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Meet Devan Cameron Founder of Braised & Deglazed

April 14, 2022
4 mins read
Devan Cameron Founder of Braised & Deglazed
Devan Cameron Founder of Braised & Deglazed

Devan Cameron, a chef, and trained chef, have over 15 years of experience in the hospitality business in Canada, Italy, France, France, and the Netherlands.

Growing up in Canada, he was passionate about cooking and attended George Brown College for Hospitality Management for three years.

He also attended La Scuola Internzionale di Cucina Italiana while he was at the college.

After returning to Canada, he worked at Woodlot and One Restaurants in Toronto.

He was trusted to cook celebrity meals for Madonna, Drake, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He spent almost two years in France and met his girlfriend.

He later moved to Paris to pursue his passion for cooking and was offered a job at the Michelin-starred Frenchie Restaurant.

Later, he moved to Maastricht in the Netherlands, where he lives.

Covid-19 made his restaurant close for business hours. He used the extra time to start his online side business.

Braised and Deglazed is his online business. It features chef-curated recipes and guides, as well as how-to’s, that are aimed at inspiring and helping home chefs.

Devan returned to Canada and worked at Woodlot and One Restaurant.

He was trusted to cook celebrity meals for Madonna, Drake, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

What is the story of the Braised & Deglazed?

After many years of working in restaurants, I decided to find a job that would allow me to better balance work and family.

My passion for cooking was not lost, and I started getting requests from my family and friends for recipe ideas.

I was fed up seeing poor-quality recipes on Google. I knew I could do better than what was available.

How do you stay productive?

COVID-19 has forced my restaurant to close. I no longer have a typical workday.

Here’s what my day looks like now that restaurants are only open for take-out…

I get up at 6:15 am to make a strong cup of coffee.

I check my social media accounts and go through my e-mails, looking for answers to any questions about my website.

After the caffeine kicks in, I get up and do my workout.

Then, I shower, have breakfast with my girlfriend, and go to work.

Then I tackle the enormous amount of work I have planned for my blog.

This could include photo editing, writing, social media scheduling, keyword research, and planning the month’s workflow.

I finish my day at work by going to my restaurant and preparing the take-out order for the day.

After work, I ride my bike home and go for a run with my girlfriend.

We eat dinner together, and then I spend about an hour browsing websites.

We then watch a bit of Netflix and maybe have a glass of wine before calling it quits.

​How do you bring ideas to life?​

I meticulously write everything down as it comes. The article/recipe is then checked with Ahrefs.

I want to make sure it is worth my time. If it is, I immediately start testing the recipe.

This idea is then entered into my calendar for several weeks.

Once I have the recipe, I try it several times and then edit the photos.

Then I start writing the recipe when I can. I finish most articles in my spare time on weekends.

What’s your favorite trend?

Food technology and food sustainability are exciting to me.

This could be anything, from new vegan recipes to lab-grown meats to new varieties of food.

Or any other new technology that makes food more sustainable.

Even though I am not vegan, I enjoy making vegan dishes.

It’s a challenge. While any chef can add lots of butter to a word to make it taste great, making food without meat or dairy is difficult.

The Noma team is doing a great job finding new flavors and ways to make food more delicious.

They are trying out fermenting unconventional ingredients, and they have created some fantastic things.

Incredibly, there are so many delicious things out there.

​What habits make you productive?

Fear of failure and self-motivation. To make my dreams come true, I must work hard.

I learned how hard work is essential for success in the restaurant business.

What’s your advice for the Noob?

Reduce stress and worry. I was worried about the future, and it would have been much easier if my future self had told me that life would be outstanding after 30.

What is one thing we can all agree on?

Radiohead is overrated

​What do you recommend as an entrepreneur?

Workout. Although it is not always exciting, it has helped me manage my stress.

Restaurant work is often stressful, especially for those who work in high-end restaurants.

You can only survive in this industry if you have a way of managing stress.

My former gym habit was to exercise, but Covid made it impossible.

Although I didn’t enjoy jogging, my girlfriend loved it enough to convince me to give it another try.

It has been a lifesaver during my lockdown. And most importantly, it helps me stay positive and mentally healthy.

I had to step out of my comfort zone and was rewarded with a new hobby.

What’s your rich strategy?

Quality is more important than quantity. I would instead invest twice as much time into one article than producing two inferior articles.

Although it is difficult to quantify this accurately in the immediate term, I am confident that it will pay off in a long time.

I don’t want my past mistakes to be remembered and made in retrospect.

How do you overcome Failure?

An older website I owned was not very well-focused. I was not seeing much success with it, so I sought out other successful bloggers in my niche.

After receiving some excellent advice about branding, layout, and site speed, I went back to the drawing boards. Braised & Deglazed was created.

Although it was a long process, many early mornings and long hours were spent updating the site’s old content.

In the end, however, I couldn’t be happier with the result.

​Can you share a business idea?​

Vegans love cheese, and demand for vegan food continues to grow.

Although vegan cheese is available, it’s not as good as regular fresh mozzarella.

My money is on the person who invents a vegan-friendly, melty mozzarella substitute.

This is something I believe many fast-food restaurants would pay a lot for.

What’s your recent best buy? ​

Ahrefs was $100 per month. This has helped me. It is incredible how much you can learn from looking at other successful websites.

What are your favorite Softwares or Apps?

Canva is amazing. Its drag-and-drop format makes it super simple to use.

The free version is excellent for creating custom images or adding text to photos quickly.

Which book would you recommend?

The $100 Startup was a great read. This is a great way to boost confidence for entrepreneurs looking to start small businesses.

​What’s your favorite quote?​

“Techniques can be taught, but they are not the easiest to learn. It is the attitudes that chefs adopt that are more important.

Alain Ducasse

TL;DR by Devan Cameron

You can only get it if you work hard for it. You will not be granted anything.

Your attitude is as important as your skillset.

Ahrefs can be expensive, but it is beneficial, even for a month.

You can make vegan cheese if you want to be wealthy.

Chris Guillebeau’s $100 Startup is a must-read book for all aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Enterprenuer is a social interview and story publishing platform for entrepreneurs, founders, businessmen, businesswomen, startups, and anyone who inspires people globally.

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