Chef David Chang above the 49th Parallel

Internationally known Chef David Chang is coming to Toronto in 2012, in partnership with Shangri La Hotels & Resorts. Foodies and people in the industry, myself included, will be watching very carefully in the coming years. Must say I am curious and excited to see what he does with his restaurants and his time in Toronto. Daniel Boulud tried Vancouver, but last week announced that he is shutting down his two restaurants. Gordon Ramsay is becoming a minority partner in Montreal. Can another international chef make it in Canada? Or do we just love our own talented chefs too much?

Here is a link to The Globe & Mail’s interview with Chef David Chang, about his move North.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/trends/trends-features/megachef-david-chang-dishes-on-why-hes-setting-up-shop-in-toronto/article1935590/

Nancy’s Flavourful Tang

Egon’s rosemary batard received some love from torontolife.com. Just goes to show that if you treat Nancy right she’ll rise to the occasion. Awesome job Egon, keep up the baking.

Here is the link…
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/from-the-print-edition-daily-dish/2011/02/24/kneadful-things-a-guide-to-the-best-restaurant-bread-in-town/

Baker’s Dungeon w/ Egon

In this, the first of a new series of posts on baking, I bring you videos of Jeffrey Hamelman of the King Arthur Flour Bakery in Vermont. His  Witness the ghostly pallor that comes from decades of overnight shifts. Your lower back will practically ache in sympathy as you watch them work.

Here’s the link: Videos for the Professional Baker

Hamelman’s book Bread has been a favourite among home and professional bakers for a few years now.

Human Breast Milk Vs. Lady Gaga

As a quick disclaimer:  I would much rather write about other things but I feel compeled to relate these stories as they come up.  I find it funny that in such a short time there has been such a clamour about human breast milk products.

Lady Gaga, a long standing bastion of good taste and convention has launched a lawsuit last week, against the ice cream shop  of “Baby Gaga” fame, The IceCreamists for using her name, the likeness there of,  to sell a product.  The suit claims the product made by The IceCreamists is “nausea-inducing” and “intended to take advantage of [her] reputation and goodwill”.  Further, the suit claims that the frozen dessert is “detrimental” to her image as it is “deliberately provocative and, to many people, nausea-inducing”.

Of course, in light of the tremendous amount of publicity, the owner of The IceCreamists is vowing to fight to the bitter end, painting Lady Gagas actions as a David vs. Goliath scenario.

“The world’s biggest superstar has taken umbrage with the world’s smallest ice-cream parlour. For Lady Gaga to accuse us of stealing her image is laughable when you consider how much she has borrowed from popular culture to create her look and music…”

The law suite requires The IceCreamists to “change the name of the ice cream to something which is not aurally, visually or conceptually similar to Lady Gaga” or court action will be taken.”

Well, I for one, am going to be holding my breath, mainlining the internet until I get some more news on this fascinating and all consuming story.   Thanks to the Evening Standard for this tidbit.


Big Night, Romagna Mia Style

Romagna Mia is closing its doors, on Sunday March 6th, after 14 years. Chef Gabriele Paganelli will be closing down and re-opening under a different menu and name, Paganelli’s Risotteria-Enoteca. Gabriele has decide to go out in style though, paying homage to the 1996 critically acclaimed movie Big Night. If anyone hasn’t heard of Big Night, or can’t remember it, allow me to refresh your memory.

Big Night is set in 1950’s and is about two brothers from Abruzzo, Italy, who travel to America, the New Jersey Shore, to open a restaurant called Paradise. Primo, the older brother, played by Tony Shalhoub, is the chef and brings magnificent authentic Italian cuisine to the restaurant. The second younger brother, Secondo, played by Stanley Tucci, is the restaurants manager, who loves the possibilities that America promises. Despite Secondo’s ambition and Primo’s food, the restaurant is failing.

Convinced that the lengendary jazz artist, Louis Prima, is coming to dine at the restaurant and bring with him guests and media, Primo and Secondo plan this “Big Night” and feast for everyone. Primo makes this long Italian seven course meal culminating with a timpano, a complicated baked pasta dish.

Gabriele Paganelli is going to do just that, with a little help from past cooks and chefs that have worked in that kitchen. I have to say that it is an amazing idea and am jealous that I will not be attending the festivities. I look forward to eating there for Claire’s birthday, then eating there after the new menu has got its stride.

Here is a link to Romagna Mia…
http://www.romagna-mia.com/

Link to Torontolife’s article on the renovations…
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/restauranto/2011/03/04/romagna-mia-to-get-a-new-look-and-a-new-name—and-a-goodbye-feast/

Human Breast Milk Round III

It seems the world has gone breast milk crazy.  Up until very recently, there was very little in the way of human breast milk products. Now, in the span of less then a month, I find myself writing yet another post on human breast milk.

Enter “Baby Ga-Ga”

British health officials were forced to sieze the remaining supply of a wildly popular ice cream treat called “baby ga-ga” from an upscale dessert shop called  The Ice Creamists.  Of  course the internet is abuzz with this latest tidbit and it even made the local papers here in Toronto.  Apparently, health officials lept into action when complaints came flooding in.

“A spokeswoman from Westminster City Council said Monday it was responding to two complaints from the public over whether a shop should be selling edibles made from other people’s bodily fluids…”

The icy treat sold for about $25 and comes in a fancy pants martini glass.  Chief Ice Creamist(?) Matt O’Connor stands by his product claiming that not only is it safe but super tasty as well.

“The response has been amazing. People at first say it’s disgusting because it’s a bodily fluid, but so is cow’s milk. People love it when they try it.”

If sales are any indication, he may very well be correct. The first run sold out on the very first day.  Despite the shops claims of rigorous  screening, health officals are concerned about the possible spread and transmission of pathogens such as hepatitis and other viruses through the use of breast milk.

Currently, the icy treat is being tested by health officials with the full co operation of The Ice Creamists.

To be continued…

Thanks to Digital Journal for the particulars.

Professionalism Part: How Devoted Are You?

This post goes out to all the industry people that read this little blog of ours. I don’t really want replies but I’m just pondering an issue I’ve recently come across… How devoted are you to your kitchen?… We all (well most of us) chose to work in our specific kitchens due to a respect for either the food or the chef. However if that image is tainted one way or another, do we stay or do we go? Does our personal progression through the industry suffer because of this issue?

Working in a professional kitchen means that unfortunately you get to see some of the shortcuts and shortcomings of chefs that the happy consumer will never see. In an ideal world this would never happen, but for the rest of us we tend to learn by example or look the other way. Chef drops a piece of meat on the floor? Oh well, there’s always the five second rule! The dishwasher forgot to put his beardnet on so there’s a strange hair in the plate you’ve finished?  No problem, you pick it up with your kitchen (generally quite unsanitary) fingers and pretend nothing happened. But these are minor details, issues you’ll easily overlook in order to absorb as much knowledge from your superiors as possible… But when do you stop? How do you decide if your chef is cutting corners or just simply doesn’t care?

One piece of advice I can give to those who care to listen, is watch your kitchen at it’s busiest or most stressful time. Do you have 35 orders coming in at once or is the owner breathing down your neck because of costs, well that’s the best time to watch the chef… The corners he cuts are generally a good indication of his abilities and his passion… A true foodie will cause serious harm to oneself (burning, cutting, etc) if it means that each of those 35 simultaneous orders will go out perfect!…. but unfortunately, real foodies are hard to come by!

Pushing The Boundaries

In the spirit of veering away from our usual sushi outings, my friend and I decided to try North 44 for a change of scenery. Conveniently located in the Yonge and Eglinton area, North 44 offers diners an eclectic variety of food in an elegant environment.

It took us a good 20 minutes to figure out what to order because everything on the menu sounded absolutely amazing. In the end, we ordered fresh oysters (I’m obsessed) and tuna carpaccio to start and then herb crusted ostrich and braised beef short ribs as mains. For dessert, we shared the Mignardises, which was a selection of sweets and cookies.

Before I go on to describe how utterly unbelievable the food was, I would like to highlight the impeccably fast and courteous service. Our waiter was surprisingly pleasant, making small talk with us and cracking jokes while we tried to figure out what to order. This was a great change of pace from Marc McEwan’s other restaurant, One.

Now, back to the food; everything we ate was perfectly cooked (or very fresh when it comes to the raw oysters and carpaccio). The carpaccio was served with with greens, Japanese pear, jalapeno, coriander and yuzu, while the ostrich was accompanied by sweet onion ravioli, swiss chard, brussel sprouts and caramelized parsnips and finally the beef ribs were served with  spiced cocoa rub, soft polenta, sweet pepper caponatta and natural jus. Each dish had contradicting flavours that made the dining experience quite unique and interesting. Realistically, I would never think to pair jalepenos with pears or spiced cocoa with sweet pepper caponatta, but you know what? It really worked. Everything was absolutely mouth-watering and such a refreshing change from the food that my 19 year old self is accustomed to eating. I stepped out of my comfort zone and was pleasantly surprised.

In terms of price, I would say that this was one of the most expensive meals that I have ever paid for. Customers are looking at roughly 20 dollars for an app, while the mains run anywhere between 30 to 55 dollars and deserts range between 10 to 15 dollars. For a 3 course meal, with drinks, a dinner would probably be around 200 dollars. However, I would adamantly recommend this restaurant to others because the food is just that wonderful.

Because every meal should start off with oysters...

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Super simple recipe requires only a few ingredients and a little patience. Before you start, you need paper cupcake cups and a muffin tin (if the mini version of both is available it makes for a better size) and a pot of boiling water for your bain marie.

-Melt about 500g of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Stir it constantly as to not burn the chocolate and ensure that your bowl’s bottom does not touch the water below.
-Line the muffin molds with the cupcake papers and using a pastry brush (or the back of a teaspoon) apply a fairly thick layer of chocolate as evenly as possible. Allow this layer to set while making your peanut butter filling.
-Mix 1 cup of peanut butter with 1/2 cup of soft cream cheese. This is not necessary but it definitely adds the texture of the Reese’s cups that we’re all used to. You can also add roughly chopped peanuts for an added texture.
-Place a spoonfull of the P.B. filling in the hard chocolate shells you’ve created and top by another layer of chocolate. Make sure that your peanut butter filling doesn’t reach all the way to the top of the chocolate shell so it can seal with the top layer.

Ta da! Once it all sets, you have chocolate PB cups! Enjoy