Absolutely not.  Nor is ChefDb a restaurant review site, a wiki or a blog.  The Chef and Restaurant Database is an ongoing project to document the names of chefs, restaurateurs and restaurants from around the world, both past and present.  Chef profile pages list the establishments where the individual has worked; restaurant profile pages list individuals who have worked or currently work at the establishment.  All of the information is cross-referenced, making it easy to navigate between people, places, cities and regions. The information on this site has not previously been collected in a central repository, and hundreds of new entries are coming online every week.

My name is Brian Will and I'm the 'proprietor' of ChefDb.  I was born and raised in Toronto and spend my days working in the Marketing department at a large Canadian law firm.  The idea for ChefDb came about in 2003 when I was living in Edinburgh, Scotland and began to keep track of the, ahem, many bars I visited around the U.K. and Europe.  With an existing interest in food, drink, restaurants and Web development, I created a simple Web page to record the places I visited and the names of anyone I knew who worked there.  This idea soon gave rise to The Toronto Chef and Restaurant Database, created from my flat in the shadows of Edinburgh Castle.

The focus of the original database was primarily historical Toronto chef and restaurants from the 1960's through the 1980's (I guess I was feeling homesick or nostalgic ... or both).  In 2004 I moved back to Toronto and enlisted the help of my father George - a retired Professor at the University of Toronto - to assist in maintaining and growing the database.  After opening up the site to chefs and restaurants from around the world in the summer of 2005, the site was re-named The Chef and Restaurant Database.

• Any position in the kitchen of an established restaurant ... this is ChefDb, after all;
• Senior front of the house restaurant positions (Manager, Sommelier, Maitre 'd, etc);
• Owners, partners, executives, officers, directors of restaurants or restaurant groups;
• Consultants are eligible if the consulting services pertain to the food, menu, site and/or venue. Design consultants may be listed if the firm or individual is the designer of record for the restaurant, in which case the name is mentioned below the restaurant name (as "Designed by ... "). Other consultants (Web design, marketing, financial, legal etc.) are not eligible for inclusion;
• Host/Server/bartender/busser/dishwasher positions are only eligible if the individual has since moved into a more senior FOH position, a BOH role or ownership/partnership in a restaurant;
• Culinary students are eligible for listing if they are associated with a restaurant in an internship or externship capacity;
• Foodservice distributors, importers, recruiters and agents are encouraged to become contributing members of ChefDb, however these positions are not eligible for listing in our database.

It's easy.  Provided you meet our criteria for inclusion (see above), you only need to:

1. Create an account with ChefDb by selecting the 'Join ChefDb' link from the home page;
2. Wait for the auto-reply email and click on the activation link in this email to activate your account;
3. Submit your information by selecting the 'Add Record' button from the top navigation menu.

We'll take care of the rest!

Select the button on the left-hand side of the page you want to change.  This button is found under the heading 'Options'.

You must be registered and logged in before you can submit updates or corrections to existing listings.

It is our policy not to remove legitimate listings from ChefDb profiles or to delete profiles in their entirety.  If you believe any profile information is inaccurate, please login and use the online tools to suggest a correction.

Select the   button found in the top menu bar on every page and follow the on-screen instructions.

You must be registered and logged in before you can upload your resume or suggest new records.

Information is usually posted within 3-5 days but if it's particularly busy, there could be a longer delay.

Please note that if you choose to upload your resume to ChefDb (instead of using the online submission form), the resume must include all of the required information for each position, namely:

• Employer's name
• City
• Position held
• Starting year
• Ending year

Sorry, but we are not able to follow-up with individuals who submit incomplete resumes and/or insufficient information.

To create an account with ChefDb, click on "Join ChefDb" from the home page and submit all of the required information.  After submitting the registration form you will receive an "auto-reply" email with an activation link. You will not be able to log into your account until you click on the activation link.

Your personal email address stays with you regardless of where you're working, so if you need to request a new password from ChefDb, we can be sure to send it to an active email address.

The activation email is sent by an automated process at the time your registration form is received.  Most emails are sent and received almost immediately, but depending on email traffic there may be a delay of several hours, so be patient.  If your email client or host use anti-spam filters, check your spam or junk mailboxes to see if the email has been flagged as spam.

To change your password or member profile information (email, resident city, education, etc.), log into your account and select the 'Member Services' link from the top-right portion of the ChefDb homepage.

This message means you've either typed in the wrong username, the wrong password or that you have not activated your account with ChefDb.  If you have not activated your account with ChefDb, please click on the link in the confirmation email you received from ChefDb at the time you registered.  If you have activated your account and you're sure you haven't made any typos when entering your username and password, the best thing to do is request a new password from the "Forgotten Password" page.  If you no longer have access to the email account on file with ChefDb, please let us know by submitting the form on our feedback page and we'll sort it out.

You can request a new password from the Forgotten Password page.   If you no longer have access to the email account on file with ChefDb, let us know by submitting the form on our feedback page and we'll sort it out.

When you request a new password from ChefDb, an automated process sends you a temporary password, along with your user account name.  Most emails are sent and received almost immediately, but depending on email traffic there may be a delay of several hours, so be patient.  If your email client or host use anti-spam filters, check your spam or junk mailboxes to see if the email has been flagged as spam.  If you no longer have access to the email account on file with ChefDb, please let us know by submitting the form on our feedback page.

If you are a registered member with an existing ChefDb profile, you can now include a link to your member profile page.  Your member profile page includes additional information about yourself not found in your ChefDb profile.  The content of your member profile page is maintained by you and can include:
A personal bio, written by you A headshot photo Your full resume A link to your personal Web site Personal contact information Continue reading the FAQ for further information.   View some sample member profile postings: ·  Dominique Crenn ·  Ian Thomson ·  Joanne Lusted ·  Brian MacAskill ·  Jeff Crump	Click the image to see a sample member profile Your member profile page includes a personal bio written by you, your picture, contact information and a link to your full resume.

A button called "View Profile" will appear on your ChefDb profile page (see image below). 

By default, your ChefDb profile page does not include the "View Profile" button.  You must edit your member profile settings to place the button on your ChefDb profile page.

   Click the image to enlarge

A link to your member profile page will appear on your ChefDb profile page.

Log into your account and select the 'Member Services' link from the ChefDb homepage, then select 'Edit your member profile'.

When editing your member profile, you can decide whether or not to display the member profile button on your ChefDb profile page, as well as which elements to make visible to the public (address, phone number, resume, photo, etc.).

Member profiles can only be viewed by selecting the "View Member Profile" button on a ChefDb profile page.

Your personal bio is a great opportunity to sell yourself, so write anything you wish (except for profanity or slanderous comments, of course!).

Log into your account and select the 'Member Services' link from the homepage, then select 'Edit your member profile'.  From there you can upload your photo or resume to ChefDb.

Photos are accepted in JPEG/JPG or PNG format.  Resumes are accepted in Microsoft Word, RTF, PDF or WordPerfect format.

You can submit a photo as large as you wish (to a maximum of 200,000 KB), however all photos must be at least 250 pixels wide and 375 pixels tall, as shown by the blue area below.  The photo appearing on your member profile page will be re-sized to approximately 120 pixels wide by 180 pixels tall.

Please try to submit a photo with an aspect ratio of 1:1.5 - in other words a "portrait" photo that is 1.5 times taller than it is wide.  A photo with these dimensions will prevent us from cropping any of your picture to fit it on your member profile page.

As soon as your photo is approved and re-sized by a ChefDb editor, it will appear on your member profile page.  Assuming there are no problems with your photo submission, this will generally take up to 24 hours.  We will contact you if there are concerns regarding the photo you have submitted.

All member profile content is hidden by default. You must select the 'Show' radio button next to the information you wish to appear on your member profile page (see the red arrows below).

Edit your member profile and select the 'Hide' radio button next to your photo and/or resume.  This will prevent these elements from appearing on your member profile page.  Uploading a new photo or resume will automatically overwrite your existing photo/resume.

ChefDb originally focused on historical chef and restaurant listings.  As such, the database initially grew based on "homegrown" research conducted by ChefDb editors in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites and from information gathered through acquaintances.  No online submissions were accepted from the chef and restaurant community.  Today, approximately 65% of new database listings are derived from such research, conducted primarily in several major newspapers offering online, subscription-based archives dating back several decades. So, even today, most of the information posted to ChefDb is already publicly available on the Internet.

In an effort to grow ChefDb beyond a historical source of information, we began to offer a registration and submission process in January 2005, allowing chefs and restaurateurs the opportunity to submit a profile of their career.  Although information submitted in this manner is carefully vetted, we don't have the time (or the ability) to independently verify every submission made to the site.  We simply ask that those submitting information do so with good intentions and include a source or reference if possible.  If we have questions regarding submissions made to ChefDb (as we often do), we will contact the submitter or use other resources to verify the information.

A considerable effort is made to provide accurate information, but there is no guarantee regarding the accuracy or completeness for any particular listing.  To suggest additions or corrections to the database, please use the online tools as outlined in the ChefDb FAQ.

Visit our Statistics page for a running count of our current data.

Determining the position or title of an individual can often times be difficult.  We are sensitive to the fact that some individuals will be identified with the wrong title.  This is usually a result of conflicting, incomplete, or incorrect reference information.  Below are the general guidelines with respect to position descriptions.

Chef or Executive Chef

The individual is specifically identified in reviews, articles or other reference material as being "the Chef" or Executive Chef of the establishment. This may or may not be the person responsible for the day-to-day cooking and may actually be the Sous Chef or Chef de Cuisine.  In some cases the individual could also be the owner or co-owner of the restaurant, although he or she is not specifically identified as such in available references.

Other titles (e.g. Owner, Co-owner, Sommelier, Maitre d', Manager)

The individual is specifically identified in our sources as having this title.  This person may have had other roles at the restaurant, but the position listed is the only one identified in our references.

No title listed (i.e.'--')

A title of '--' indicates the individual's specific role is not known.  Our references will usually indicate the individual is "a veteran of such kitchens as Canoe and Auberge du Pommier" or that "Chef Smith spent 1989 to 1991 at Centro."   We have no information to support a title of any sort for these listings.

Unless the individual him/herself has personally submitted their profile to ChefDb, the process of assembling a "complete" profile for a chef can be extremely time-consuming.  A chef's profile is often developed over a period of weeks, months or even years, using small pieces of information gathered from various sources.  As there can be a great deal of speculation with respect to years of employment or ownership, the styles below are being used to manage the inevitable uncertainties.

Style	Description	Meaning
xxxx - Present	Any year - Present	At the time of our last update for this individual, he or she was still working at this establishment and is believed to have started in the year indicated.
2000 - 2005	Black font	One or more sources indicate the individual worked at this establishment during this specific time period.
[2000 - 2005]	[Bracketed]	The duration specified is known for certain, however the individual may have occupied this position before and/or after these years.
--	Dashes	No specific years of employment are known.

The year listed underneath the restaurant's address is the year the restaurant opened to the public.  The year listed next to the individual's name is the year they became involved in the project.  Owners, Executive Chefs and key management almost always have an association with a project long before the restaurant opens to the public, which accounts for the difference in years.

Surprisingly (at least to us), this question has been asked several times.  The very short answer is no.  While we appreciate the interest, ChefDb is still a part-time hobby and we simply don't have the time to delve into bulk distribution of the data.

ChefDb uses the Google "API" (Application Programming Interface) to deliver Google maps for all of our listings.  The Google API method automates the process by allowing us to retrieve the relevant map directly from Google at the time you click on the restaurant's address. 

We previously maintained Google map coordinates in the ChefDb database which meant gathering the information was a time-consuming and manual process that left many establishments without a map.  Although there are some differences and even inaccuracies with this new method (we once found a restaurant located in the middle of the Irish Sea!), we're pleased with the overall results.  If you happen to spot any obvious inaccuracies with a particular map, please let us know.

Assuming the individual is even a registered member of ChefDb, member contact information is confidential so we cannot provide this information.  If the chef has elected to display his/her Member Profile, there will be a link on the profile page to "View Member Profile".  Another alternative is to contact the establishment where the individual works.

We don't know any more about an individual than what is currently listed on his/her profile page.  As soon as we know, you'll know.  Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay on top of new additions to the database.

We read every message sent to us, however we are not able to provide personalized responses to to questions that have already been answered on this FAQ page.  Thanks for understanding.