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Chef Fred Decker is a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia. After twenty years in sales, he decided to pursue his passionate love of cooking as a second career. He trained in the Culinary Arts programs at the Nova Scotia Community College in Halifax, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, graduating with honours.

Photo by Noel Chenier / Courtesy of Diningpick.com

Chef Decker was previously the Market Chef at downtown Edmonton's Sunterra Market. Sunterra is a family-owned company with an emphasis on artisanal Alberta products, including the company's own premium pork and beef. Fred ran the in-store bakery prior to becoming the market's chef. Before this, he spent most of two years at Unheardof, a storied fine dining restaurant in Edmonton, working for chef/owner Lynn Heard.

Fred returned to the East Coast in April of 2007 to open the Mariner's Table on the premises of Chance Harbour's four-star Mariner's Inn, 25 minutes west of Saint John on Hwy 790. "It's an amazingly beautiful spot," he says of his dramatic hillside location. "On a clear day you can see all the way to Nova Scotia. There's no restaurant in the area with a view like this."

Chef Decker has been diligent in seeking out local producers and local ingredients, which are featured prominently on the menu at the Mariner's Table. Since August 2007, his bi-weekly "Field and Table" column in the Telegraph- Journal has introduced the paper's readership to many of the region's best growers and producers. Fred also contributes a popular monthly blog to local restaurant portal Diningpick.com, and has appeared on Rogers Television's "First Local."