Garner Quain has been cooking in Canada since the age of 16. He has worked from coast-to-coast in some of Canada’s finest kitchens, including The 5 Diamond Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, (under Gold-Medal Team Canada member Ernst Dorfler), canoe, Tomi Kro , and 10tations Event Planning, as well holding Executive Chef positions with Kindred Spirits and Gibson-Lyle Event Catering in Toronto.

Chef Quain has also worked on some of Canada’s more unique and lesser-known projects; Chef at the oldest operating Lodge in British Columbia, his own catering company under the name ”i, mango”, and perhaps his most notorious personal success, a two-year sold-out run at the legendary Toronto art-bar, The Cameron House (Best Brunch on the West Side, Received 4N’s from Steven Davey, Now Magazine), where he and his crew served brunch to 120 of Toronto’s hippest hipsters every week.

The last five years have taken him to Prince Edward Island, where in Summerside, he and his wife opened a small take-out mussel restaurant. After only six weeks, the little shack made big press in The New York Times, and a big impression on Islanders and visitors alike.

After two seasons and a fistful of accolades, Flex Mussels moved to a 180-seat space on the Charlottetown waterfront, and was again featured in a major New York Times cover piece, “Beckoned by Bivalves”.

In its fourth year, a third location opened in Manhattan, NYC.

Garner has been twice-featured in the New York Times, Occasions magazine, and most recently the July 2009 issue of Canadian Style At Home. He is a member of Slow Food, and his recipes have been included in several cookbooks, including Jill Lambert’s Good Catch: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from Canada's Top Chefs, for The David Suzuki Foundation.

He is an accomplished web developer, photographer, and writer.

Garner is excited to be a part of the Toronto First & Fresh team, and looks forward to being a part of its future growth in Canada.