Perera credits his success to his motherland where he learned the art of hospitality. He realized his culinary passion at a very tender age while working with his mother inside their home kitchen in Sri Lanka. (Pictures by Mahesh Abeyewardene)
Yorkville is considered to be the most high-end district in Canada, home to the most expensive stores, and an exclusive area regularly frequented by top celebrities. At the heart of the district is the hotel InterContinental Toronto Yorkville where Sri Lankan-born Christopher Perera is the Executive Chef.
Chef Perera grows herbs, chili peppers, tomatoes, edible flowers, spring onions in the hotel rooftop garden.
Perera credits his success to his motherland where he learned the art of hospitality. He realized his culinary passion at a very tender age while working with his mother inside their home kitchen in Sri Lanka. A young and motivated chef, Perera graduated from the Culinary Hotel management at Ceylon hotel school Colombo where he first realized his gastronomic talent. The art of creatively combining flavours came naturally. He began his apprenticeship shortly after his graduation and started to work in various hotels including Mount Lavania Hotel in Sri Lanka, the Bandos Resort in the Maldives Islands, and Hotel Intercontinental in the U.A.E.
Christopher Perera Executive Chef InterContinental Toronto Yorkville on the hotel rooftop overlooking the city skyline.
Since this time, Perera has been making a name for himself in the industry by promoting his techniques through cooking demonstrations across Ontario. In 2000, he received the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville’s “Manger of the Year” award in recognition of his hard work and passion for excellence.
Left: Rare item, grilled jumbo black tiger shrimp served with romesco sauce. Center: Pintxo (northern Spanish term for snack), Calamari a la Plancha with caramelized onion. Right: Another Pintxo, European seabass with mushroom, garlic, sherry vinegar.
Through his career span, he mostly worked for IHG properties, in Colombo, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. He also spent some time at New Orleans “Three Michelin Star” training with some of the world’s most recognizable Chefs.
Left: Main Dish - ‘Market Fresh Seafood Risotto’ made with market selection of fresh seafood cooked in Arborio rice and finished with Parmigiano Reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. Right: Another Main - 'Black Angus Beef Tenderloin made to represent bourguignon celery root puree, sautéed kale and a garnish of bacon, mushrooms, sautéed grapes with roasted cipollini.
Christopher Perera has a passion for excellence.
Today, Perera draws on culture, ethnicity and tradition for inspiration and makes his multicultural hometown of Toronto his muse. Perera’s ability to take a traditional recipe, preserve the integrity of its ingredients and simultaneously discover ways to evolve the dish to the next level is one of his many strengths in the kitchen.
Perera believes that there are no limits when cooking and that the key ingredients to formulating each dish are passion, creativity, experimentation and fun.
