Joe's journey
My name is Joe Thottungal. I am a Canadian chef, born and raised in Kerala, south India. My culinary journey has taken me from cooking school in Chennai to kitchen work in Mumbai, Saudi Arabia, Toronto, and Windsor before I settled in Ottawa in 2002. Together with my chef de cuisine, Rajesh Gopi, and my brothers Majoe and Thomas, I opened Coconut Lagoon in 2004 and then our second restaurant, Thali, in 2018.
I was honoured to be named Ottawa Chef of the Year in 2008. My Coconut Lagoon team and I have won gold, silver, and bronze medals at both the regional and national cooking competitions of the Canadian Culinary Championships. I am also extremely proud to be the culinary director of the Ottawa charity, Food for Thought, and to have received an Outstanding Individual Philanthropist Award and a United Way Community Builder Award in 2020 “for the work were doing in addressing food insecurity in the city”. In 2022 I received the Order of Ottawa and an honorary degree from Algonquin College, where I occasionally teach classes. I share these honour with the extraordinary team I have the pleasure to work with at Food for Thought. I am the author of Coconut Lagoon, Recipes from a South Indian Kitchen (Figure 1, 2019) and have a second cookbook, My Thali, due to be published in 2023.
Milestones
1998
Started my culinary journey at the kitchens of Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Canada
2001
Bronze at Lindt Chocolate Competition, Toronto
2003
Became Certified Chef De Cuisine in Canada
2004
Birth of Coconut Lagoon Restaurant
2008
Ottawa Chef of the Year
2014
10 years of Coconut Lagoon
2014
First Culinary tour to Kerala
2014
Taste and Travel Magazine
2015
Bronze at Gold Medal Plates Ottawa
2016
Gold at Gold Medal Plates Ottawa
2017
Silver at Canadian Culinary Championships, Kelowna
2017
Sandwich Sovereign of Ottawa
2017
Seafood Champion
2017
Chef at Canada’s Table
2018
Birth of Thali Restaurant
2019
15th Anniversary of Coconut Lagoon
2019
Launch of Coconut Lagoon Cookbook
2020
Community Builder Award
2020
Order of Ottawa
2020
Individual Philanthropist Award
2020
Gold for Coconut Lagoon Cookbook at Taste Canada
2021
Honorary degree from Algonquin College
2021
Volunteer Award
2021
Cooked at National Arts Centre Ottawa
2022
Reopened Coconut Lagoon Restaurant
2022
Recipient of Queen Elizabeth ll platinum jubilee award
2022
News maker of the year 2022 by Ottawa business journal and ottawa board of trade
Jeo
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