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It’s not often you’ll hear Andrew Culgin say he’s going to work. But he will head off to “the kitchen,” and it’s a kitchen that carries his signature style.
Scattered in amongst the chopping knives and industrial-sized grill are insights into the creative mind heading up the kitchen: a plastic skeleton hanging from a cupboard, a Halloween mask perched atop the fire extinguisher, a lineup of cartoon figurines on the windowsill.
“People coming in for cooking classes compare it to somebody’s garage,” Culgin chuckled. “That’s what I want. What I’m about is tattoos and skulls, so it suits me.”
A Red Seal-certified chef who’s worked in the industry for more than 20 years, he launched Culgin’s Creative Cuisine out of Sudbury’s former Knights of Columbus hall last August. With his fresh, made-to-order meals, he’s hit on a niche market that’s looking for healthy lunch and dinner options.
His specialty is food that falls under the tenets of a paleolithic diet, which mimic the food groups of pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherers. Fish, grass-fed, pasture-raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts are in, but grains, legumes, dairy products, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils are out.
After cooking for his wife, an amateur muay Thai fighter with a strict diet, Culgin started gaining additional fans. Word of his talents spread and he expanded his repertoire to include meal plans, cooking classes, in-house dining and catered events.
“I make everything from scratch,” Culgin said. “I go to the grocery store every morning and buy the food for that day.”
Culgin’s done little in the way of advertising, and everything is orchestrated through his Facebook page. He posts a menu every Sunday and people submit orders one or two days in advance for that week’s meals.
Sample lunch items include sweet potato hash with bacon and apples, or cilantro and avocado turkey burgers, while dinner might feature olive, garlic and lime chicken, or pork tenderloin stuffed with apple and ground pork wrapped with bacon and prosciutto.
Desserts have included cinnamon fruit salad or strawberry and kiwi parfait. Since Christmas, catering orders have really picked up. Culgin has catered small, intimate gatherings and events with a few hundred people. The business crowd remains a growing, but not fully explored, market.
“I have my basic menus, which is salads, sandwiches, and desserts—I send those to everybody,” Culgin said. “Then if they look at that and say it’s not what we’re really looking for, I’ll create a whole new menu based on dietary needs or allergy restrictions.”
He thrives on coming up with unusual ingredient combinations, like the white chocolate blueberry cheesecake he paired with curry during one dessert competition.
First discovering his interest in cooking while working at Twin Bluffs in his hometown of Gore Bay, Culgin has gone on to helm kitchens at the Ramada Inn (now the Radisson), Tommy’s Not Here, Royal Michael’s Bay, and the School House Restaurant.
He additionally taught for three years at Cambrian College in the hotel and restaurant management program.
Currently a one-man operation, Culgin has taken on a co-op student from Collège Boréal, whom he hopes to hire at the end of the placement. Plans are in the works to expand his operation, which may require further help.
