Rich Francis is literally on fire in the indigenous culinary world. The chef/owner of The Seventh Fire Hospitality Group has won honors for his approach to native foods and indigenous ingredients that revitalize food and culture.
Born in Yellowknife North West Territories , Canada, Rich’s mother is Haudenosaunee from the Six Nations of Ontario, Canada, and his father is Tetlit Gwich’in from Fort McPherson, NWT. From those roots, Rich has climbed the ladder from the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School in Stratford, Ontario finishing at the top of class and receiving the institute’s award for culinary excellence in 2008 to being one of the Finalists and only First Nations competitor on Season 4 of Top Chef Canada.
Rich, is the co-producer for a new ground-breaking documentary called Red Chef Revival which is a unique travel and food series that will follow Rich Francis on a cross country journey to redefine indigenous cuisine, create a better understanding of pre-colonial Indigenous food systems, and address truth and reconciliation through indigenous foods and the impact of colonization.
Through his work as a chef he has addressed issues that affect First Nation as a whole such as truth and reconciliation, colonization, diabetes, obesity and food sovereignty just to name a few.
His restaurant, a first of its kind destination, The Seventh Fire is slated to open spring of 2018 just in time for the launch of his first cookbook Closing the Gap; Truth and Reconciliation Through Indigenous Foods.
Rich was selected as one of the chefs aboard an icebreaker for the Canada C3 expedition– a 150-day sailing journey via the Northwest Passage and a Signature Project for Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation in 2017
He resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with his wife Melissa and their children