College of New Caledonia student Nathan Mickey is the first recipient to receive the Brad Horen Memorial Scholarship Award.
The college along with donor, Brian Quarmby, were thrilled to present the award.
"This means a lot," Mickey said. "It's nice to know the community helps by bringing money back into the community with culinary arts."
The award includes a scholarship along with an offer to study and work with Quarmby, who is the head chef at Betulla Burning.
"Nathan is very hard working, detail oriented and has innovative ideas. He appreciates the food movement that is embraced by Betulla Burning," said Mandy Newcomb, CNC professional cook instructor.
"We are thrilled to work with restaurants in the community like Betulla Burning and chef Brian is a welcome asset to the CNC community through his work with students."
The award is presented in memory of Quarmby's mentor, Brad Horen who passed way suddenly two years ago.
Horen, from Kelowna, went from sous chef to executive chef, earning his place as one of B.C.'s most talented chefs. He was a successful Chef of the Year, Iron Chef competitor, multi-medalist at the Culinary Olympics and he was a multi-year captain of the Canadian Culinary Team.
"Myself and a few other cooks were trying to figure out what we could do to honour him and what he did for us and our career," Quarmby said.
"We decided that a scholarship at the local college in the cook program would be beneficial to the next generation of cooks."
Mickey will begin working at Betulla Burning next week.
"I'm looking forward to learning, having new experiences and becoming a more well-rounded chef," Mickey said.
