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Spice Up Your Life


Welcome to TheSpicyChefs.com! This is your ultimate online guide for all things in the culinary world. We link you with expert chefs, serve up simple yet flavorful recipes, and delve into a variety of spice-infused cuisines to help you create sizzling, delicious meals. With TheSpicyChefs.com, cooking transforms into an exciting and mouthwatering adventure.

Meet Our Team

Emilie Richardson-Dupuis: Editor

Emilie has been a content writer for Rough Maps since 2024. She holds a BA in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and has been published in various magazines including Toronto Life and Exclaim. Her favourite topics to write about include food, traveling, health & wellness, and music. Her dream vacation destination is New Zealand and her worst vacation experience was having altitude sickness in Colorado in a sweltering hot hotel with a heating system gone haywire. Emilie's favourite dish is tacos of any kind, all day, any day. Her signature dish to cook is handmade pasta.

Christy Chan: Editor

Christy Chan is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, and designer. Though her travels are few and far between, she has no shortage of stories to share—trekking the Canadian wilderness, sampling poke along the Honolulu coastline, getting lost in night markets in Taiwan—and her wanderlust will eventually pin her somewhere foreign. Travels aside, if she isn't busy trying to bake the perfect cookie or relearning how to watercolour, she's scouring the nearest library, searching for the next spark of inspiration. If asked what her guilty pleasure is, chocolates would be the answer—and it’s probably why she enjoys baking chocolate chip cookies so much. 

Megan Wickens: Editor

With a fine arts degree from OCAD University under her belt, Megan dips her brush in many creative fields. She’s currently exploring the world of writing, working in niches from fiction to copywriting. Meg is either traveling or dreaming of traveling when she’s not writing. Her home base is in Canada until the lakes freeze over. Megan could crush fresh guacamole every single day. She makes an addictive spicy peanut sauce she likes to smother rice bowls with or spoon directly from the pot.

Chase Wexler: Media Operations

Chase joined Rough Maps as our inaugural employee in 2018, bringing with him a BA in Administrative Marketing from Fanshawe College and a fervent aspiration to become an advertising expert. His love for travel and his writing prowess seamlessly blend, enabling him to share captivating experiences about the wonders of our planet. Chase's favorite dish is birria tacos. The tender pullled meat and oozing cheese, never gets old. 

Farva Ivkovic: Editor

Farva has been immersed in the world of writing since earning her B.A. in English. In the past, she has written as a freelancer and has even worked on some novels. She enjoys exploring a variety of topics, including relationships, comic books, and global culture. Superheroes—ranging from iconic figures like Batman to niche characters like Morpheus—are some of her favorite subjects. Farva’s favorite dish is undoubtedly poutine, which is unfortunately all too easy to mess up. The secret to success is making sure to use the gravy as a topping and not to drown the fries. You don’t want to lose out on any crispness!

David Davidovic: Senior Content Manager and Media Operations

Having dealt first-hand in the realm of digital content and media since 2019, David has committed himself to making full use of his BA in History and Political Science (that being an extremely loose definition of the term "full use"). Despite this complete 180, David's passion for writing and observing the world around him has lent itself to a steadfast commitment to producing content about the topics he cares about most: travel and pop culture. David's favourite dish to eat is sushi and his favourite dish to cook is a tender, juicy medium-rare steak.

Maria Cruz: Senior Editor

Since the dawn of time, Maria has subjected people to her writing. From silly stories about baseball in her youth to silly stories about cowboys in adulthood, people have been unsafe for years. She brought that love of writing to UTM (U of T’s homely sister in Mississauga) where she spent five years on the campus newspaper, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. Her work has also been published in UTM’s annual journal and one of her short stories placed second in Scribbler’s Dialogue Contest. She believes she’s funnier than she is and would have made her entire blurb Smash Mouth’s lyrics to “All Star,” if only her boss had let her. Her favourite dish is chicken fettuccine alfredo and she makes a mean lemon chicken with roasted broccoli.

Cathy Liu: Senior Editor and Content Manager

Cathy has been a content writer at Rough Maps since 2023. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia and has always dreamed of becoming a writer. Her love for reading fueled her passion for writing, and she enjoys writing about topics like pop culture, film, travel, and personal experiences. Cathy will never say no to a hearty bowl of spaghetti bolognese. She really loves heartwarming food, which is probably why her best cooked dish is a comforting bowl of lasagna soup.

Robbie Woods: Director of Creative and Media

Robbie has been with Rough Maps since 2019, first as a content writer and latterly as Director of Creative and Media. His essays and reports have been published in Maclean’s, Salon, The West End Phoenix and elsewhere. Robbie is a recipient of the Eugene Levy Writing Award, a three-time winner of the York University President’s Prize, and was the Humber Yuk Yuks Standup Champ in 2016. Robbie's favorite dish is a nicely undercooked steak with potatoes and grilled veggies. His signature dish is his marinated chicken thighs.

David Stal, Landon Wexler and Steven Hochman: Founders

Food lovers like everyone else, David, Landon and Steven are ready to put their cooking knowledge to the test. With a passion for recipes and culinary experiences, The Spicy Chef's team is here to help our fellow chefs. We thank everyone for their continued support!

Contact Us

We are always looking to add new members to our wonderful team and hear feedback from our readers. Please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]