I Live In The Woods And I Just Made Granola
November 11, 2009
I also drive a station wagon.
I live on Paradise Valley Rd.
If someone was trying to kill me, it would take the police a long time to get to my place – at least twenty minutes. Assuming they get a call at all. It would most certainly be too late to stop the murderer. I am being dramatic, but it is definitely a far-cry from where I have been living the past eight years or so.
Catering Diaries: Toronto
November 2, 2009
We live in a different universe. We live in a microwave.
The menu adorned with my chicken scratch.
Months ago, Hawksworth asked me if I would like to accompany him to Toronto to help out with a charity dinner he had been invited to cook at. I said yes, and when the day arrived to leave, I got on a plane and left. It worked out perfectly, as it was right in the middle of a little two week vacation between jobs - no begging and pleading for days off, or any of the guilt sometimes associated with taking leave, which was nice.
Of Cities And Mountains
October 27, 2009
Here’s what’s new in my life:
Victor Benjamin and I. Just happy to be alive.
So, here is a brief update: I’m leaving the city and going to work in the mountains at a great restaurant called Araxi. I bought a car and moved into a cabin in the Squamish woods yesterday – a scary, but altogether exciting idea. I grew up on an acreage, surrounded by trees, so it will just take a bit of readjusting. When I was moving in yesterday, all I could hear was the neigbor’s cows mooing. It all happened really fast and it kind of seems like a dream, but I am definitely ready for a new challenge. I feel slightly bad that I’ve moved around so much lately – this is my fourth job in a year- but I am only searching for the right fit, and I feel confident that this is it.
Before starting up there though, I am going to Toronto tommorow to do a charity dinner with my old chef David Hawksworth. It’s called the Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, and it is a fundraiser for the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital. What happens is: loads of chefs descend on Toronto, go into peoples houses, prepare a great meal paired with crazy wines, the people pay an outrageous sum for the dinner and all the proceeds go to charity. Should be fun. I’ll try to do a few posts while I’m there.
Last Friday, I did my first work for Chef James Walt of Araxi at a friendly little cooking competition called the Gold Medal Plates. We did not prevail that night, but had a fun time nonetheless. Here are some pictures of the night for your enjoyment.
Catering Diaries: Vegas Nights
September 24, 2009
Been in the desert this week catering a party.
Lists upon lists, lead to more lists.
I got a call last week from a guy I used to work with years ago who now does marketing for a Vancouver company. Every year his company goes to a trade show in Vegas and this year decided to cater a soiree in a North Vegas mansion. They had originally booked another chef, but he had to back out at the last minute, so I was lucky enough to get offered the gig. Miraculously, I was able to take the week off (slow these days), so here I am in the desert cooking day and night. I’m just about to get back in the kitchen, but check out a few pics from the trip so far. Full post to come.
The Flavor Bible Turns One Year Old
September 14, 2009
This is a good book.
I just got an email from two of my favorite cookbook authors, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, letting me know that their book The Flavor Bible is turning one this week. I did a little interview with them before their event in the Salt Cellar last year, which you should check out if you haven’t already. They were really awesome people and a pleasure to talk to. Congratulations to Andrew and Karen for all the awards and praise for the book. I use my copy all the time.
Some Important Shit
September 3, 2009
Pass this on.
S.O.S.
Just got this letter forwarded to me by my Dad. It was written by retired DFO (department of fisheries and oceans) biologist Dr. Gordon Hartman, and deals with DFO’s “poor support for wild salmon protection as opposed to unrestrained support for salmon farming in B.C.” When my dad sent it to me, his exact words were, “I don’t usually do this kind of forward, but these are wise men speaking and we should listen and act.” I respect his opinion, as he has been a marine biologist for 30-something years and always tells it like it is. Please read and pass on if you please.
The Candy Man
August 31, 2009
Thanks Joe.
“The candy man can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.”
Salsa Verde
August 19, 2009
It’s a green sauce and it saved the day.
“Learning more and more about less and less and less.”
When I am hungry, I mean really famished, things get dark. My vision gets blurry, thoughts scatter, objects lose their color and the world turns against me. In this state, all I want to do is eat crap. I want to shovel cool ranch doritos into my mouth, guzzle coca-cola, destroy chocolate cakes with my mouth, french fries become a vehicle for mayonnaise…..you get the idea. Just give me carbs, sugar and fat. It’s a bad place to be. Last week I almost gave in to the demons, but luckily, the salsa verde brought me back from the dark side.
