Crafting Culinary Moments ofDistinction

Chef Didenko was born in 1991 in Siberia into a family of cooks and chefs. His grandmother Vera was a pastry chef who ran a small cafeteria in Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia. From an extremely young age, Sergei was hands-on in the kitchen: making dough for pelmeni and vareniki—Russian ravioli and Siberian pierogies—filling them with potatoes and more, washing dishes, putting food away, plating, and prepping anything his grandmother needed.

In 1999, Chef Didenko and his family immigrated to Israel. There he finished high school and worked in several falafel and shawarma spots as a prep cook. In 2006, the family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he arrived in Canada, he was not yet fluent in English. He attended Grey Academy and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate and graduated in 2010 with honours, including cooking with younger grades and high school students. He was deeply involved in the cooking program—in fact, after graduating, he catered the principal’s last day in office. In the years that followed, he weighed a career as a police officer versus a chef, then committed fully to culinary arts.

He built most of his formal skills at Red River College Culinary Arts, while working in restaurants including Cindy Fine Dining, Sous Sol, Fort Garry Hotel, and Peasant Cookery. There were stretches when he held three or four jobs at once—running between restaurants for events, plating, and managing smaller gatherings.

Chef Didenko became an executive chef at 25 when he took over Monalisa Restaurant, his first Italian fine-dining role. Before that he was chef de partie at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and acted as executive chef for Prairie 360. He later served as executive chef for Piazza Lagrotta Italian Market and its upstairs fine-dining room, where he ran courses in the spirit of Michelin-star dining with premium ingredients—black caviar, Wagyu, truffles, premium seafood, and local specialties—on five- to twelve-course tasting menus from about $150 to $350 per person, paired with wine.

Shortly after COVID, he took on large-scale Fort Gibraltar and Promenade Café and Wine, serving as executive chef at Promenade while overseeing Fort Gibraltar. More recently, he was head chef for Hockey for All Centre, overseeing food for the Manitoba Moose and Winnipeg Jets—running a 380-seat restaurant, concessions, and production for events up to about 2,000 guests.

He also led Camp Manitou as chef in charge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner for roughly 400 children daily, including managing serious and life-threatening food allergies. He was then offered a role with True North as chef de cuisine for the Winnipeg Jets, overseeing culinary operations at Canada Life Centre and Hockey for All—nutrition, dietary needs, and production—with passionate, experienced teams at both sites. He was the first chef to oversee both locations for the Jets.

Chef Didenko mentors young culinary students from Red River College, Tec Voc, and schools such as Maples Collegiate. He holds Red Seal certification, serves with Les Marmitons Winnipeg, was past junior president and past second vice president of the Culinary Federation (Winnipeg branch), and was named Junior Chef of the Year 2024 by the Culinary Federation Winnipeg. He has competed nationally, including representing Winnipeg at a culinary showcase in Edmonton in 2024.

He is known for private luxury events in guests’ homes—intimate experiences with Wagyu, caviar, truffles, and other premium products. He now hosts groups from 10 up to 300 people for the best possible experience: private events at home with the people who matter most, with food on par with Michelin-level dining around the world. Chef Didenko brings you the performance, not just cooking, in your house.