About

We are thrilled to welcome Chef Jamie MacAulay as Chef de Cuisine of Drift. With more than 20 years of culinary arts experience across premier hotels and restaurants from coast to coast, Chef Jamie brings a genuine love for local ingredients, a passion for art and design, as well as a commitment to mentorship to our team.

Born and raised in Halifax, Jamie first began cooking alongside his brother while growing up—from simple meat and potatoes to a classic Maritime boiled dinner of corned beef and cabbage. While attending college for multimedia design, Jamie picked up kitchen jobs as a dishwasher or fry cook here and there. It wasn’t until he began spending hours in front of a computer rendering graphics that he realized he was meant for a career that would keep him constantly active and hands-on. With that, Jamie moved out west to begin his culinary journey in earnest. In 2001, he began an apprenticeship in Whistler, British Columbia, under renowned Chef Bernard Casavant, the first chef to represent Canada at the esteemed Bocuse d’Or competition. He would quickly become Chef Jamie’s biggest mentor.

Combining his passion for art and design with cooking, Chef Jamie found he was able to express himself and his creativity in an almost five-dimensional sense. His culinary career blossomed, and he was soon promoted to the role of Chef de Partie of Chef Bernard’s Café and then Sous Chef at Ciao Thyme Bistro. In 2007, Chef Jamie followed Chef Bernard to the lush Okanagan Valley, where they succeeded in bringing terroir-inspired cuisine to Burrowing Owl Estate Winery. At the advice of his mentor, Chef Jamie spent the next several years honing his skills at some of Vancouver’s top hotels, including Fairmont Waterfront and Butcher Market by Jean-George at Shangri-La. On the side, he spent time as a culinary instructor at Vancouver Community College, teaching practical cooking skills to student chefs.

In 2012, Chef Jamie made the decision to return to his roots and settle down in Nova Scotia. He landed a Sous Chef position at the fine-dining-focused Fid Resto, which earned a spot on Maclean’s 50 Best Restaurants in Canada list. It was there that Jamie learned from Fid chef-owner Dennis Johnston and sushi chef Yoshi Suzuki how to make authentic hand-crafted ramen. Having initially fallen in love with ramen out west, Jamie enthusiastically immersed himself in the art of handmade noodles. Several years later, Chef Jamie and his wife opened Water & Bone in Halifax’s North End, offering a local spin on traditional ramen. Now known as Coda Ramen, they quickly developed a loyal local following as well as garnered national attention when celebrity chef Matty Matheson hailed Coda as his favourite ramen shop in Canada.

Now, as Chef Jamie shifts his attention to helming the kitchen at Drift, he is excited to tell Nova Scotia’s story through food. Working closely with local fishers, farmers, foragers and suppliers, Chef Jamie looks forward to showcasing ingredients that he feels deserve more of a spotlight, such as the region’s beautiful variety of seaweeds, small fish and urchin. As well, he is eager to play a role in teaching, developing and mentoring Nova Scotia’s next generation of great chefs.

When he’s not in the Drift kitchen, Jamie can often be found teaching his six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son how to snowboard, surf or, of course, cook.