A leading member of Nova Scotia’s chef community, Chef Ray Bear is both an experienced, world class food designer and one of the province’s culinary jewels. In 2005 Chef Bear was named Chef of the Year and Culinarian of the Year for Nova Scotia. Having spent numerous years cooking at establishments around the world, including furthering his education at the Culinary Institute of America and completing stages in top restaurants such as Canoe, Alinea, August, Nobu and Michi, he returned to Halifax a number of years ago to ply his trade. In 2006 Chef Bear led the opening of Gio in the Prince George Hotel and after one year under his leadership it became known as one of the top ten restaurants in Canada. He regularly travels to promote Atlantic Canadian Lobster and other indigenous products. As one of the country’s most talented chefs, in June of 2008 Chef Bear was the Nova Scotia feature of the television show “The Chef’s Domain” which focused on showcasing top chefs from coast to coast who placed particular importance on local ingredients. He has appeared in numerous publications and media outlets and in late 2009 was named one of Canada’s maverick chefs in Tidings Magazine.