Emily Wells

Emily Wells grew up on PEI, attended the Culinary Institute of Canada in the mid-1980s and has been cooking ever since.  After many years of cooking in Ottawa restaurants, she returned to PEI in 1998 and joined Shaun McKay's kitchen at The Dunes Cafe.  In 2003, she became chef at The Dunes, leading the kitchen for ten years. In 2014, she made the decision to go it alone, becoming chef and owner of The Mill in New Glasgow. Emily is the community liaison for the River Clyde Pageant, and the chef and coordinator of the community suppers that follow the Pageant performances.

Building community through food has been at the heart of Emily’s work for decades. Fifteen years ago, she began a series of fundraising lunches for Farmers Helping Farmers, a PEI-based charity that works with farmers and farming families in rural Kenya. With these annual fall lunches, Emily and her staff have raised over $30,000. Over the last two years, Emily has invited newcomer women into The Mill for a series of cooking workshops delivered in partnership with The River Clyde Pageant and the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada. Workshops introduce new Islanders to PEI food and farming culture, and strengthen community bonds through the experience of cooking and eating together.