Born in 1964, at 60 my background and interests have led me to formally launching Brian’s Table.

I grew up in Trinidad & Tobago, a place I think was the best place to grow up in the 1970s (as it prepared me so much to face the diversity of the greater world), and came to Canada (Southern Ontario) for school in 1980. Hence my identity as a gay, immigrant, mixed-race, Indo-Caribbean Canadian. And with my interests in cuisine, travel and culture, I very much identify as a Global Citizen. An identity that is becoming more common among dual citizens, mixed-race persons and fellow travel enthusiasts.

Growing up gay meant that I did not start being my authentic self until my late 20s. In that time, I had completed my Bachelors and Masters in Economics, and given the influence of growing up with a father who ran an engineering consulting business, I started my career as an Environmental Economist at the beginning of the 1990s. This evolved to a stint in tourism marketing, and a return to some post grad work in Epidemiology, which eventually led me becoming a Marketing Research consultant (what folks call a Data Scientist now) and running my own firm for almost 15 years when the COVID pandemic and a divorce forced me rethink my life and priorities.

While I had a good run over my career - I worked on a lot of the foundational elements of climate change policy and research, economic development and infrastructure planning, had broad recognition in public opinion polling and event/point-of-experience research, and an advisor/pollster to successful political campaigns - I felt it was time to pursue my real passions of cooking, entertaining and travel. Over my traditional working life, I never stopped cooking and I continued to invest in my knowledge through courses (eg., earning my certificate in wine appreciation - WSET3 & ISG2), kitchen equipment and techniques, and hosting epic dinner parties.

Integral to this journey was an appreciation for my health and wellness. As a young, undergrad closet case in the 1980s, I became obese which I fought to become fit in 1987 and stayed so until the early 2000s. While fit, I never paid attention to food I ate. And once I became more entrenched in building my business, my weight ballooned and my associated health risks increased. In 2014, after a crippling back spasm and turning 50, I told myself I have to fix my back and thus began this journey to what has become a new philosophy in my life and the creation of Brian’s Table.

Brian’s Table is born out of the belief that we need to be intentional in how we eat and live, our brain is our most critical organ and whose nourishment and curiosity must me fed, being proactive with our health and fitness is a long term investment, and there exists a community of like minded folks ready to pursue these ideals with gusto and a hint of hedonism. That what makes up being better and growing as a person can also be pleasurable.

At this point, I continue to host a summer pop-up in Ottawa (that started in 2021) that is evolving into a take out business (with my friend Belinda), and host a YouTube channel that captures my travels, my cooking tips and recipes, and wine appreciation. While my plans are to travel a bit over the coming years - where I am planning on taking more cooking courses, creating my content and investing in my skills - my vision is to build this community and bring them along this fun journey an investment in self to live a better life through eating better, staying fit and feeding one’s curiosity. My tagline #TasteTheWorld was born out of this - our planet is a wonderful place and there are so many wonderful people to meet and experiences to have, while appreciating the diversity of cultures, politics and cuisines, that we can be better global citizens sampling all through respectful exposure and appreciation.

I look forward to you tagging along as everyone is welcome to Brian’s Table.