Chef Geoff Only Serves the Best
Get to know the people behind our delicious meals

We hope you had a sizzlin’ summer vacation and to keep things sizzlin’ (in the Kitchen), we would like to welcome Chef Geoffrey Garlinge (aka. Geoff) from SAGE Dining to the Meadowridge Community. Geoff comes to us with over 30 years of experience as a chef! You could say he’s a ‘seasoned’ veteran in the kitchen. He’s been working in the culinary industry since he was 15 years old and his passion for food comes from the knowledge that it’s not always about the act of eating. 

“I care a lot about what I do and the food program here is more important than we realize. Lunchtime is a valuable time for our students to get a break from their classes, they get to see all their friends and socialize and it’s the food that brings us all together,” says Chef Geoff.  

Geoff’s philosophy when it comes to kids and food is using enthusiasm, educating children on the food, and listening to what they say they’re comfortable with trying.

“Don’t push new or healthy foods onto them, instead say ‘this is a really fun dish, it’s really tasty if you try it with this or if you mix it with some of this,’ the energy and excitement you put toward highlighting the dish is infectious to children.”

When asked about what we can expect from the kitchen this school year, he says the menu and recipes are still in the works but rest assured SAGE Dining’s healthy recipes are created under the guidance of registered dieticians, and only the highest quality, sustainable ingredients are used.

For those with dietary concerns, all the recipes in SAGE’s new ‘Top Allergen-Free Meal’ will be free of the top 12 common food allergens. Parents can look at the Freestyle Menu offerings and be confident that students with dietary restrictions will have plenty of safe, tasty, and nutritious options to choose from.

Geoff says he looks forward to sharing his love for food and cooking with everyone and being a part of Meadowridge School. Be sure to give Geoff a toasty welcome when you see him around this year serving up our delicious meals!

Hungry for more Geoff? – Geoff’s Kitchen Secrets

• The top secret ingredient in all of Geoff’s cooking is.. *drum roll* patience! Ever wonder why food always tastes better the next day? Well, Geoff’s got the answer.

“Cooking takes time. As we get older, we get wiser and better at what we do. If we cook something longer, it becomes better – herbs and spices need time to open up their flavours – so be patient, let it cook and let the flavours open up with time.”

• Geoff likes to host dinner parties with his friends at home and he never serves guests the same dishes twice. He keeps a food diary of all the dishes he serves up to his mates and at every mealtime, it’s a different culinary adventure.
• He likes to keep things simple for himself – cheese and salads are his go-to meals.

If you’d like to learn more about food at Meadowridge school, contact Geoff Garlinge.