December 7, 2011 – Three School of Hospitality and Tourism grads have cooked up a way to travel the world and indulge in international culinary adventures thanks to advice they heard at SAIT. 

“On the first day of our Professional Cooking program, our instructor, Chef Peter Schuster, said to our class, ‘once you have your chef ticket you can work anywhere in the world,’ ” says Clayton Klyne (PCAP ’02). “That got me really excited. I knew that’s what I wanted to do once I graduated.”

After working as chefs for several years in kitchens around the world the three grads, Clayton, his twin brother Chad and their best friend Lyndon Wiebe came up with a concept for a travel and cooking television show. They would travel to an exotic area of the globe, spend each episode sampling local cuisine and learning how to cook specialty dishes native to the region.

The idea took off and they are now the successful producers, directors and stars of , Chefs Run Wild, which airs on the Travel and Escape channel. The show has already been picked up for its second season and worldwide distribution is set to begin February 2012.

“At first we wanted to learn about food and teach the viewers about various dishes, but it’s become more about teaching ourselves and the viewers about different cultures,” says Clayton Klyne. “Food brings people together — the simple aspect of cooking food with a family in their own kitchen breaks down any cultural barriers.”

The first season showcases the trio traveling through Southeast Asia. The show is not for the faint of heart. Possessing what can only be described as guts of steel, the group learned how to cook and eat such delicacies as cobra heart, a whole lizard and balut — a duck embryo.

During the six-month trip through Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China they went off the beaten path to find the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants, food stalls and carts so they could learn more about the food.

“We try to find a restaurant or food stall that has the best of whatever local cuisine we’re looking for. If there’s a language barrier we use sign language to get into the kitchen.

“We’ll watch them cook the dish and then we try it for ourselves. We don’t have big scary video cameras and a huge crew; it’s just the three of us — one person holding the camera, one holding the microphone and one cooking — so it’s not an intimidating situation for our hosts.”

Clayton Klyne credits his time at SAIT with building a strong foundation for pursuing a career as a chef internationally.

“It’s so important to learn the basic techniques in a cooking program like SAIT. It’s that foundation that makes chefs who they are. SAIT played a huge role in shaping my career.”

 The next stop for Chefs Run Wild will be a journey to Africa where they will document their travel and cooking experiences for the show’s sophomore season.

As he prepares to head off to another exotic locale, Klyne says he and his best friends, Chad and Lyndon, couldn’t be happier that they took Chef Schuster’s words to heart.

“We used our education to cook around the world and it’s just been the best thing we could have done. It’s been such a learning experience, not just for cooking, but learning about ourselves.”

The show airs on Tuesday nights on the Travel and Escape channel. Full episodes can also be viewed on the specialty channel’s website.

SAIT Polytechnic is one of Canada’s most exciting destinations for post-secondary education, offering more than 100 career programs that position people for success in technology, trades and business. A leader in innovation, SAIT also collaborates with industry on applied research and delivers corporate training worldwide. SAIT is a member of Polytechnics Canada and one of Alberta’s Top 50 Employers for 2011.

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