Chefs | Pistachio

Humility & mastery

23-03-2011

A lovely mention by Renée Lavallée in her Chronicle-Herald column this week reminded me of how we met. She showed up at the back door of Cafe Henry Burger looking for work, tiny and seemingly timid. She was recently out of cooking school and had some interesting experience in Italy, which made it easy to recommend her. We were able to place her a few short weeks later, and once on her station, her talent instantly emerged. Strong, smart, and fiercely protective of integrity in her work, she went to town, and the restaurant was better for it. That was 1997.

In Halifax last fall to cover the World Culinary Tourism Summit, I got the chance to sit at her table and taste what she was doing with what her beloved purveyors were giving her. Dinner was understated and brilliant at the same time. It made me think of my favourite quip from Alice Waters:

“Humble yourself before your ingredients.”

Only a skilled hand knows how to let the ingredients tell us what to do. Only an insightful cook knows that embellishment is futile.. It can never make up for mastery.

Seven of us were gathered around the table that night: Jodi Lastman and Barry Martin of Hypenotic, Noelle Munaretto and Rebecca LeHeup of the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, and lucky husband Doug Townsend of Taste of Nova Scotia . Zoe and Phillipe, their two little ones under two, were asleep upstairs.

We started with Metwurst, Whestphalia ham from Roselane Farms, and Dragon’s Breath blue cheese from “That Dutchman” in Economy, NS.

Then came bay scallops in white wine and herbs, cultivated by Nick Budreski and Père in Pictou. A stone’s throw from the bay in question, having lived land-locked all my life, I was pretty excited. These babies were glorious.

The rest of the meal deftly kept pace.

Harpoon-caught swordfish with sumac and coriander. Celery root and beet salad. Arugula with lemon juice, olive oil & shaved Old Growler gouda from “That Dutchman.” For dessert, salt-roasted Annapolis Valley pears with caramel sauce.

It’s been easy to admire Renée all these years. Share her gifts and adventures at FeistyChef.ca. You’ll come to admire her, too.

There’s just no way to be sure how I feel about this

By: Stephanie

29-04-2010

Chefs, Love, Restaurants

In my mind, I’m cutting into one of them to see the cross-section, thinking of tongue, which frankly, I don’t really like to do. But from a snout-to-tail point of view, I like that they won’t end up as waste.

At first, I thought they were clever beignets, which provoked a smile, but only briefly, because even though a sweet bit of fried dough is always an expression of genius, I’d have to pass. For all you adventure-seekers, let me know.

This is the work of April Bloomfield of Breslin, a new NYC resto.

Via More Intellligent Life.

Here’s more on roasted snout.

Kitchen mishaps enter a whole new realm

By: Stephanie

15-07-2009

Chefs

A young German chef lost two hands in a liquid nitrogen accident.

Kids, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Peru’s cuisine is stamped like a worldly passport

By: Stephanie

01-03-2009

Chefs, Food, Love, Restaurants

“Tiradito is said to be the most cherished imprint the Japanese left on Peruvian cuisine. It’s often compared to sashimi for that reason, but it’s actually more like carpaccio.”

The soul of authentic Peruvian cuisine can be found in a humble place called Soñia’s, a popular Lima eatery that specializes in ceviche — fresh, raw fish dressed with lime juice and little else. The fish still carries the flavour of the ocean, and as a foil for the lime’s brightness, ceviche is traditionally served with sweet potato and corn.

In this neighbourhood, where there are cevicherías at every turn, Soñia’s, has endured because, for the last 30 years, she has been cooking the fish that her husband pulls from the Pacific that morning. You don’t dine at Soñia’s. You eat what is likely to be the best ceviche you’ve ever had and you’ll try other fish, too, like the fried calamari.

Gourmet advisory: not all Peruvian eating is like this — a little out of the way, very casual and relatively unchanged over three decades. [more]

Earth to table, seed to sustenance

By: Stephanie

10-02-2009

Agriculture, Chefs, Ideas, Restaurants

“I wanted witnesses. I wanted to mark the moment so that we would remember it.”

– Jeff Crump

The book had modest beginnings. “We had in mind a little spiral-bound book,” says Jeff Crump, Executive Chef of Ancaster Old Mill. He wanted to document how his kitchen and a local farm had found an exciting way to work closely together. Then Random House got interested, then a New York agent, then Earth to Table: A restaurant and farm relationship began entertaining inquires about Chinese publishing rights.

“A lot of farmers are gun-shy about working with chefs,” says Crump. “Chefs are picky, and kitchens aren’t naturally geared toward buying from small farms. But Crump found his match in Chris Krucker of nearby ManoRun Organic Farm.

“Chris got it,” says Crump….more

The AGO has a culinary muse

By: Stephanie

14-11-2008

Chefs, Love

“I don’t dig very fussy, highly manipulated plates.”

– Anne Yarymowich

Ask Anne Yarymowich for the most memorable meals she’s ever eaten, and the Executive Chef of the Art Gallery of Ontario will take you first to the Mediterranean and then to an unglamorous quarter in a world culinary capital.

At a Turkish outdoor, seaside café, she orders a striped bass plate that comes cured, like graavlax, to which she matches a glass of rosé. “The flavours,” reminisces Yarymowich, “the ambience, stopping there by chance — it blew my mind.”

In Paris she comes across a working-class cantina called Le Roi de Pot au Feu, the “king” of the humblest of everyday French meals. “They plop a bottle of wine on the table, a gamay, whether you want it or not,” says Yarymowich, and then came the specialty of the house. If you want something else, surmises Yarymowich, the message is clear, “Piss off! … Brilliant!” she laughs….more

Fire and water

By: Stephanie

13-09-2008

Chefs

Riffling through some research for a profile I’m writing about Anne Yarymowich, Executive Chef of the Art Gallery of Ontario, I came across a couple of those “Why-aren’t-there-more-women-chefs?” articles, and I have to ask: why are we still measuring women against men in terms of a body count?

The complaint is a half-empty glass, and in a gulp, all women cooking professionally are “not enough,” particularly the new 26-year-old chef being reviewed in said piece and whom the writer admired.

No one should enter a field to represent her gender. Our only purpose is to feed the fire in our bellies, whatever the work. The fire knows more than we do, and it’s not gender-specific.

In and out of the frying pan

By: Stephanie

04-08-2008

Chefs

Out of the Frying Pan is a memoir by Gillian Clark, who left a career in communications to become a chef. [Been there. Can quickly relate.]Despite some tender moments from her childhood — particularly her description of how her father inspired her love of cooking — Clark doesn’t sugar-coat a thing:

…the long hours and what that meant to her kids, whom she was raising alone

…the tenuous hold her restaurant owners often had on their businesses

…the struggle to build and train a great team, only to lose great key people, again and again

…those difficult cooks and kitchen helpers who turn out to be fiercely loyal, enduring and true, but still prickly…

I particularly enjoyed Clark’s most telling display of visionary womanhood: to open her own restaurant despite her kids’ challenges. She said her kids deserve a mother who has the courage to follow her dreams. This would show them how to follow theirs.

How cooking is like riding

By: Stephanie

11-07-2008

Chefs

When I think of women and Harleys, I think of Lynn Crawford, the Four Season’s New York Executive Chef, who took on Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America.

A few years ago, she told a reporter that her dream job would be to test-drive Harley Davidsons. Lynn’s a serious rider, and there are a couple of photos kicking around of her straddling her beloved ride.
Given her penchant for silver jewelry, I wondered what she’ d think about the new ring Harley’s putting out as part of a new venture into marketing specifically to women? Consumer Experience Expert Susan Abbott has taken a look at the new marketing terrain of women who ride, and from the book Riding Stories, she cites this quote:

“After a long day’s ride, dirty from the road, sunburned and windblown, I have to say that I’ve never felt more beautiful!”

You’ll very likely get the same response, but with different scenery, from a happy cook at the end of a long, demanding, satisfying shift of putting out 100 inspired plates, with a 12-burner stove blazing behind her.

When “Big Surprise” Means “No Surprise At All”

By: Stephanie

09-04-2008

Chefs, Restaurants

Well, it finally happened.
– James Chatto

It has indeed.

Susur Lee is going to New York City to open a new restaurant for a tony boutique hotel chain. He’s closing “Susur,” the higher-end of his two eponymous restaurants. and leaving open the more casual “Lee,” for his up-market hipster crowd.

Big surprise.

There are only a handful of Toronto chefs who would make that move, but also make it successful from a business point of view. And none is more likely to succeed than Lee.

His stature extends far outside national, never mind metropolitan, borders. Although he’s greatly admired at home, his American recognition carries considerably more heft from a sheer number’s point of view. There are easily 10 times the industry watchers passing judgment in the U.S., and 10 times more chefs at Lee’s level of skill, most of whom likely covet Lee’s opportunity.

Also, gotta say it: he’s handsome, stylish and exotic. New Yorkers are going to love that, too. But he’s going to deliver. He’s a gifted powerhouse, and we love that he’s ours, if he doesn’t mind me saying so.

One by one, thanks to the media for eliciting comment, Lee’s peers have begun to chime in.

There was a vague sense of sour grapes when Mark McEwan stated the obvious. “It’s a tough town,” he said, but then briskly wished him well. McEwan is still fresh into his gorgeous One experience at the new luxury Hazelton Hotel. With New York City a chef’s mecca, I wouldn’t be surprised if McEwan wishes he, too, could make a run at it, but his hands are full of success here at home.

Claudio Aprile spoke of Lee as an artist, which reveals Aprile’s values about his own work. Art, science, craft, skill, gift. I stay away from this debate. My interest is in the business side of things. Can the chef-owner keep them coming back, covering costs, paying all the bills, growing the business and keep head, heart and life together?

The business side of being a chef is the final frontier for any cook who has ever dreamt of opening his or her own place. The sad and sometimes swift demise of so many sweet spots proves how elusive it is to be a successful restaurateur.

I don’t doubt for a minute that there’s a sweet slice of the Manhattan pie for Lee. He’s clearly up for the challenge, and no one deserves it more.

Pistachio

Humility & mastery

There’s just no way to be sure how I feel about this

Kitchen mishaps enter a whole new realm

Peru’s cuisine is stamped like a worldly passport

Earth to table, seed to sustenance

The AGO has a culinary muse

Fire and water

In and out of the frying pan

How cooking is like riding

When “Big Surprise” Means “No Surprise At All”

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