Kyle Polanski, Co-owner and General Manager:
Kyle has been known to Vancouverites for the past few years as the enterprising General Manager at The Cove Bar and Restaurant in Kitsilano, and this year steered its half-million-dollar transformation from Jeremiah’s, an aging local drinking hole, into a cutting edge Westside Vancouver hospitality property.

A bar and beverage veteran of nearly two decades, Polanski has worked his way across Vancouver and Winnipeg, at establishments such as Branigans and the Prairie Oyster in Winnipeg’s illustrious Forks Market, moving up from the position of server to an in-demand bar and beverage consultant.

Combining his conceptual experience with tried and tested management know-how and a flair for entertainment programming, Polanski has his sights set on Fraser Street as Vancouver’s next eatery boomtown.

With Fray, Kyle sees an opportunity to give local residents fresh, locally grown food with organic options, as well as a neighbourhood headquarters where people can sit, think, socilaize and relax.

Head Chef – Benny Cheng

Even before completing his Culinary and Advanced Pastry Diplomas from the Dubrulle Culinary Institute, Benny Cheng was exposed to the joy of cooking when, as a young boy, his grandmother would take him to the markets in Hong Kong to choose and purchase their food for the day. Upon returning home, his beloved MaMa would show Benny how to prepare each and every dish, emphasizing the importance of using fresh ingredients, and exploring how each ingredient would compliment the other to form the perfect dish.

After attending UBC and achieving a Bachelor of Science in Maths, Benny started and operated a wine retail business, but the lure of his true calling eventually won out.

Benny’s ability to serve up unique and incredible pastry and savoury dishes came with his exposure as Pastry Chef and Senior Chef de Partie at the prestigious Salmon House on the Hill. Running the kitchen comes with ease as he worked in Watermark on Kits Beach as Entremetier and as a faculty member of the Dubrulle Culinary Arts.

His efforts were recognized thereafter, winning the Bronze medal at the Annual Hot Competition (BCCA) and the Service award at the Art Institute of Vancouver. His desire to hone his skills in pastry has led him to join the prestigious QUADY dessert competitions, a passion that is reflected on Fray’s menu today.

Benny started at Fray as sous chef to Antonio Martin, quickly climbing to the front of the line and bringing signature dishes like his Mountainview Burger, Superfood Salad and The Porker to the Fray faithful.

On days that he is not in the kitchen, you might catch a glimpse of Benny on the road as he is an avid marathon runner and competitive cyclist. He loves to travel and explore new cultures with his wife and their adorable toddler, and incorporates his experiences into his dishes.

Fray co-owner and Vancouver Sun reporter Chris Parry from his award-winning 'Fatabase' series, which found there was as much fat in four McDonalds hamburgers as a single Earl's Chicken Caesar Salad

Chris Parry, Co-owner and Marketing Director:
Chris Parry literally wrote the book on how to run a successful food and beverage operation. His 2003 how-to Bar & Beverage Operation: Ensuring Success & Maximizing Profit has been a strong seller since it was published eight years ago, and was recently listed on the Amazon Kindle.

In the time since writing that book, Parry has become an award-winning journalist and digital content editor at the Vancouver Sun newspaper. He won the 2010 Webster Award for Journalism covering Science, Technology, Health and the Environment for his online tool, The Fatabase, which gathered nutritional information from 80 B.C. restaurant chains and presented it in a searchable online database.

Chris considers this restaurant to be the logical next step of the Fatabase – “Now, we’re doing it from the inside!”

Parry has worked in bars around the world, starting out as a busboy in Sydney’s infamous Oz Rock Cafe, a five-storey, four-bar, three-restaurant, one gift shop complex that he was managing inside six months. Under Parry’s leadership, profits at The Oz Rock grew consistently year-over-year.

Parry’s career has since taken him to New York, Toronto, Washington D.C., Austin, Denver, Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Los Angeles, stopping in Vancouver in 2001 where he has married and raised a family.

Prior to working at The Sun, Parry founded an editorial services agency (Unreel Media), which he sold to a U.S competitor in 2007. He has previously worked as a production manager on feature films produced by award-winning director writer-director Kevin Smith, and worked as a freelance writer covering film festivals for five years.

In his native Australia, he was a partner in the founding of the country’s largest film magazine.

Parry sees Fray as the first spark in what he expects to be a boom of restaurants aimed at bringing a community kitchen and living room to urban residents living in spaces often too small to socialize in. With Fray, he hopes to convince Mountainview residents to make a habit of stepping inside on their way home from work, tucking into something from the fresh sheet, meeting new friends, and being a part of a genuine thriving community.