Hotel under Tim Muelbauer for two years. He was later recommended to apprentice under Chef Lee Parsons at Bacchus Restaurant at Vancouver’s Relais & Châteaux property, the Wedgewood Hotel and Spa. Under Chef Parsons’ leadership, Scott was exposed to an array of cooking techniques and influences in a fine-dining environment. While there, Scott worked alongside an impressive brigade of culinary talent that later comprised the leadership teams of top restaurants in the Vancouver area. Scott claims that “those were my formative years of developing the foundations of my cooking” sparking a thirst to be a life-long student in expanding his culinary horizons.
After working for Chef Parsons for just over four years, Chef Scott made the move to Calgary to complete his studies at SAIT and secure his Red Seal Certification while working at several restaurants in the city including Tribune and Thomsons and later working with the Hyatt Regency Calgary in their banquet operations.
Newly married and expecting their first child, Scott took on the role of Breakfast Chef de Partie at Yellow Door Bistro when it opened in 2013 bringing some of that fine-dining finesse to create some unique breakfast offerings. He not only launched an award-winning brunch program for Yellow Door, but he also introduced an ever-changing and innovative series of feature pancakes that attracted a fair amount of media acclaim including Food Network Canada. “One of my favourites was the Lemon Meringue Japanese Souffle Pancakes,” remarks Redekopp. “The Japanese style yielded a fluffier style pancake that Yellow Door continues to produce to this day.”
After a few years, Scott brought this spirit of innovation to an expanded role as Yellow Door Sous Chef working under Quinn Staple’s leadership and sought out ways to showcase his love of eclectic cuisine with the 3-course and 5-course tasting menus offered daily at Yellow Door. Working with Chef Staple, they would experiment with maximizing the utility of an ingredient with different techniques like charring, pickling, re-hydrating to heighten the flavour profiles.
When Quinn Staple was promoted to Executive Chef for the Hotel Arts Group, Scott was asked to bring his training and innovation to the Banquet Kitchens at Hotel Arts in 2017 when he was promoted to Banquet Sous Chef overseeing the group’s extensive on-site and off-site catering division. Chef Scott worked with Executive Chef Quinn Staple on developing restaurant-style offerings in the banquet kitchens and also elevating their reception menus for offsite catering.
Redekopp is excited to return to Yellow Door Bistro this fall to launch a new seasonal menu showcasing regional ingredients at their peak seasonality. “I use local ingredients as my inspiration but I’m not constrained by it”, remarks Scott. “If the dish needs a special flavour to create that wow factor, I’ll incorporate it into the dish. I work with great suppliers locally and my range of culinary experiences gives me the confidence to introduce new influences and flavours into the mix too. At the end of the day, it’s always about the flavours on the plate.”
Don’t be surprised to see some surprising and playful twists on classics or the introduction of some welcome new favourites at Yellow Door under Chef Redekopp’s tenure. Yellow Door Bistro is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner with special weekend buffet offerings with new fall offerings coming soon.
