About Awn

The Awn Story

Welcome to Awn Kitchen! The story of Awn Kitchen started in 2015 when I, Kaelin went off to the countryside of Ireland just outside of Cork city to a very special place called Ballymaloe Cookery School. I was following passion and a desire to be more connected to food, but little did I know it would also root me deeply in a philosophy that wound be the foundation of my future business. I never intended that I’d work in food, a commercial kitchen wasn’t something that excited me. You can read more about my time in Ireland here.

Awn Kitchen started out as a small home-based business in July 2015 called the Ruby Apron. After culinary school I had a dream to bring people together around food. I knew little about running a business but was fortunate to have parents that supported my dream and I was able to start a cooking school out of their house. I have always said my philosophy is simple – I believe good food should be part of everyone’s life, I believe cooking is something we can all enjoy, I believe in the value of sharing a meal together. Food brings people together, it connects us in so many ways – to one another, to ourselves, to producers, to soil. It tells stories, it is weaved into so many aspects of our life, and it’s the start of so many wonderful moments. These are the values that hold our workshop space together.

The Ruby Apron continued as a home-based business, and I was able to build a brand and a business that was bursting and the size of kitchen and home-based business model was something I was out growing. A very fortunate place to be as a food business. In 2018 I started the conversation about expanding – asking all the questions and looking for a commercial space. In late 2019 I rebranded to Awn Kitchen with the announcement that I was expanding in 2020. Early 2020 was all about dreaming and planning, we all know what happened next, a global pandemic.

I really didn’t think my business would survive, let alone expand, but in late 2020 I signed the lease and the build started. It was go time, Awn Kitchen In Lansdowne was becoming a reality! When I first started thinking about expanding, I wanted to offer more, a café and workshop space that were connected. The café and workshop opened at the end of June 2021. The end of 2019 to opening the space in Lansdowne brought lots of change and growth for Awn, the workshop space became busier than ever. With changes planned for the building we call home sometime in the future I made the tough decision at the end of 2023 to close the café and put my entire focus back to my passion – teaching. You can read more about the decision to close the café here and you can learn more about our workshop and class offerings here.

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you in a workshop soon. Have a question? Get in touch!

Meet Kaelin (Owner + Educator)

I went to university late after taking time off to work and travel and decide what I really wanted to do “for the rest of my life.” At that time there was a transfer program from Macewan to the University of Alberta in Education. Part way through the program I realized teaching wasn’t want I wanted to do. While finishing at university, I was working for a custom home builder part time as their sales manager. After reading about this incredible culinary school in Ireland in a small village called Shanagarry in Co. Cork, I headed to check it out while on a trip to the UK. It wasn’t long after seeing the school in person that I signed up for their twelve-week course. Taking a leave of absence from work. The course was meant as way to follow my passion and learn – not with an end goal of working in food. Funny how things work out, the course rooted the philosophy and values of this business. After returning to Edmonton in 2015, it wasn’t long before I started to teach cooking classes out of my home. Remember how I said I didn’t want to teach or work in food? Funny how life works out, isn’t it?

A few fun facts about me:

• I never thought I’d own a business, if you’d told me I’d be here today a decade ago, I would have chuckled and said, “no way!”
• I love to travel and have been to the UK more times than I can count
• The people in the kitchen who influence me are mostly women, and many are women I know, and all of whom have shown me the importance of valuing ingredients, cooking from scratch and bringing people together in the kitchen
• I love all things wool and linen, have a huge scarf collection and an equally large apron collection
• I despise raw tomatoes, but grow enough to feed a small village (those tomatoes end up in delicious things at Awn)
• I love Birkenstocks
• I think learning is something we should all value more, I feel the same way about making mistakes
• One of my most favourite things to do is hang my washing on the line – I have even been known to trudge through the snow to do so
• My niece and nephew are two of my favourite people to spend time with in the kitchen
• I love local beer
• I don’t think there is a meal that beats a perfect roast chicken dinner and I think soup is the humblest of all foods
• My favourite mountain park is Jasper!