About

KALE & NORI celebrates the collaboration of celebrated industry professionals, Chef Jonathan Chovancek and Mixologist/Sommelier Lauren Mote, with a combined 30 years of professional experience.

OUR MISSION is to build KALE & NORI as a dynamic and diverse leader in the Vancouver food & beverage industry. KALE & NORI is a mission-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for retail food and beverage products, catering and events, while reinforcing a sense of community in our industry.

KALE & NORI is building a business that thrives on the highest standard of customer service; highest level
ethics in how we operate with our staff, suppliers and clients; and the integrity used with each ingredient and product with source and create, thrive equally throughout every branch of our company. Quality, respect and dignity, in everything we do.

We lovingly lend our services to several charitable, non-profit and fundraising initiatives, and are proud to sponsor: Passions – Dr. Peter Centre & Foundation; Growing Chefs!; Cooking for a Cause – David Suzuki Foundation; A Night at the Aquarium – Vancouver Aquarium; The Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association – CPBA; Food Fight, A fundraiser for Chef Owen Lightly.

Kale – Lauren Mote:

Kale & Nori co-owner Lauren Mote has been part of the food and beverage industry for over 13 years, spanning her knowledge and enthusiasm between Toronto and Vancouver. Lauren has devoted her expertise to Le Sélect Bistro, Lumière, Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, Hawksworth Catering, Chow Restaurant and the Refinery. From 2009-2011, Lauren developed over 240 contemporary cocktails using at least 75% homemade products like bitters, vermouths and fermented sodas, several of them winning awards in various competitions. Several of Lauren’s award-winning cocktails are developed using avant-garde mixology, “tasting note” deconstruction, and culinary theory.

Lauren’s dedication to the training and development of apprentice bartenders led her create the Cocktail Kitchen Series (2009 – 2011) and Bittered Sling Bistro (2011 – present), both serve as Vancouver’s largest and longest running cocktail competitions. In addition, Lauren served as the Events Director for the Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association (CPBA founded in 2010), and now sits as Associate Director. Lauren is also a passionate Sommelier and award-winning Mixologist, creating a unique ability to provide an innovative service for all Kale & Nori clients. Lauren continues to shape the way Vancouver consumes cocktails, through her training and consulting programs, as well as her ever-changing client cocktail programs. Lauren is an accomplished writer, having contributed to several local, national and international publications. She is proud to be an event-partner for “Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver” festival, and is a keynote speaker at the “Tales of the Cocktail” 10th anniversary in New Orleans.

Lauren’s current project, “Bittered Sling Extracts” – a retail culinary and cocktail line, is launching as we speak across Canada and USA, and she’s happy to serve as an international spirits diplomat for this Bittered Sling.

Nori – Chef Jonathan Chovancek:

Chef Jonathan Chovancek is the Chef/Owner of Kale & Nori Culinary Arts, with over 18 years experience cooking across Canada in such award-winning, ingredient-driven restaurants as the Relais and Chateaux Aerie Resort, Sooke Harbour House, Eigensinn Farm, Avalon, Zambri’s, and King Pacific Lodge. From 2005-20011 Jonathan was Chef de Cuisine at Culinary Capers, Vancouver’s most prestigious catering company, and responsible for the development and execution of it’s high profile galas and events. During the 2006 and 2008 Olympic Games, Jonathan led culinary teams to Torino and Beijing, respectively, where he earned rave reviews from a discriminating international clientele on both occasions.

Chef Jonathan’s skills were in full force throughout Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games, during a two-week period, serving over 59,000 people at 578 events. Two months later, Jonathan’s food and wine pairing skills won the top prize at the the 2010 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival Vintner’s Brunch. As one of the Canada’s top catering chefs, Chef Jonathan is sought out as an expert speaker and instructor – teaching over 1000 delegates about the catered arts at the Catersource /International Caterers Association conference in Las Vegas and Denver.

2011 saw Chef Jonathan as the expert chef/host on CBC’s ground-breaking documentary, Village on a Diet, which was watched by over a million people weekly from coast-to-coast. Chef Jonathan has contributed recipes to the OceanWise Cookbook, Taste magazine, Wallpaper magazine and CBC’s Live Right Now national campaign for promoting healthy lifestyle. Chef Jonathan is a regularly featured guest on CityTV’s Breakfast Television, Shaw TV’s Urban Rush, CBC’s Steven & Chris Show and the O Network’s Grocery Bags.

Jonathan is proud to be a delegate for “Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver” festival, and is a speaker at the “Tales of the Cocktail” 10th anniversary in New Orleans this summer.

Jonathan’s current project, “Bittered Sling Extracts” – a retail culinary and cocktail line, is launching as we speak across Canada and USA.