Drew Munro
was born and raised in beautiful BC. As a teenager, Drew began his apprenticeship under Paris-trained chef Brian Roodenrys, quickly developing a passion for the freshest local ingredients, beautiful presentations, and above all, great tasting food. Drew received early recognition competing in local cooking competitions and was awarded the Provincial scholarship for culinary arts upon graduation to further his studies.
Over the next several years, Drew worked and apprenticed in a number of high-end professional kitchens throughout the Lower Mainland, developing his skills and a style of his own. After a number of years, the unthinkable happened: Drew accepted a job… in an office?
However, his time spent without cooking for others was short-lived. A lack of lunch options near the office left his co-workers consistently grumbling about their limited choices for fresh, healthy food. Drew started his own office lunch service, providing home-cooked gourmet meals for his colleagues. He would arrive to work an hour early each day to deliver the meals to his customers at the office.
Word spread like wildfire throughout the office, and before long Drew was spending his evenings cooking 50+ individual gourmet meals for his co-workers to enjoy the next day.
With a new found entrepreneurial spark, Drew realized the office grind was not for him, and a personal chef service called Drew Cooks! was born in 2008. His service provided home cooked meals for busy families and professionals, as well as private dinners for special occasions. However, it wasn’t long before Drew started to receive requests to cater weddings and larger events. He hired his first employee in late 2009, and moved into a tiny basement kitchen facility in Burnaby that he shared with 3 other caterers. By 2010, he had become so busy that he had taken over the entire kitchen space, and by 2011 needed to find a bigger space to run the company.
In September 2011, Drew Cooks! moved into their facility on SW Marine Dr, and the company began to add event planning and operations staff. By 2014, they ran into a familiar problem: they were out of room – with 7 workstations crammed into a tiny corner of the kitchen. In late 2014 they acquired the building next door to them (a former karate dojo for 20 years), and knocked down the walls to combine the spaces.
By mid-2015 the new office and operations facility opened, finally giving the staff some well-deserved space to stretch out. This allowed the kitchen to expand as well.
In early 2016, the company officially re-branded as Drew’s Catering & Events to better reflect the services and hard work of a collective of individuals. It wasn’t just Drew cooking anymore!
Drew is a lifelong learner and has traveled to various parts of the world to study and learn, completing a Master’s culinary program in Italy training with the finest norcinos (butchers) and chefs in Tuscany, as well as a culinary program in Japan. Recently Drew and a colleague traveled to a remote area of Guatemala to volunteer their cooking skills at a camp responsible for feeding hundreds of volunteers and villagers each day. Volunteer work remains something Drew and his team are committed to each year.
He also cares deeply about sustainable food choices, choosing only to work with producers and vendors who care equally about quality and environmental impact.
In his spare time, he can often be found exploring the farmer’s markets, experimenting with new dishes & ingredients, or working on his mediocre tennis game.