About Chef Nick
Nick Benninger was an obstinate kid. When he complained about dinner, his mother said, “If you don’t like it, make it yourself.” Nick did, and he never stopped.
By 16, he had his first cooking job at a summer camp in Northern Ontario. While most kids were happiest running through trees and jumping in lakes, Nick found joy behind simmering pots and sizzling pans. He had found his path.
After attending George Brown College, Nick apprenticed throughout Ontario under some of the province’s finest chefs, building a foundation in classic technique, hospitality and leadership. But he quickly realized he was too inquisitive, too independent and too creative to spend his career following someone else’s vision.
In 2008, alongside his wife Natalie, Nick opened Uptown 21 in Waterloo. It was just the beginning. In 2016 he created The Fat Sparrow Group, opening Taco Farm and reviving Waterloo landmarks Marbles Restaurant and Harmony Lunch. What began as one restaurant grew into a collection of businesses that included catering, a bakery, butcher shop, market stalls and a wholesale food producer, employing more than 220 people.
Always searching for his next adventure, Nick sold The Fat Sparrow Group in 2023 and turned his focus toward creating more meaningful culinary experiences.
Today, Nick is the Culinary Director at The Bruce Hotel, Stratford’s celebrated 5 Diamond boutique hotel. There he creates refined culinary experiences ranging from elegant chef’s tables and luxury dining rooms to intimate fire cooked long table dinners and farm tours. His work reflects the same curiosity and sense of place that has always defined his cooking.
Yet Nick is just as comfortable cooking over open fire in a field, on a farm, or beside a lake. Through his signature “Fire in the Field” experiences and farm-to-table dinners, he has built a reputation for transforming rustic settings into unforgettable meals. Whether in a luxury hotel or around a campfire, Nick has a gift for making people feel welcome, engaged and connected.
That rare ability to move effortlessly between 5 Diamond luxury and fire-cooked food in the wilderness has made Nick not only a respected chef, but a natural host and guide. Curious, engaging and endlessly enthusiastic, he has a talent for connecting people to the places, producers and stories behind a meal.
Nick has appeared on Where to Eat Canada, You Gotta Eat Here! and the independently produced Nick and Taylor Make a Food Show! He is also a writer, consultant and passionate advocate for local food, having championed the farmers and producers of Waterloo Region long before it became fashionable.
Now, as host of Farm to Fork TV, Nick brings together everything he loves most: food, travel, storytelling and discovery. Through the series he explores the people, places and ingredients that shape a region’s culinary identity, inviting viewers to see food not just as something we eat, but as a window into culture, history and community.