Mark McCrowe was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland. Growing up around simple Newfoundland dishes using fresh seafood and wild game inspired an appreciation of the city's local style of food and where it comes from. After studying Culinary and Baking and Pastry Arts in British Columbia and working in some of Vancouver's finest kitchens, he returned home to further his own individual style as a chef. He opened his first restaurant, Aqua, at the age of 26 and his second more casual gastro-pub, The Club, at the age of 29. Mark is living his dream, cooking the food he loves to cook and doing it in the place and for the people that mean so much to him. Island Kitchen will be an extension of Mark's love for the island and the food and producers that make it such a special place. Happy Cooking! Sasha Okshevsky is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. He studied Graphic Design at Dawson College in Montreal before returning to his hometown of St. John's, NL. Sasha's artwork has been shown at various locations in the downtown St. John's area including numerous restaurants and galleries and can be found online at his photoblog S.O.D.A. He has a product line of office collateral featuring his artwork which is sold at a variety of retail locations throughout St. John's. Sasha is also a talented cook in his own right having trained and worked under Chef Mark McCrowe at Aqua and The Club for the past decade, as well as bistros throughout Montreal. Sasha enjoys the creative gastro-pub style of cooking he currently practices at The Club and looks forward to sharing Newfoundland's proud culinary traditions inventively re-imagined in Island Kitchen.