Chef Noel Cunningham: Caribbean Cuisine for Canada

There is a moment in every cook’s life when the food on the plate becomes about more than what is being served. It becomes memory, identity and a way of telling a story. For Chef Noel Cunningham, that story began in his mother’s kitchen in Kingston, Jamaica, on Sundays spent watching, asking questions and eventually experimenting with food for his family.

That curiosity has carried him far beyond that kitchen. Cunningham has become a familiar face on Canadian television, as well as an author, entrepreneur, caterer and advocate for Caribbean food and culture.

Chef Noel Cunningham in black chef whites, smiling and holding a plated Caribbean dish

Since his last feature in The Canada Magazine in 2023, Cunningham’s career has expanded significantly.

His growing influence has also earned national recognition. In 2024, Cunningham was named one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards recipients, recognizing his achievements and contributions since arriving in Canada. In 2025, he was named one of the Top 20 Trailblazers by the Canadian Global Awards.

His television work now includes CTV Your Morning, CP24, Global News Morning, Breakfast Television and CHCH TV. Most recently, he served as a judge on Season 4 of Maggi Food Court, a culinary competition broadcast throughout the Caribbean, returning his expertise to the region where his culinary journey began.

Yet the accolades are not what define his progress. For Cunningham, the significant change has been realizing that his career is bigger than the kitchen.

“Earlier in my career, I was focused on establishing myself as a chef. I wanted to prove that I belonged,” he says. “Today, I’m much more interested in the impact I can make, the people I can inspire, and the opportunities I can create through my work.”

That shift is evident in the many ways Cunningham now tells stories through food. Through Cuisine by Noel, his catering and private dining company, he creates elevated culinary experiences that showcase Caribbean flavours. Television, publishing, culinary events and brand partnerships have allowed him to take those flavours and stories to a wider audience.

At the centre of it all, however, is Jamaica.

Chef Noel Cunningham plating food with tongs at a festival cooking demonstration

Cunningham’s Jamaican upbringing continues to shape his cooking and his understanding of what food can represent. The meals he watched his mother prepare were an early lesson in the connection between food, family and heritage. Those Sundays in the kitchen sparked a curiosity that would eventually become a career. That perspective continues to guide his work today.

“It carries our memories. It carries our history. It carries our family,” he says. “When I cook Jamaican food, I’m not just cooking a recipe. I’m telling you something about where I come from.”

His Canadian experience has not diminished that connection. Instead, it has given him room to develop a culinary identity that reflects both sides of his journey. That evolution matters to him.

“I’m still deeply Jamaican,” Cunningham says. “Jamaica is the foundation of who I am as a chef, but Canada has allowed me to evolve. My cooking today reflects both where I come from and where I am.”

That evolution is also central to the way he approaches Caribbean cuisine. Too often, he believes, Caribbean food in the Canadian mainstream has been narrowed to a familiar list of dishes. Jerk chicken, rice and peas and oxtail are important, but they represent only a small part of a larger culinary story.

Caribbean cuisine is shaped by history, migration, Indigenous traditions, African influences and generations of global exchange. For Cunningham, sharing that story does not mean changing the food to make it more acceptable to a Canadian audience. It means allowing people to recognize the sophistication that has always been there.

“It’s not about making Caribbean food fancy,” he says. “It’s about showing people how sophisticated Caribbean food already is.”

A bowl of braised meat with plantain, sweet peppers and sliced green onion

Cunningham is exploring the possibilities within familiar Caribbean ingredients, including plantain, cassava, coconut, sweet potato, tropical fruits, Scotch bonnet, sorrel, spices and seafood.

A fillet of fish topped with pickled vegetables on a pale sauce dotted with herb oil

The goal is to build on tradition.

“I don’t want to simply recreate the food I grew up eating,” he explains. “I want to take those flavours, memories, and techniques and tell the story of where I came from through the food I create today.”

Traditional dishes can remain meaningful while new interpretations introduce those flavours to people who may be experiencing them for the first time.

“There is so much more to Caribbean food than jerk chicken, rice and peas, and oxtail,” he says. “Those dishes are important, but they are only part of the story.”

His appearances at events such as the Toronto Food & Drink Festival give him an opportunity to bring that message directly to Canadian food lovers. He wants diners to approach Caribbean cuisine with curiosity and fresh eyes.

“I want people to experience Caribbean food with fresh eyes,” he says. “The flavours can be familiar, but the experience can still surprise you.”

Cunningham’s first cookbook, Cuisine by Noel: A Culinary Journey Through Recipes and Stories, established his voice as a chef who uses recipes to preserve and share culture.

Now he is bringing that same sense of discovery to a younger audience with his upcoming children’s book, My Sunday Kitchen: How One Boy’s Curiosity Cooked Up a Dream. The book traces his journey from a curious boy in Kingston, Jamaica, to becoming a professional chef.

“I wanted children to see that curiosity can become a career,” Cunningham says. “That little boy in my mother’s kitchen had no idea where cooking would take him. I want young people to understand that their interests, their imagination, and the things they’re curious about can become part of their future.”

The book returns Cunningham to the Sunday kitchen where his culinary curiosity began. It reflects how he now views his role: as someone who can encourage others to imagine what is possible.

“If I can inspire another child to believe that they can turn their curiosity into a dream, then that means something to me.”

A slice of dark chocolate cake with a yellow macaron, fresh fruit and edible flowers

Looking ahead, Cunningham’s ambitions extend beyond growing his own career. He continues to build Cuisine by Noel, expand his television and publishing work, and create new culinary experiences. At the same time, he wants to create opportunities for the next generation of Caribbean chefs, entrepreneurs and storytellers.

That responsibility is rooted in his experience of building a career in Canada without leaving his identity behind.

“I came to Canada with my skills, my dreams, and my Jamaican identity,” he says. “I’ve been able to build something here without having to leave any of that behind.”

He is not choosing between being Jamaican and being Canadian. He is showing what can happen when both identities are allowed to influence the same table.

“My roots will always be Jamaica,” he says. “But Canada is where I’ve built my career, and I want to contribute to the culinary landscape of this country in a meaningful way.”

Shrimp in a rich red sauce with fried plantain rounds and edible flowers

His own measure of success has changed along the way. “I’ve gone from asking myself, ‘How do I become a successful chef?’ to asking, ‘What do I want to be known for?’”

Cunningham wants his work to broaden the way Caribbean cuisine is understood, experienced and celebrated in Canada, while helping create space for others to tell their stories, too.

From his mother’s kitchen in Kingston to television studios, Canadian food festivals, culinary stages in Jamaica and kitchens around the globe, his journey continues. The table has grown considerably since those Sunday afternoons in Jamaica.

And Cunningham is still setting it—one story, one dish and one new generation at a time.

Find out more about Chef Noel: www.iamchefnoel.com