tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19122137692105812442024-03-15T18:09:11.753-07:00ETHICAL GOURMET / Remind me to Tell You About the Time I Looked in the Heart of an ArtichokeEthical Gourmet / Food Writer at Large /Culinary Tourist
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Lavery Culinary Group All rights reserved.Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-62870040815684703502023-09-04T13:06:00.001-07:002023-09-04T13:06:08.818-07:00<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH84hL6yv3lsDtcw7ORhv5fzrJ_8hCNOh6X3Ls-JrmjzM9AcIsJoeqOwBvBTBd_2atGqlG0Ts2it_orDoKzIbmf19PLW87xWm0dlcvGiNuPcdZbwqMNy6mgo8kcyoHH_9S4dQqR_lkksuS0LmGgOZQ4v7T24E8qjwuYrWRffeNqpysAJb94q6bbASXN8/s330/Local%20Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="330" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH84hL6yv3lsDtcw7ORhv5fzrJ_8hCNOh6X3Ls-JrmjzM9AcIsJoeqOwBvBTBd_2atGqlG0Ts2it_orDoKzIbmf19PLW87xWm0dlcvGiNuPcdZbwqMNy6mgo8kcyoHH_9S4dQqR_lkksuS0LmGgOZQ4v7T24E8qjwuYrWRffeNqpysAJb94q6bbASXN8/s320/Local%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Interview</div><div><br /></div><div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Unlocked and Inspired: August 30, 2023</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Forest City Culinary Experiences and Chef/Experience Facilitator Bryan Lavery</em></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A quintessential entrepreneur, Bryan Lavery is a chef, restaurateur, food writer, experience developer, retailer, Tourism London Board member, and member of a community of tourism innovators. In the most recent issue of the Southwest Ontario Culinary Guide, Blackfriars Bistro identifies as an authentic Farm-To-Table Experience. Specifically, it says, "The cuisine at Blackfriars combines precise technique and skills with quality, hand-selected ingredients. The restaurant supports and depends upon indie farmers, sustainable fisheries, local artisans, and craftspeople for seasonally changing offerings." </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• Why are these values important to you? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ethical eating is conscious of our food consumption choices regarding its environmental, social, and industrial impact. Simply, it means that the food we choose must minimize the harm caused to the environment, consumers, farmers, etc. Eating ethics include an essential awareness of farmers' wages, sustainable food production, plant-based alternatives, carbon footprints and biodiversity. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• Why have you championed Slow Food and local food for so long? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Thirty years ago, I worked as an Executive chef at a dinner club in Chandler's Ford in Hampshire, England, just as mad cow disease evolved from a cryptic veterinary problem into an epidemic affecting 120,000 cattle. Speculation about mad cow's relationship to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans had created a state of panic. I realized that I had been naive to put my confidence in the perceived safety of our food chain. At this time, I became politicized about food security and began questioning our food and farming policies.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A decade later, I was part of a Canadian chefs' contingent to partake in culinary education with seven chefs in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Several founding members of the Slow Food Movement taught us. This journey was my initial introduction to "slow food" and the movement to safeguard authentic regional specialties, traditional techniques and farm-to-table cuisine. On this trip, I had an epiphany about food that boasted of its regional authenticity and became a dedicated proponent of homegrown terroir, "slow food," and culinary tourism.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The main philosophy behind the Slow Food movement envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, those who grow and harvest it, and the planet. Our approach to Slow Food at Blackfriars is based on ethical food concepts defined by interconnected principles: good, clean, fair and sustainable. The Slow Food Movement </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">encourages critical thinking and actions advocating for preserving time-honoured food practices, traditions, and environmental considerations around food harvesting and processing. Slow Food believes food systems should be environmentally, economically, and socio-culturally sustainable. It should preserve biodiversity and natural resources while generating long-term income for farmers and farm workers and guarantee access to fundamental human rights and well-being. One of Canada's most recognizable expressions of the local food movement is farmers' markets, which are producer-only farmers' markets, not allowing resellers into the mix. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• Why is this culinary experience essential for the consumer taking part in your culinary experiences? What are they looking for that you can deliver on? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The gastronomic tasting experiences are essential from a culinary education perspective. One of my goals is to help create a better understanding of gastronomy – capable of linking the politics of eating with farming while helping us consider vital issues such as fair remuneration, sustainability, health, and climate change. It's a way to condense consumer education that has taken my entire career to acquire into a few hours with consumers. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• What did you take away from the Unlocked and Inspired training that you found relevant and have now applied? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The training solidified my ability to connect many concepts that I have been thinking about and writing about for a long time. It gave me a professional framework to develop my experiences in a tested and proven methodology. The template is the benchmark for best-in-class experiences. It helps me to marry the conceptual side of tourism experiences with the economic side of these practices, providing a balanced approach for an experience developer. The Experience Planning Template and the 12 ingredients of an experience were game changers for me. It helped with the flow of the experience itself. Celes made himself accessible post-training. He was open to new ideas and continued to adapt the program based on our input. I appreciated that aspect of co-creation. My expertise and experience were acknowledged and valued, too.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• What experiential concepts and experiences have you created in the London area? What are your guests saying about these experiences?</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In 2018, in partnership with Chef Thomas Waite of Spruce on Wellington and the In-Home Chef (now owner of Prim Peony Catering) & Chef Brian Sua-an of Reverie, Michelle Pierce-Hamilton of the Tea Lounge, Alieska Robles of the Forest City Culinary Cookbook and Farmer Paul Spence of Thamesville's Culinary Farm, we piloted Planting Seeds for Experiential Tourism.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In 2019, in partnership with Museum London, I helped pilot a scavenger hunt and black box competition experience at the River Room and the Rhino Lounge called Where Gastronomy Meets Art.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In 2019, I was also part of a group of community experience facilitators developing and piloting several new experiences in Old East Village and Downtown London.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We are the 2020 Culinary Tourism Award of Excellence winner for our Forest City Culinary Experiences. The awards are a celebration of success and an opportunity to recognize those who have made significant contributions to Ontario's tourism industry. These awards are jointly presented by the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, and the Culinary Tourism Alliance.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Guests said they didn't realize London had such a diverse culinary offering. They say our experiences support team building, creating new bonds and connections with other participants. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Forest City Culinary Experiences in collaboration with Blackfriars Bistro:</strong></h2><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Italian-inspired Gastronomic Tasting Experiences</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Slow Food-Inspired Gastronomic Tasting Experiences</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Sardinian Gastronomic Tasting Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Filipino Gastronomic Tasting Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">On the Forks Culinary Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Covent Garden Market Culinary Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ultimate Forest City Gastronomic Tasting Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Blackfriars Bridge Scavenger Hunt & Tasting Experience</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In 2023, we have offered a wide range of food and drink-focused walking experiences and gastronomic tasting experiences in Downtown London, Blackfriars/Petersville and several surrounding neighbourhoods to mainly corporate clients. Out-of-town guests have mostly booked our Ultimate Forest City Culinary Experience (which is now on hiatus.)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• You have always championed community and business collaboration. What are some crucial considerations in forming alliances that endure? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Collaboration is more than an opportunity to work towards shared goals with like-minded partners. It supports creating new opportunities and new revenue sources and attracting potential new customers. It's a way to raise awareness and heighten the profile of the collaborating businesses and the community in which they operate. Collaboration often leads to economic spinoffs with current and future potential revenue. Collaborative partnerships are an excellent way to encourage innovation and creativity. When collaborators with diverse cultural expertise, insights and backgrounds come together, it leads to the exchange of unique skill sets and perspectives and a culture of innovation and engagement. Collaboration can result in more innovative ideas, solutions, creative problem-solving and storytelling. Crafting stories of our culinary champions reaffirms the food and beverage industry's strategic role as advocates of change and sustainability.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• How do you market your experiences? How do prospective clients book your experiences? </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Word of mouth has been essential for us. Through Ontario's Southwest, we have been in the Globe and Mail. We are grateful for the support of Ontario's Southwest, Tourism London and Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, who have been instrumental in helping us to gain a wider audience for what we do. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">• What's next?</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Last year, we were excited to announce that we completed the audit process with the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC), and both Forest City Culinary Experiences and Blackfriars Bistro & Emporio became officially Rainbow Registered. Rainbow Registered is a national accreditation and means that our organization meets stringent standards to ensure LGBTQ+ customers feel safer, welcomed, and accepted. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the CGLCC in the future. Our intention is to further that conversation and incorporate those values in a more high-profile way. We will also work to customize and market experiences for this community. Wouldn't it be incredible to assemble a tour of Rainbow Registered businesses and make them available to the community? </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Whether you are an individual, a start-up, an established small business or a non-profit organization, there can be many challenges and barriers to bringing a new tourism idea, experience or partnership to fruition. I am a member of the "Spark" community of tourism innovators, idea makers, partners and supporters providing mentorship.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I am a board member of Tourism London.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We plan to continue championing diversity, equity and inclusion in our community. When providing culinary experiences, there should be no distinction between immigrant and non-immigrant cuisine. Like its people, what is considered Canadian cuisine is a wide-ranging mix of appropriated indigenous and immigrant cultures, traditions and tastes that have adapted to the people who have immigrated here and call Canada home. At their best, authenticity and cultural exchange are the willingness to respect and value another culture's food traditions. As a food writer and experience provider, I want to encourage more inclusive voices of a diverse restaurant diaspora of immigrants, women, LGBTQ2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Two-Spirit Plus) and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) in our local food media. We recognize that the BIPOC population currently comprises 27% of Canadians who are also travellers and diners with eclectic tastes, and we will find ways to market directly to them. We need to find different ways to write about and collaborate with the restaurant diaspora, immigrant chefs and food spaces that are equitable and inclusive. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Working with Downtown London, we are developing some Downtown Experiential Trails to adapt these same practices to a more urban setting. Cities also offer a wealth of experiences, and while we don't traditionally think of urban businesses as tourism destinations, we understand that both locals and visitors support these often unique, owner-operated enterprises, and more can be done to create and grow their experiential offerings to attract more customers. Our first offering is a Scratch Bakery and Patisserie trail, followed by a Holiday Traditions trail, which we will dovetail with the Downtown for the Holidays campaign in November and December this year. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I'm returning to food writing with a column for </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">eatdrink</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> magazine, where I will continue to champion my values and practices, highlighting unique experiences in the local and regional community.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Booking and more information online: </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.forestcityculinaryexperiences.ca/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.forestcityculinaryexperiences.ca/</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p></div>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-14085239590753861512022-12-01T18:00:00.009-08:002023-02-04T16:14:43.973-08:00I REMEMBER TOM<div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPUUjJRP41m-g0Ux8J1-ricXBCVJzzz11KMuhjv4HhbaFYd8bh7fx27UIn3vG83YwyKLsV1AVKTpBKwYfWbTJY467xBj4NhxFFFF5vNdhc-gXm1RME8ckgz6Q65dthcLk9xQEtbgD7oW5kugYiIh_nuE0hlpT9wy8n36rq7K5gpx3I0PCyADgQYRO/s640/Sauble%20Beach%20Winter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPUUjJRP41m-g0Ux8J1-ricXBCVJzzz11KMuhjv4HhbaFYd8bh7fx27UIn3vG83YwyKLsV1AVKTpBKwYfWbTJY467xBj4NhxFFFF5vNdhc-gXm1RME8ckgz6Q65dthcLk9xQEtbgD7oW5kugYiIh_nuE0hlpT9wy8n36rq7K5gpx3I0PCyADgQYRO/s320/Sauble%20Beach%20Winter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div>This year for World's AIDS Day, I wanted to pay homage to Tom and a difficult time. Tom was battling AIDS and coming to terms with being an incest survivor simultaneously. More than 30 years later, I decided to look at this painful time. This story is a work in progress.</span><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I REMEMBER TOM</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">At twenty-one, I was a die-hard romantic in a relationship. It was the equivalent of marriage when matrimony and civil unions were not legal or legitimate options for queer men and women. The nuances of gay identity and gender roles puzzled me, and I did not understand the compulsion to attach labels to everything. Why was gay life demonized and misrepresented by a willingness to engage in casual sex? Why were we permanently reduced to our sexuality?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My partner and I refrained from using terms such as "queer," "lovers," "coming out," "outed," or "in the closet" when disclosing our sexual orientation to friends, family or broader humanity. We repudiated the hard-core gay identity with its clichés, preconceptions and stereotypes elaborated and defined by "straight" people. It would take years to value my sexuality as part of my identity.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My mother and stepfather were enlightened and accepting when I announced I had met someone special. After a year of living together, we received tasteful, Kro</span>sno fluted champagne glassware from my parents in place of a wedding gift. We picked out stunning Medici-inspired wallpaper for our Princess Avenue living room walls and oversized black and white chickens on vermillion-flocked wallpaper for the kitchen. We both liked to cook, and my inamorato bought me an old oak dining room table with matching chairs to entertain properly. I was working and commuting by train to Toronto, cooking at the Vineyard, one of the city's first wine bars. Returning to our home, one of our wolfhounds did not enjoy being alone for long periods and retaliated by chewing the wooden dining room table legs. </p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">With the realization love did not mean a state of ever-lasting enthusiasm and fidelity, I was devastated to discover my firmly rooted sense of romantic love delusional and my partner unfaithful. It took me years to reconcile my unrequited love, and I would not abandon my romantic self-deception for a mindset of apathy or regret. After three years, we parted amicably. I stayed friends with him and his new partner, whom he met at a dinner party we were attending. They have remained part of my extended family.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">TOM</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom and I had been dating for almost a year. Our relationship was full of promise, and I was reluctant to label the long-distance union in the conventional sense. I was thirty-one years old, fiercely independent and living a semi-bohemian life in downtown Toronto. I would instead go to a library or film than a nightclub or Pride parade and seldom went to the gay village on Church Street.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Life was more conventional with Tom. I grew accustomed to seeing him on days off or when time or unforeseen circumstances allowed me to travel to London, Ontario or vice versa. In the infancy of our courtship, we planned intimate adventures, such as an overnight shopping trip to Buffalo, a weekend in Niagara Falls or an overnight stay in Bayfield. On a foray to Buffalo, Tom bought me a leather bomber jacket to replace one stolen from the cloakroom at a popular gay dance bar in London known as the Halo Club.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We are seated in an Italian restaurant in London, Ontario. Tom and I ate Caesar salad, prepared tableside by Vito, and the best deep-fried panzerotti oozing with mozzarella, mushrooms and tomato sauce I have tasted. Tom liked to woo me with regular Friday night dates and introduced me to unfamiliar restaurants I was unlikely to try. On my initial visit to Vito's Cave, with its charming grotto motif and large picture window facing busy Hamilton Road, we were seated at the back of the restaurant by the miniature waterfall. Chianti bottle candle holders drip wax, and the tables draped with red or blue checkered cloths provide an old-world ambience. Vito's became one of our regular haunts and one of Tom's favourite restaurants. Vito hailed from Bari, Italy and is reputed to have introduced pizza to the city in the late 1950s. Discussing events of our busy week, we lingered over specialty coffees.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Our other favourite restaurant was Mykonos, on Adelaide Street. In those days, the restaurant had seating for only a few tables at the entrance. We loved the irrepressible proprietors, Heidi and Bill. Our favourites were crispy battered halibut and chips, pasticcio, moussaka and the theatrics of saganaki torched with flaming ouzo. Being hugged and feted by Heidi and having our coffee grounds intuitively divined and fortunes prophesized by an in-house coffee reader was an added inducement.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I introduced Tom to the strip of The Danforth known as Toronto's Greektown and Queen West, a collection of up-and-coming neighbourhoods named after the thoroughfare. I dined with Tom at culinary hot spots such as the American Grill, Glossop's, Lolita's Lust and Joe Allen's. When I was trying to broaden his culinary repertoire, he loved to order a hamburger deluxe in an expensive restaurant to annoy me. We would stop at Brothers on Yonge Street, next to the Church of Scientology, with Formica tables and vinyl booth bench seating for calf's liver with caramelized onions and mashed potatoes. Two brothers whose last names differed because of the phonetic spelling a government official wrote for one when they moved to Canada operated the restaurant. A framed restaurant review posted in the front window stated, "All the reviewer wanted was a simple chicken sandwich."</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Like many single gay men of our generation, our mutual introduction came by matchmaking dinner party couples with barely-concealed agendas. A critical aspect of civilized gay culture was the ambiguous dinner party soiree. The crucial ingredients for success were plenty of alcohol, witty banter, bitchy observations and lots of blatant sexual innuendo. Gay couples assembled these soirees to size up potential friends, compatible couples, lovers, and one-night stands. The best way to meet other gay people was through other like-minded individuals. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The first time I met Tom was at the home of friends of friends. Tom made eye contact across the table and kept trying to draw me deeper into a conversation. We talked for a long time. An animated conversationalist, he was attractive in a virile way with a responsive smile and a booming laugh. He seemed to appreciate my dry wit, and there was palpable chemistry and instinctive camaraderie. Neither of us was a dinner party circuit contender nor a genuine enthusiast of the genre. That initial rapport established our bond.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">That same evening, Tom grabbed a filtered cigarette from his pack and told me about his fearless, enthusiastic companion Dan, a small, dependent West Highland white terrier. Dan was gradually going blind and resented interlopers. Overly communicative, Dan expressed his objections and frustrations with a distinctive bark or howl for every mood. It was becoming harder for him to differentiate between night and day. Dan needed help finding his food dish, water bowl, stuffed bear and other familiar objects. Tom was devoted to making sure his quality of life did not suffer.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom's bright appearance and buttoned-down demeanour belied his twenty-eight years. Our relationship ran hot and lukewarm. There was a reluctance to disclose our authentic selves. Common sense and the absence of undeclared commitment tempered our relationship. We were companionable and enjoyed the other's company. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In retrospect, we were clinging to unresolved anger and collateral damage from trauma-filled childhoods and previous relationships. It was never smooth sailing; it would take years of introspection and analysis to realize why. After months of dating, I told myself we were too different in temperament and discernment. With no definitive plan for where we were heading, we continued down a tepid path of least resistance despite differences.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A consummate pot smoker, Tom preferred a well-rolled joint and a bottle of beer over the civility of a well-made highball or glass of wine. Arguments and recriminations about excessive boozing and pot smoking with his brother and a coterie of stoners and hangers-on from high school days at his house were at the core of my objections. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A YEAR LATER</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As the early rush-hour traffic passed on a cold December morning, a great horn owl with enormous yellow eyes hunkered down on the tree outside the dining room window. Was it boding awful news? The owl's presence felt like an omen or spiritual oracle.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom arrived on the red-eye from Rochester, New York, where he purchased grand pianos and vintage uprights to restore and retail as a sideline. These were affordable and serviceable keyboards one might buy for a potential fan. A talented piano and pipe organ technician, Tom's expertise was in high demand, and he was hesitating about opening a showroom. Tom picked me up at my apartment attached to the upscale northern Italian restaurant, One of One, which I managed. It was a few blocks from the CITY-MuchMusic building, the cultural pulse and hub of Toronto's youthful media scene at John and Adelaide Street. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">On this occasion, we were in his new Chevy Cavalier wagon, and Tom was driving a busier-than-usual stretch of the 401 en route to London. I was and still am a backseat driver replete with sound effects and pressing my foot down on an imaginary brake pedal. It was Christmas Eve day. We were listening to George Michael's tape, Faith, on cassette but switched to the radio. Brenda Lee was singing, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. My mood was expansive.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We had just passed the iconic orange and blue Schneiders billboard beacon of the smiling, blue-eyed, blond-haired Dutch Girl in the winged white bonnet perched on a hill along Highway 401 in Puslinch, and I remember commenting on it.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Once we were out of heavy traffic, Tom suddenly became pensive and severe. "I'm HIV positive," he announced. "I am taking meds, and my doctor says I have a healthy T-cell count and the virus is virtually undetectable. There is nothing for you to worry about." </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He sounded unconvincing and rehearsed. It was the kind of justification you might repeat over and over, a hundred times in your head, until you get it perfect. Without proper context, his confession was unfathomable, seeming to come out of nowhere. There had been no opportunity to choose whether or not to assume the risk of exposure to the virus. It was a conflicting, painful dissolution of the trust.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom said, "I went to the walk-in clinic to be tested and treated for a sexually-transmitted infection and was diagnosed with HIV."</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Infected by his former partner, he would later disclose he was living with HIV for several years. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">"I was unable to reveal my diagnosis because, at first, I was in denial, uncertain about the consequences," Tom disclosed, "I was humiliated. The stigma was too much. We were careful, and it did not occur to me that there was the remotest possibility I might unintentionally transmit the virus to you." </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Nauseated, the knot in the pit of my stomach was overwhelming. A sickening betrayal and incandescent outrage replaced any empathy or understanding of Tom's dilemma. The initial frenetic impulse was to open the door and jump out of the fast-moving car. There was little I could do but roll down the car window and breathe in the harsh reality. Such deception was unfathomable, difficult to penetrate or even comprehend. Foreboding, illness and death hung over me like an ambient threat. My focus changed instantly and irrevocably at that moment. Actor Rock Hudson became the first prominent public figure to die of AIDS-related complications that year.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">8 YEARS LATER</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In June, I returned from the island of Sark in the Channel Islands to Winchester to rendezvous with friends visiting from Canada. I moved in with my friend John in his terraced flat that overlooked Winchester Cathedral. The summer was uncharacteristically damp and dull, with persistent rain. The poor weather left me with time to journal and respond to a steady and prodigious stream of correspondence I have kept for thirty years. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Winchester Cathedral is the resting place of the English novelist Jane Austen, among other notable luminaries, many of them royalty. Consecrated in 1093, the medieval Cathedral was celebrating its 900th anniversary with restrained fanfare. The festivities included a highly anticipated return of Benedictine monks and nuns. Despite my low spirits, I visited the Cathedral daily as there was no admission, and I was fascinated by its gravitas and history.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">High-speed trains made inaugural journeys from France to England via the Chunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover that summer. The biggest news story was the announcement of the separation of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. The Maastricht Treaty was about to come into force and establish the European Union. Queen Elizabeth had spoken about her 'Annus Horribilis' a few months earlier, and I was suffering my version.</span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Before I left Canada for England, my beloved maternal grandmother had died. I sold my house and La Cucina, the restaurant I co-owned with my parents. A few months later, in February, my long-time friend Catherine, a primary school French teacher in Stratford, was shot at close range and murdered by her husband. The families had been close friends. Catherine and her husband had recently separated. He was facing a charge of first-degree murder that would inexplicably reduce to manslaughter. Her mother wrote to thank me for my sympathy letter and to tell me about the two services put on by her friends in Stratford and Toronto. There was also an exceptional singer who sang 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' with a guitar accompanying. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Grieving, I went to the Cathedral, dedicated to numerous saints, to take in the enormous antiquity and solemnity, light votive candles and stand in quiet contemplation and Memoriam for Catherine and my grandmother. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom started sending me regular correspondence focussing on his declining health. His immune system was becoming progressively weaker he had developed a persistent, dry cough. Tom could no longer tolerate alcohol and stopped drinking and was wearing a nicotine patch to curb his cravings and withdrawal. He had stopped smoking. His lymph glands became swollen, and he could no longer mask the pain.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My younger brother Gary and two of my close friends, Gary Johnson and Daryl Bray were battling AIDS simultaneously. The disease was attacking some people more rapidly than others and bombarding them with one impediment and opportunistic infection after another. The vilification of HIV/ AIDS as the gay plague, brought on by anonymous, obsessive sex, by the media turned gay men into pariahs. HIV/ AIDS ravaged gay men at staggering rates.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In September, Tom revealed he was an incest victim. By his recollection, his father started sexually abusing him when he was seven. Flashbacks and anxiety attacks overwhelmed him, and he could no longer repress the emerging memories. It was difficult to confront the pain and anguish. Tom wrote about his spiritual crisis, dissociation, deep shame and the guilt of being repeatedly victimized. The trauma of his family relocating eight times in fourteen years and having to attend eight different schools and make new friends each time made for excruciating reading.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Whenever someone discovered his father's elusive predatory behaviour, the easiest solution was to move the whole family and start over from scratch. His father was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 18 months after a boarder discovered him abusing Tom. When he was released, Tom's father resumed his façade of feigned respectability. Denying any wrongdoing, he continued to refuse to apologize or be held accountable for his egregious behaviour. The dichotomy of feelings between the father Tom loved and the perpetrator he hated was unbearable. Tom's letters became more coherent, detailed, graphic and disturbing.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom confronted his parents about the sexual abuse he endured. Reacting violently to his allegations, they reciprocated by attacking his credibility and accusing him of lying and betraying the family. They refused to discuss the matter with him or his brother and threatened to disown him and move away. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He had counted on his mother's support and love and felt abandoned. He questioned his mother's role as a bystander, playing a pivotal part in aiding the sexual abuse by sheltering his father. He did not understand why she did not do something to stop it. He remembered she was concerned enough to take him to a child psychiatrist, but he has no recollection of what happened. There were fears of reprisal, and physical and emotional retaliation was his father's deterrent and coercive strategy. His father counted on his wife's shame not to risk the threat of exposure and humiliation or make the situation any worse.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tom's medical problems became more frequent and challenging to treat. His immune system was severely compromised. He developed thrush and a mass in his left testicle the size of a pea, which he neglected to mention to his doctor. He was smoking again and convinced the tiny lump was cancerous. Large patches of itchy and dry skin developed on his legs, with an intensity ranging from endurable to intolerable. He wore cotton gloves to stop scratching before the wounds started to bleed and become infected.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">To prevent tuberculosis, his doctor prescribed a new medication called Rifabutin. His doctor administered a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs, and the virus temporarily did an about-face. Soon after, he began smoking pot again to regain his lost appetite. He was starting to lose weight and muscle tone. A cocktail of antiretroviral drugs reversed the condition,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Afraid of losing mobility and independence, Tom's illness took a financial toll on him. The doctors suggested homecare, daily visits from nurses, homemakers and Meals on Wheels. They assured him there were government-assisted AIDS facilities and he would not die alone on the streets. When they were still speaking, his parents made it clear they were in no position to attempt such a fraught undertaking as caring for him.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He asked if I would consider rooming with an AIDS-stricken piano technician and his blind dog. </span></p>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-52471516808869919892022-11-10T20:05:00.002-08:002023-01-02T15:49:11.016-08:00Ethically-grounded Economic Behaviour<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J7F0rJGx_Ltd46bzy_MVlSd51VJA2sVuL4H9IOzeEtFk46x_UyNepa4OtVR9Pm9FVhyaDQDOUtNIir0ZZxng0ILvnF3GBPe0cLwx0w1B6cqj5lg9nVFOzvlHkNbHoFaSuXfSWdz-9bA766fB69xXzA1OGnq_-M0wcIkiv7drc_hxoMk8QG4k6YuY/s640/Food%20FWL_main-810x375%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="640" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J7F0rJGx_Ltd46bzy_MVlSd51VJA2sVuL4H9IOzeEtFk46x_UyNepa4OtVR9Pm9FVhyaDQDOUtNIir0ZZxng0ILvnF3GBPe0cLwx0w1B6cqj5lg9nVFOzvlHkNbHoFaSuXfSWdz-9bA766fB69xXzA1OGnq_-M0wcIkiv7drc_hxoMk8QG4k6YuY/s320/Food%20FWL_main-810x375%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ethically-grounded Economic Behaviour<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">BY BRYAN LAVERY</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #0e101a;">Farmers' Market season is over. Romaine lettuce was eight dollars a head at one of my favourite food shops, Vincenzo's in Kitchener. Cauliflower is ten dollars a head at the Covent Garden Market. With escalating grocery prices and the cost of lettuce such as romaine at an all-time high, we can say goodbye to the Caesar salad this winter. The concept of "greedflation" by Canada's largest grocery retailers has appeared as one of the most talked about concerns in the last few months. Food prices continue to increase.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> We are living through a gastronomic renaissance, and more than ever, my work puts me in front of the orthodoxy of local food procurement, business incubation, culinary innovation and food start-ups advancing "local" in our food culture. Chefs and restaurateurs that genuinely support farmers and food artisans and pay close attention to the provenance of their ingredients hold a great deal of sway with me. The disingenuous and lazy claim, "We source our food locally whenever possible," is anathema to me.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">To stay abreast of the culinary scene, I meet with chefs, farmers, food artisans, restaurateurs and other food writers. When I tell people that, among other things, I write about food, they imagine the superficial existence of dining in restaurants night after night. I habitually refrain from dwelling on pedestrian dining experiences or poorly executed cuisine in print. My quest is to uncover and elevate the authentic and extraordinary. I am subjected to more than my fair share of mediocre food and disappointing food and drink experiences.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">No reader wants us, food writers, to pile unrestrained acclaim on every restaurateur, chef, farmer or culinary artisan. It gets obnoxious and is insincere. At best, I am a curious eater who likes to discover the best food and dining experiences, but I also encourage recommendations from an extensive network of knowledgeable contacts. In my quest to eat sensibly, I have been sent on many a fruitless or complicated pursuit, a crucial caveat being that I can overlook disagreeable surroundings or neglectful service if the food is remarkable in the true sense of the word.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Fortunately, the movement to buy and eat locally shows no signs of waning. The local food movement and sustainable agriculture reform initiatives are grounded upon critical assessments of the existing food systems that dominate the marketplace and remain instrumental in driving the cycle of global famine. Central to the local food movement is the desire to support small-scale farmers and food artisans whose products are consumed locally, allowing them to keep revenues within the community and reduce agriculture's environmental footprint.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The prevailing agri-business conglomerates' model is costly and toxic for both people and the broader environment. Most of us will agree that it is unsustainable. Global instability, dependence on other countries, food security, rural welfare and smart economics are the most compelling arguments to promote and lobby for a sustainable local agricultural sector.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Local food movements attract their share of detractors, with the movement's ideals and initiatives striking some as inaccessible, too cerebral or elitist. Critics maintain that eating has evolved from a question of survival to a declaration of unrealistic snobbish principles and moral superiority. No one wants to endure a twenty-minute lecture about eating a tomato out of season, however enlightened it may seem.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> The virtues denoting the word "artisan" include handmade, small-batch, regional, local and handcrafted. But what does the term mean? In my experience, an artisan is a craftsperson who makes a high-quality or distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods. Authentic artisanal goods can't be mass-produced: they are limited in number and generally have specific characteristics deemed to be a specialty.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A few years ago, I discovered an award-winning, buttery cheese fêted in print, which was not handcrafted or farmstead produced. Rather than being the essence of Quebec's terroir, it was mass-produced. The "artisan" farmer featured on the packaging was a figment of some marketing ploy.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The word "artisan" on a label is no longer the imprimatur it once was; it has become a buzzword and a warm and fuzzy marketing adjective. Now that fast food corporations and grocery chains have co-opted the idiom, the term has lost its meaning and integrity. You have to wonder if the word "artisan" has any credibility or has become another marketing ploy for the greenwashing of corporate food initiatives.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Greenwashing is a practice in which green public relations are employed to encourage the false perception that an organization's products and policies are environmentally friendly or that environmental responsibility is a core business ethic. Being green not only has a certain cachet, but it is also politically correct and respected by both eco-friendly and not green customers. If you look closely, bogus feel-good environmentalism and eco-friendly fakery are on the rise and continue to drive self-serving agendas.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Studies reveal that grocery store shoppers consider product quality most important to them in their choice of supermarkets. The trend is aided by consumers' growing concerns about food safety as food recalls, allergy alerts, and foodborne Listeria outbreaks and crises continue to shake consumer confidence in corporate businesses and products produced by agribusinesses.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The preference to purchase and eat local products has helped revive farmers' and farmgate sales as an alternative to grocery store retailers. Farmers' markets are increasing exponentially. According to recently available statistics, Ontarians spend more than $600 million in annual sales, for a total economic impact of up to $1.08 billion. According to Farmers' Markets of Ontario, "one of the ways farmers' markets shape food systems is by fostering free enterprise and ethically-grounded economic behaviour."</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Many farms sell local foods, crafts and flowers from a farmgate stand at the end of a laneway. The farmgate helps build relationships between small-scale growers, indie farmers and consumers, encouraging respect and generating awareness of the sustainability and seasonality of products and rural business as a way of life.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In Ontario, the growth of niche, largely rural-based culinary enterprises, whose innovations concentrate on producing specialty, high-quality, artisan-type products, continues to rise. The main reason for their growth is the superior qualities of artisan foods over their mass-produced equivalents.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The term artisan, from the Italian </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">artigiano</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, dates back to the 16th century to reference a skilled craftsperson. Corporate companies have misappropriated the term, diluted its meaning and made it almost hopelessly meaningless. - BL</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-7401089327381016052022-11-08T14:23:00.007-08:002022-11-12T06:22:36.116-08:00Homegrown Revolution – Cultivating Tropical Fruit in Huron County<div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjruUuKNnbbJ7U7TmUkadorbAZPqxkH7pMxzCX03S4WgwykuQYDAhs-5K0t2SriBdmU4KDN3ipURAFlrE_xk9o23gJA8GcgjbFdkasuuv6mmgXkERvcOAlnl8wCOMtG2YzP-0mr-o8c4KoMlceAvq-qcYaql6jXzi5bDxqIY-b7eSpmCRKme97d-X/s4032/Canada%20Banana%20Farms%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjruUuKNnbbJ7U7TmUkadorbAZPqxkH7pMxzCX03S4WgwykuQYDAhs-5K0t2SriBdmU4KDN3ipURAFlrE_xk9o23gJA8GcgjbFdkasuuv6mmgXkERvcOAlnl8wCOMtG2YzP-0mr-o8c4KoMlceAvq-qcYaql6jXzi5bDxqIY-b7eSpmCRKme97d-X/s320/Canada%20Banana%20Farms%201.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Homegrown Bananas – Cultivating Tropical Fruit in Huron County</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">By Bryan Lavery</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On a
concession road deep in Huron County, about two hours due west of Toronto, you’ll
pass many well-established farmsteads. Often referred to as Alice Munro Country,
the writer’s birthplace and the subject of her prose, this neck of the woods is
characterized as rural and conservative, with ingrained farming practices and
stalwart beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Visitors,
arriving at Canada Banana Farms, will drive up a lengthy laneway with “No
Trespassing” signs, past cords of stacked wood, ending up at a large modern
brick house. To the right of the circular drive are three hoop houses and a
view of an expansive field and large woodlot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Inside the main
hoop house, a path follows the perimeter of the tunnel –shaped 30-foot by 100-foot
structure. Surrounded by exotic plants usually found in more temperate climates,
Canada Banana Farms, owner and farmer, Laurie Macpherson, is busy planting
organic vegetables for harvest this winter. It is a balmy 25C inside. The
dome-like structure maintains conditions favourable to growing tropical fruits even
during the most brutal Huron County winters. Heated by a combination of wood
and propane the humidity reaches 85 to 90 per cent, creating a tropical
landscape inside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The reality
of growing organic tropical fruit with sustainable practices in hoop houses in
Huron County has garnered plenty of attention and speculation. When it comes to
the media, Macpherson says reporting on the operation has never been accurate. Considered
“outsiders,” she and Brake feel the tight-knit farming community has not fully
accepted them. Part of the opposition facing Macpherson, Brake feels, has
something to do with ingrained ideas of gender roles. Beyond that, there have
been legal battles over converting some of the farms’ woodlot to agricultural
use. There have even been questions about whether hoop houses, for bureaucratic
purposes, are permanent or temporary structures. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No easy
thing, trying to implement pioneering ideas in the face of entrenched farming
conventions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Terry Brake
is the farm’s spokesperson. A single father of two daughters, Brake eventually
turned to farming after a serious car accident left him unable to work as a
mechanical engineer. The accident also left his daughters with ongoing
rehabilitation from their injuries. During his convalescence, his doctor
presented him with a banana plant which he nurtured to fruition. This gift
germinated the idea of growing tropical fruit and Canada Banana Farms began
operating eight years ago with novice farmer Brake at the helm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As tropical
fruit farmers, they have had to deal with a lot of local resistance. There have
been lengthy legal battles and lots of red tape regarding changing some of the
farm's woodlot into agricultural use. It can be frustrating to implement pioneering
ideas, when others are set in their ways, still tethered to time honoured agricultural
conventions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Initially, when
Brake helped Macpherson sell products in the region’s farmers’ markets, he was
met with skepticism. “No one believed we were growing bananas,” he explains.
Surely, he was reselling fruit from the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Brake walks
over to a banana plant with a hearty tree-like stem and an outer layer of branching
leaves. At the top of the plant is a crown of large, oval, deeply-green leaves
and bunches (properly known as hands), of pristine green bananas. Brake points out
guava, pineapple, orange, lemon and lime trees. The bud of a passion fruit is
about to flower, soon there will be hundreds of intoxicatingly scented passion
fruit blooms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Both the Apple mango and the Julie (St Julian)
mango which is native to Jamaica are grown. These exquisite fruits are in such
high demand that they are sold at several farmers’ markets in Toronto. Brake says, “I could offer a 1,000 mangoes and
it still wouldn’t be enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ever knowledgeable
and down-to- earth, Blake plucks the leaves from various citrus trees and tears
them to release their fragrance. Lemon leaves, he says, are reputed to have
“the happiest smell in the world,” with a potency that does not disappoint.
Lime leaves are milder yet aromatic and refreshing. There are also shrubs of
green Pink Lady guava, which have a coral-coloured interior, taste of melon and
have the texture of kiwi fruit. Lemongrass, a culinary and medicinal herb with
an understated citrus flavour, has become a coveted farmgate <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Suspended
overhead, clusters of ripening green papayas push out from the main trunk. “This
particular variety tastes like chestnut,” Brake explains. The sample he picks
from the ground reveals a creamy interior and butter-like colour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He points to
a Sugarloaf pineapple, a spiky plant looking much like a bromeliad. Though
small and deformed, he insists it will have a superior taste. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are
banana leaves on the ground. Brake explains that a friend recently arrived from
Jamaica told him they were better used on the ground than in the compost pile, because
they create natural ground and keep the soil hot. Loaded with potassium, banana
leaves rot back into the ground, giving the plants the nutrients to the plants
and keep weeds away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bananas are
botanically berries. Each plant is propagated from the off-shoots of a mother plant
– which can be a source of vulnerability, since they are genetic clones of one
another, all susceptible to disease when attacked by funghi. The dessert
cultivar is known as a banana while the cooking cultivar is generally referred
to as plantain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
mainstream Cavendish banana is now under threat – but you won’t find any
Cavendish among the seven varieties grown at Canada Banana farms. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Guineos and
Lady Fingers are small disease-resistant bananas, nice and sweet, about one and
a quarter inches thick. Aromatic and
sweet, with a flavour reminiscent of vanilla, the Ice Cream banana has a creamy
smooth consistency. The Honey banana is similar. There are Bertha and Big
Bertha bananas; the latter grows from a 15-foot high plant producing upwards of
300-strong on a 15 foot high plant. The smaller Thai banana is taking over from
the ubiquitous Cavendish. “Although not
as large they weigh about a half a pound each.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We prefer
the more manageable- sized varieties which are easier to harvest and store,”
Brake says, with Guineo, Big Bertha and Ice Cream the big sellers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With a
developing horticultural instinct, they graft different types of banana
cultivars to other plants. Brake enthusiastically points out a double flower
comprising both Ladyfinger and Ice Cream varieties. The purplish leathery thyrse
hanging off the plant will eventually curl back exposing white flowers followed
by hands of developing bananas that he says will require two months to ripen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Both his
daughters still require ongoing rehabilitation therapy. Brake has met some
of his expenses with the insurance settlement. Due to the lack of insurance
support, Macpherson and holds farmgate open houses, which are promoted on the
Canada Banana Farms Facebook page. Proceeds go towards ongoing treatment. “People
go crazy and buy everything and just starting eating. They don’t wash the fruit
because they don’t need to,” says Brake. At a recent open house, they had 500
to 600 pounds of bananas for sale. They events have attracted up to 1,200 people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With her steely
determination, patience and business acumen, Macpherson has proven she can run
a farm and stand her ground for innovation and change and the right to
determine the future of the land.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="soleil, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #362730; font-size: 17px; text-align: center;">Shortly and unexpectedly after this story was published, Canada Banana Farms posted a message to their Facebook page to say they were permanently closed. The business was sold and Canada Banana Farms moved to Simcoe in Norfolk, County.</span></p></div><div><br /></div>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-34475332490600065822022-11-08T10:01:00.004-08:002023-03-28T17:05:19.172-07:00Indonesian Eclecticism at Loloan Lobby Bar in Uptown Waterloo (from the archives December 28, 2018)<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Deeply
Nuanced Southwest Asian Cuisine at Loloan Lobby Bar <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">BY BRYAN
LAVERY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> Paul </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Boehmer, a George Brown College graduate, has a
well-rounded career including apprenticeships at Michelin starred hotels, Langdon
Hall a Relais & Chateaux property, and the iconic Three Small Rooms at
Windsor Arms, before opening Bhima’s Warung in 1994. Boehmer travelled on
research trips to spend time with home cooks all over the Indonesian
archipelago and beyond, documenting recipes. He owned and operated a fine
dining restaurant in Bali, Indonesia for five years– which became part of the
inspiration for Loloan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7yGcLgdNJDJs8yPaDkp2AoOG2z4l0xNmN-VF9pTPFOzsxxByVOcV9cDhBchzqZ18RrQRju2MtQLrfIkPHAuieGVWlHSJ9hU-KretvTS4Et0p7JJMs7iBljWw-FCYH-yI6tQWjQ0weSKPPTsk_7sED9tRfmI8sY7VNO1-hA0Zz7vsRdFcuaAshV9V/s300/Loloan-Lobby-Bar-1-300x300.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7yGcLgdNJDJs8yPaDkp2AoOG2z4l0xNmN-VF9pTPFOzsxxByVOcV9cDhBchzqZ18RrQRju2MtQLrfIkPHAuieGVWlHSJ9hU-KretvTS4Et0p7JJMs7iBljWw-FCYH-yI6tQWjQ0weSKPPTsk_7sED9tRfmI8sY7VNO1-hA0Zz7vsRdFcuaAshV9V/w400-h400/Loloan-Lobby-Bar-1-300x300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>When Boehmer opened Bhima’s
it was an ambitious undertaking to embrace the spectrum of regional cuisines,
and variety of ingredients, spices and cooking methods largely unfamiliar to
most diners. Boehmer has made a point of evangelizing cuisines that are less
well known while not necessarily sticking to a strictly codified authenticity allowing
room for creativity and high quality <br />alternative ingredients that are locally-sourced.
The Loloan partners travelled to southeast Asia in January of 2017. It was an
opportunity to get to know each other better and get the lay of the land
culinarily speaking. During their pilgrimage they didn’t stay at the high-end
hotels, instead, they sought out the lobby bars in luxury hotels where they
could enjoy the allure and amenities offered to guests and visitors. This is
how they came up with the idea of modelling Loloan after a lobby bar. Loloan translated
means “where the river meets the ocean,” the pool formed in this convergence is
called a ‘loloan’. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Loloan’s décor is elegant
with the owners’ personal tastes expressed with a combination of Art Deco opulence
paired with colonial Indonesian eclecticism. The three-sided marble bar seats
25, with comfortable lounge chairs upholstered with soft turquoise leather.
Iconic stylized Art Deco lady statuettes holding illuminated globes adorn the
top of the marble bar every few feet like chic hood ornaments. Stylish illuminated
globe pendants are suspended overhead, which adds to the bar’s timeless
ambience. There are heavy revolving doors at the entrance, an intricate Art
Deco-inspired ceiling, tiled floors, a charming rotary phone from the 1930s,
and elephant- branded accessories and matchboxes. There are 3-two tops in the front
window, to watch passersby, and a seasonal street side-patio for alfresco
eating and drinking called the tuk tuk teras, named after, I assume, the
motorized rickshaw. The dining room seats around 40 in elegant booths and
button-tufted banquettes. A well-placed large window above the banquettes gives
patrons a birds-eye view into the kitchen to watch the action. Upstairs above
the main dining room is the Map Room. The luxurious room is reserved for
private parties and requires reservations and menu consultation in advance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My familiarity with
Indonesian cuisine extends past the traditional
Dutch-Indonesian rijsttafel – the multi-course "rice
meal" that I have eaten in Amsterdam and The Hague on several
occasions. Chef Mies Bervoets, a long-time colleague, familiarized me with
Indonesian-inspired cuisine prepared with skill and finesse in London, Ontario
when we were neighbouring restaurateurs for nearly a decade. But the culinary
expression at Loloan is more rarefied and deeply nuanced.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chef Jon Rennie,
Boehmer's protégé and former sous chef at Bhima's, is now chef at Loloan. His menus
are upscale, sensory experiences meticulously conceptualized with sumptuously
textured offerings that are tangy, spicy, aromatic and herbal. Like fresh
sambal, the flavour building Indonesian hot sauce, Loloan’s cuisine packs heat
and flavour in equal parts. Menus are gastronomic forays through the regional
and cross-cultural cuisines of Southeast Asia, with homage being paid to
Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. Appetizers are modelled on
the offerings reminiscent of the small family-owned shacks and stalls – warungs
– which sell street food alongside Indonesia’s roadsides. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Traditional recipes often
comprise up to a dozen herb and spice ingredients to achieve authenticity.
Galangal and lemongrass may be essential to building Indonesian flavours, but
the crushing and grinding of ingredients such as chilli peppers and spices, and
grinding herbs and even fibrous ingredients like turmeric, ginger and kaffir
lime leaves by mortar and pestle are essential. Indonesians have developed
distinctly original gastronomic themes with lemongrass, galangal, tamarind,
turmeric ginger and cardamom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Nem Trio finds its
inspiration in Singapore, Hanoi and Thailand and is comprised of seafood salpi<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">cón</span> (a combination of ingredients
mixed in sort of a salad) in rice paper with lemongrass sambal; ca cuốn thit a
catfish and sausage fried roll with sour cherry nuoc (dipping sauce); and
ginger-cured arctic char with somtom (green papaya salad) roll and crab oil. Menus
are loaded with exotic ingredients that, along with the stylish dining room,
evoke the term fine dining. Try the Kwai Massaman, curry bison short rib,
pickled mustard green, chili jam, morning glory, mushroom salad and rice or Gaeng
Dtaeng Pet with roasted Muscovy duck, lychee curry, oyster omelette, smoky gapi
rice (shrimp paste fried rice) and prik nam plaa<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(classic Thai chilli and fish sauce); or Moo Parlow which is pork
neck slowly braised in star anise caramel liquor, steamed rice noodle,
crackling, pickled duck egg and condiments. Asam Laska features a terrine of seafood,
pork meatballs, laksa noodle and smoky tamarind broth with condiments to make
it crackle<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>The Laarb Kwai features
fresh Ontario water buffalo prepared with a traditional Laotian ‘tartare’
recipe.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Hati Gamuck a terrine of foie
gras with heartnuts, buntut<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(oxtail)
gelée, tourtière croûte and kumquat sambal. Chef recently introduced, crested
partridge brined in ginger and roasted with lemongrass and citrus, served with
fenugreek and yogurt sauce, seasonal vegetables, chutney and belachaung (a traditional
condiment of fried onions, dried shrimp, ginger and red chillies). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are snacks (at the
bar), a la carte and weekly prixe fixe and late night street food menus. The smartly-attired
professional staffs take their well-crafted cocktails seriously and the cocktail
menu finds its muse in flavours and combinations from across the globe. Butterfly
Pea Flower Martini is vodka, lychee, butterfly pea flower and salty-sweet
pretzels served on a wooden board. It finds its inspiration at the Siam
Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok. The cocktail contains butterfly pea flower which
causes the drink to change from blue to violet when you add the sidecar of
lychee. The Balinese-inspired Ingat (which literally means take care) comprises
gin, wild gunung honey, fresh kunyit (turmeric), tamarind and pomelo.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an extensive bourbon and whisky list.
Another of Loloan’s strengths is the impeccable Wes Klassen, a certified
sommelier, who you may know from Bhima’s Warung, Langdon Hall or the former
Berlin. He skillfully adds another dimension to your fine dining enjoyment by guiding
patrons in pairings that balance the flavours and idiosyncrasies of the
cuisine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Loloan
Lobby Bar</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
14 Princess Street West<br />
Waterloo, Ontario<br />
519-883-1010 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bryan
Lavery, brings years of professional experience in the hospitality industry, as
a co-founder of the Lavery Culinary Group, food writer, chef, event planner, restaurateur and mentor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-32603165327418337392022-11-07T20:10:00.006-08:002022-11-07T20:13:46.906-08:00Coming out at the Keg n Cleaver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWNTMIJzBqsdBds7KrZafZesuGpnDDUKreX-4s4TH_2eNB-BertiLMoMvdMvf4mbjQ22fhCNIck3JBC_iVRS53cWnLZ65Y6vNfEGLJ9Pq-P9E-Z5EUWAKggbniuhXE-yN6bw7CXPwoyJ5cnLDugfKrIb5gpJlEFC2K-NDYjK4i8Bb8tSE1-dZLQi7/s3264/Gary%20Johnson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWNTMIJzBqsdBds7KrZafZesuGpnDDUKreX-4s4TH_2eNB-BertiLMoMvdMvf4mbjQ22fhCNIck3JBC_iVRS53cWnLZ65Y6vNfEGLJ9Pq-P9E-Z5EUWAKggbniuhXE-yN6bw7CXPwoyJ5cnLDugfKrIb5gpJlEFC2K-NDYjK4i8Bb8tSE1-dZLQi7/s320/Gary%20Johnson.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the summer of 1973, a long total solar eclipse occurred. It was the year that Roe v. Wade made abortion a US constitutional right. It was the summer of Gladys Knight & The Pips, Midnight Train to Georgia. Entrusted with the graveyard shift as the fledgling kitchen manager of one of the first iterations of The Keg, which was then known as the Keg 'n Cleaver, I was not quite eighteen. Solitude boosted my creativity and allowed me to be productive without the constant interruptions and surveillance of a high-volume kitchen during peak hours. There were plenty of psychological advantages to working independently. I enjoyed playing the taped repertoire of jazz and blues to funk and soul recorded for the dining room. The playlist was my initiation to Bette Midler singing "Daytime Hustler" and "Do You Want to Dance," as well as the Pointer Sisters singing, How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side). </div><div><br /></div><div>Taking on additional duties and using initiative, I worked my way up from the back-breaking work of the dish pit. There was a party to reward the energetic staff and celebrate the restaurant's accomplishments since it had opened to great success the previous December.</div><div> </div><div>I headed downstairs to the washroom located in the basement, likely to check my hair in the mirror. One of the friendly dining room waiters known to have an enviable rapport with customers and a master at turning tables often struck up brief conversations with me in the kitchen. He was the only other person in the washroom. "Hello," he said with a wide smile. In the past, he complimented me while surreptitiously grazing on remnants of lobster or rib-eye steak that he had cleared from one of his customers' tables in the dining room. Instinctively, I shielded him from the unwanted scrutiny of management. Always personable, he initiated a conversation. He remarked admiringly on my leather platform shoes with green and mustard cutouts and appliqué silver stars which allowed me to be confidently six inches taller, and my dark green silk shirt emblazoned with multiple white headshots of Marilyn Monroe. I clarified, my Mother's wedding to my stepfather had warranted the extravagant shirt purchase, which I later saw advertised in Playboy magazine. My shoes, I explained, were bought at Master John, a glam rock shoemaker on Yonge Street in Toronto.</div><div><br /></div><div>He inquired, "Are you enjoying the party?" My heart raced when he unexpectedly asked, "Are you gay?" It was the first time someone had questioned me about my sexual orientation. Surprised and fearful, I answered without hesitation but with a certain amount of trepidation about defining myself in the affirmative. "I thought you might be," he confided, reassuring me he was too. Gary was always quick to accept labels society was intent on branding gay people. </div><div><br /></div><div>I did not know any openly gay people. I had not suspected Gary was gay. Not having been exposed to the gay community or culture, I was credulous that his manner was so unabashedly forthright. What little I knew, I had read clandestinely about in library books, and magazines or seen in contemptible television and movie characterizations. I was naive and clumsy and did not dare ask questions or volunteer personal information.</div><div><br /></div><div>He asked, "Do you want to meet some other gay people? Would you like to go to a gay dance?" When I was more comfortable, Gary would refer to the dance as the homo hop. He explained, "There is a student-sponsored and organized bi-monthly dance at UWO that has been operating for a couple of years. Gay people are allowed to dance openly with each other." This was the beginning of a twenty-two-year friendship that ended when Gary died of AIDS in 1995.</div><div> </div><div>Gary was from Petrolia in southwestern Ontario. He had a rural, small-town background, was two or three years older than me, and retained a disarming politeness. He sported shoulder-length, sun-bleached hair and was good-looking, masculine with a bushy moustache that became a part of his identity. Drawn to all forms of aviation, one of his dreams was to become a commercial pilot. Gary drove a yellow, rear-drive, two-seat, Opel sports car with no accessible trunk. The epitome of suave, Gary was embroiled in an on-again and off-again boyfriend whom he met while working as a busboy at The Latin Quarter Restaurant and Tavern (which featured cocktail waitresses with fishnet stockings, bunny ears and tails). His boyfriend's father was a police officer.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the time, I was living in a large communal house on Clarence Street within walking distance of the Keg. One of the waitresses from the Keg and her boyfriend shared the house with another couple. They offered me a room with house privileges... </div><div><br /></div><div>Bryan Lavery</div>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-65454533327294508532022-11-07T18:52:00.001-08:002022-11-07T18:52:19.329-08:00The Tastes of Expo 67 <div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Tastes of
Expo 67 </b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>"...A
first-class treat for the ordinary palate, a feast for the greediest gourmand
and a paradise for the connoisseur of haute cuisine."</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>By Frank
Rasky</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Finally, at the risk of sounding chauvinistic, I would give my vote to La
Toundra in the Canadian pavilion for serving the best all-around meal - in
terms of reasonable price, smart décor, fast service and excellent food.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Everything in this 650-seat restaurant is done in an Arctic motif.
Igloo murals on the sea-green walls were created by Eskimo artists from Cape
Dorset on Baffin Island. The seats are upholstered in authentic sealskin. Three
genuine Eskimo girls serve as hostesses, and the bilingual waiters are
tastefully decked out in what is called "high Arctic" style: soft tan
jackets with black turtleneck sweaters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At $3.50, I had a superb meal - beaver tail consommé, roast Ontario
turkey stuffed with chestnuts, maple sugar pie and a truly noble cup of coffee.
But the pièce de résistance came when one of the attractive Eskimo hostesses
served me a $1.15 assortment of inuk titbits - most notable of which were the
smoked ilkalu (a delicate Arctic char) and the succulent slices of grilled
muktuk (the skin of the white whale, tangy with a dash of lemon juice).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the words of Raymond Waleau, the Ludwig Bemelmans-like maître d',
formerly director of food operations at Montréal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel:
"No new discovery has emerged in the food world since the development of
Cornish hen. With the introduction of the Arctic whale, Canada may create a
culinary revolution at Expo."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Copyright by
The Canadian Magazine, June 17, 1967. All rights reserved.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-10431521565005022612022-11-07T18:11:00.010-08:002022-11-07T20:25:47.006-08:00Homage to my Brother, Gary Robert Lavery<div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 17px;"><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div> B</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">y the time
my brother Gary was in his early-30s, he had acquired expertise in unearthing
the most unusual places to eat and drink. He had a penchant for the unlikely
hole-in-the-wall whose name and setting belied what was behind its kitchen
doors. Decades before culinary gurus Anthony Bourdain and Stanley Tucci acquired
cult-like followings with their food and travel adventures, my brother was
exploring diverse cuisines. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1KCrfuuRD-0PZwjwJ23FTj6E3vWbtPg0gaZbiTTwfjr_MhRqF9f7SVpnjP6-Rz5D-RtyGwSa1JTNZWCLAR3koKHwXBEb2pzhQYM7-gaJw5F8XGZzqJlzsImeAp6LaSAjQVu2sUPX2X6uwi2-qxxF4IEiOQrrQpWYzwdXD8EOA_i2ah-t5cC3rOkP/s1224/Gary%20Lavery%20Alicante%20Spain%201993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="758" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1KCrfuuRD-0PZwjwJ23FTj6E3vWbtPg0gaZbiTTwfjr_MhRqF9f7SVpnjP6-Rz5D-RtyGwSa1JTNZWCLAR3koKHwXBEb2pzhQYM7-gaJw5F8XGZzqJlzsImeAp6LaSAjQVu2sUPX2X6uwi2-qxxF4IEiOQrrQpWYzwdXD8EOA_i2ah-t5cC3rOkP/s320/Gary%20Lavery%20Alicante%20Spain%201993.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gary
developed an endemic hunger for aboriginal cuisines and indigenous street food culture
after moving to Scotland at seventeen. Tracking down local specialties with
time-honoured traditions was his forte, from haggis to ceviche to sashimi to
smalahove (sheep’s head) to banoffee pie. </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gary worked
in the dining rooms as a steward on the Norwegian Royal Viking Sea luxury
cruise lines, travelling to some of the most exotic ports with off-the-beaten
path itineraries. Passengers were mostly wealthy retirees. The ships were built
for lengthier round-trip luxury trans-Atlantic excursions. Royal Viking Line
prided itself on single-seating dining, allowing guests to arrive in the dining
room unscheduled. High atop the bridge a restaurant and glass-enclosed lounge
provided magnificent panoramas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gary took
pleasure in telling us how he was assigned to take care of British performer
Jean Alexander, who starred as Hilda Ogden, and a couple of other well-known
actresses from the British soap opera Coronation Street. The actresses were on
hiatus and travelling together on this particular voyage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gary's
penchant for sampling local delicacies and immersing his inquisitive palate in
new flavours had included domesticated rats in China. Anecdotes about communist
China's economic reforms and open-door policy which allowed the easing of its
borders and restrictions to Westerners is a story he never tired of recounting.
A too-blunt observation was Gary’s strong suit, and if he could repulse you in
the process, it was a bonus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gary would purchase tchotchkes
and traditional crafts from ports of call, such as decorative, papier-mache
Russian lacquer boxes, hand-painted with iconic, highly detailed scenes from
folk tales on shore excursions. I retailed these decorative items in my shop,
Not Just Antiques, on Talbot Street at the foot of Market Lane in London,
Ontario in the mid-eighties. He purchased a large handmade Peruvian tapestry
made from dyed, woven alpaca wool in the village outside of Machu Picchu that
hung in the dining room of my Proudfoot Lane apartment. He would later abandon
it in a dispute with a landlord. There is a traditional woven wicker rooster
with a removable head that presides on my parent’s kitchen island that he
purchased in China. The body of the rooster is the resting place for his cremation
ashes which we brought back from Birmingham, England after his funeral.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1992,
with only my brother's previous address and a verbal commitment to contact him,
I arrived in Southampton, England, unannounced. Aware that he recently moved,
sold his catering truck, separated from his partner Colin, and did not have a
telephone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put faith in my investigative
abilities. We had spoken long-distance weeks after my grandmother died. During
the sale of my first restaurant, La Cucina on King which I co-owned with my
parents, and before I sold my Palace Street turn-of- the- century cottage we
talked vaguely about taking a trip to Izmir, Turkey. We were concerned about
the politics and unrest. I remember reading, after hours of siege an extremist
mob set a hotel ablaze in the city of Sivas, killing 37 people. The hotel was the residence of Aziz Nesin,
The Satanic Verses translator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Travelling
on the early evening express from London-Waterloo to Southampton, and disembarking
from my compartment, I bumped into my brother. Gary was in London for the
weekend and was returning home in the carriage next to mine. At the precise
moment I did, he descended onto the platform beside me. By any measure, it was a
remarkable coincidence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A month
later, I booked an inexpensive flight on a small overloaded turbo-prop plane.
Gary and I were soon crossing the English Channel in the middle of a sudden,
severe thunder and lightning storm for a vacation at the seaside town of
Benidorm just outside of Alicante in Spain. Benidorm is a fishing village that
turned into a mega-resort dotted with skyscraper hotels with pristine white,
sandy beaches, palm-lined boulevards and promenades with a mountainous skyline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the small inheritance my grandmother left
me I had underwritten this trip. Exhausted, Gary slept most of the holiday with
a few brief forays into the old port town for a local specialty of memorable
sea bream with capers and heavy cream baked in a low-fired, wide terracotta pot
known as a cazuela. We left a glowing review of the restaurant at the front
desk of the hotel despite the hotel clerk’s indifference.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Into the
Spanish interior we travelled by bus to a tasca for over-priced tapas owned by what
turned out to be a German ex-patriot. Gary's malaise concerned me, as we were
planning on travelling up the coast to Barcelona to visit architect Antoni
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Basilica. He was exhausted and could barely summon the
strength to get out of his hotel bed. And thinking about it, I realized he was
depressed. I believe this was the beginning of his lengthy battle with HIV.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Months
later, back in Southampton, England, working as a waiter in an upscale Italian
restaurant where Pizza Margherita (a sad concoction of out-of-season tomatoes,
sketchy mozzarella, basil, and olive oil) was at the pinnacle of popularity. In
the wrong hands, it was unworthy of the Italian sobriquet. One night after my
shift, standing in a telephone booth on a cold and rainy February night, my
mother relayed long distance that my friend Catherine had been brutally
murdered by her husband. Attempting to come to terms with the horror and barbarity
of Catherine’s shocking death made for a long period of despair and grief and
outrage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gary saw a
posting for seasonal employment at La Sablonnerie, a 16th-century inn on the
remote island of Sark in the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy that was
agriculturally self-sufficient. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple
at the Italian restaurant in Southampton, talked late into the afternoon about
Sark’s limitless supply of seafood and the island’s sustainable ethos, leaving
me an unheard of 20-pound gratuity <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
show their appreciation when they left. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the time,
my brother and I were both devotees of the book, <i>The Road Less
Travelled</i>, and the island of Sark, the last bastion of feudalism in Europe
with a population of 600 residents, appealed to our adventurous natures and
curiosity. Sark, long considered a hideaway from the stress of contemporary
life, with its prohibition on cars, no airport or hospital, and a lack of
modern-day tourism infrastructure combined, with its status as the last feudal
outpost in Europe, beckoned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Instead of
cars, there were tractors, a ubiquity of rusty bicycles, and an assortment of
carriages and carts for horse-drawn transport. Sark was once entirely Norman
French, still evidenced everywhere on the island. Some older residents still
spoke Sercquiais, a disappearing patois of Norman French that differs between
Great Sark and Little Sark. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The day
after Easter Sunday, we arrived by a small ferry from Guernsey to Sark’s tiny
Cruex harbour pier, a tower-like rocky outcrop. The harbour surrounded by a
jagged coastline with steep perpendicular cliffs is accessed by a narrow road
through a 200-foot tunnel within the cliff face. We were greeted warmly by a
resident holding a sign with our surname. He was the driver of a vintage
horse-drawn barouche that our employer, Elizabeth Perrée, sent to take us to
our cottage lodgings. The cottage's former thatch-covered roofs had been
replaced with overlapping pantiles, as they were always at risk from fires.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We wound our
way along the country lanes and marveled at the daffodils, hyacinths, tulips,
and other spring flowers already out in a blaze of spring hues. The driver took
us down the tree-lined main avenue, past a sparse collection of essential
merchants and low-built, white-washed stone cottages continuing down dirt roads
to the interior pastoral countryside. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
hedgerows, cliff paths, valleys, and meadows possess a rich abundance of
bluebells, primroses, dog violets, and celandines and are well-suited to sheep,
rabbits and woodcock. Small shrubs of yellow-flowered gorse were in bloom on
the windswept cliff sides, and the distinctive sweet scent of coconut and good
vanilla was all-pervading on this crisp, sunshiny day. Soon we were heading
towards the breathtaking isthmus, known as Le Coupée, which connects Great Sark
to Little Sark. It towers above sea level on a plateau above its jagged cliff
face. Sark, referred to as an island, is two islands connected by a razor-thin
strip of land. There is a 260-foot precipice with a vertiginous drop on the
left side of La Coupée, affording a dramatic view of Convanche Bay. To the
right lies the expanse of La Grande Gréve Bay, accessed by the north end of La
Coupée by climbing down a 100-meter cliff pathway with steps cut into the rock.
When the tide is out, Gréve becomes a vast beach of golden sand, and crystal
clear water with cauldron-shaped rock pools, caves, and arches that we would
spend many hours exploring...<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bryan Lavery</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-62612310313593292632018-12-06T21:29:00.005-08:002022-11-07T19:20:44.196-08:00The Indomitable Marika Hayek of Budapest Restaurant<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It saddened me to read of Marika Hayek’s passing earlier this week. Budapest Dining Room and Tavern, a local gem with yards of red velvet and charming unintended kitsch continued to evolve while its grand interior remained virtually unchanged. The décor with plush velvet valances and curtained alcoves, brocades, red and gold wallpaper and comfortable armchair seating evokes another era. The Roma “Gypsy-style” aesthetic is also the restaurant's brand. It became both an anomaly and anachronism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The restaurant's two main rooms lead back from Dundas Street and are linked by an arched passageway across the middle, an ornate banquet hall at the far end, and the kitchen at the other end. There is almost always a musician—a piano player with a penchant for delivering uninvited political observations—playing the sentimental melodies traditionally adopted by Hungarian Romani musicians. He plays to the Budapest's patrons between brief monologues. He is part of the idiosyncratic charm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before I go any further, I want to begin by saying, I have known Marika Hayek for several decades. We were friendly restaurant neighbours for 10 years and she was only too happy to lend me a pound of butter on a busy Saturday night. She once invited me to go on vacation with her to the city of Budapest as her companion. "All expenses paid." And by the way, Hayek alternatively referred to me as Bruce, Byron and Bryan. I answered to all three. It was endearing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Budapest happens to be the first fine dining restaurant I visited with my family when we moved to London in 1970. My stepfather's paternal family is Hungarian. My stepfather an excellent cook acquainted me us the cuisine. Chicken paprikash is the Hungarian National dish, its name derived from liberal use of paprika, a spice emblematic of the cuisine. Last year he brought some very fine paprika back from a trip to Hungary and we celebrated my birthday with family and good friends at Budapest Restaurant. This year for my birthday in October, my parents hosted a dinner party for my friends and my stepfather showed everyone how to prepare spätzle and chicken paprikash. Everyone taking turns. She was not far from our thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On top of that, I have been a long-time patron Budapest. My friend Kathy McLaughlin and I have been long-time devotees of the stuffed pork. Hungary, of course, is known for all matter of stuffed things, from cabbage rolls, dumplings, and perogies to blintzes, which were among Hayek’s time-honoured specialties. Her warm hospitality, coupled with menus filled with goulash, schnitzels and meaty paprikash, always made dining at Budapest, feel like you were stepping back in time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hayek delighted clients by serving Hungarian specialties in this traditional old-world tavern setting. The offering always consisted of a large selection of proper Hungarian dishes. House-made chicken and rabbit paprikash, beef stroganoff, wiener schnitzel, combination platters or prix-fixe Hungarian dinners — spätzle and the gnocchi were always delicious — and we would save room for the palacsinta, strudels and the walnut roll. The a la carte desserts were always much larger portions. The desserts that arrive as part of the prix-fixe arrangement are presented minus mounds of whipped cream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A couple of years ago, Hungarian Consul-General Dr. Stefania Szabo celebrated Hayek’s landmark achievements as a successful business owner and pillar of the London community. Hayek was no stranger to such fanfare. She was admired and well-regarded for her hospitality, wit and risqué repartee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hayek arrived in Canada in March of 1957, then 25, she and her husband were part of a wave of immigration to Canada that occurred after the 1956 Hungarian revolution against communist rule. Between 1956 and 1958, an estimated 200,000 fled to the west to avoid Soviet reprisals, leaving their possessions behind. Around 38,000 Hungarian refugees arrived in Canada. About 6,000 of these refugees arrived in Ontario. Hayek was among them. All were admitted and accepted into Canadian society within a two-year period. The impact of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the mass of emigration of Hungarians who consequently arrived in Canada forms a watershed moment in Canadian History. Knowing this helps to put Hayek’s formidable achievements into perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A trained cook in Budapest, Hayek was drawn to the hospitality business when she arrived in London. Initially, she was employed by Moskie Delicatessen on Dundas Street at Waterloo. Always thinking ahead, Hayek bought the building that housed Moskie even before she purchased the delicatessen from its owners. That transaction included the Giant ice cream shop next door. In 1968 she and her husband merged the two storefronts into a single premise. Ripping out the interior they refurbished the basement and main floor areas to build the present-day restaurant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A formidable restaurateur with a keen aptitude for the business and exacting standards, the fledgling businesswomen embodied the height of Mittel European elegance and sophistication in the 1970s. There are plenty of framed glamour photos of the striking Hayek in her prime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Until last year, Hayek’s routine has been to rise before dawn, eat breakfast, exercise and swim laps in her indoor pool. She arrived at the restaurant early in the morning to begin the workday. Hayek insisted “Everything on the menu be made in-house.” She oversaw and helped to prepare the large variety of Hungarian staples for which she has built her reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hayek often greeted her guests with a gracious "please come in, my lovely peoples" or "my lovely ladies and gentlemen" and had a penchant for referring to guests as "dah-ling" in her Gabor-like Hungarian accent. She was known to be a harmless flirt; it is part of her shtick. She liked to engage men and women in bawdy repartee and often referred to what she called “make the sexy-sexy." Hayek was always on hand tableside to pepper a conversation with a compliment or relationship advice for patrons. A classic Hayek phrase, often repeated was, "If a man has money in the pocket he has nothing in the pants. If he has something in the pants he has nothing in the pocket."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last year at 85, requiring a cane for added mobility, Hayek celebrated a mind-numbing 60 years in business. A long list of local luminaries and a loyal clientele of long-time regulars, whom she mostly knew by name or a derivation of their name, still frequented the restaurant. The Budapest Restaurant continued to delight Hungarian food fans who preferred old-fashioned dishes. Even those food enthusiasts who were inclined to moan and dismiss the restaurant as an anachronism will wish they had taken a closer look at the Budapest Restaurant's unique charms before it became a thing of the past. Hayek will be missed. The Budapest will remain in business as she wished. - Bryan Lavery <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-5971229424200208502018-02-07T21:49:00.001-08:002022-11-07T19:20:02.813-08:00Remembering Chef & Baker Extraordinaire Lindsay Todd Reid<div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>
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I was saddened to hear Lindsay Reid had
passed away after a brief illness. Lindsay's motto was to “share really good
baking,” made from scratch in small batches, using high quality ingredients. That
required patience and precision – something Lindsay appeared to have in quantity.
Lindsay incorporated only pure natural ingredients, unbleached organic flour,
local eggs, honey and butter in his baking in the bake kitchen in the cellar of
his Sebringville home. On offer were hand-made croissants, squares, tarts,
muffins and seasonal specialties. Lindsay asked me not to refer to his baking as iconic –
so instead I referred to his delicious baking as being emblematic. His baking represented everything good and comforting<span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="color: #545454; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span><br />
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The first time I tasted his baking was at the
Stratford Slow Food Market. I was hooked. I was very happy when he decided to
join us as a vendor at the Western Fair Farmers’ Market, after receiving plenty
of encouragement from Alan Mailloux of Downie Street Bakehouse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reid was been employed in just about every job in the “food
biz”, beginning with an initial stint at age fifteen, as a busboy at the Church
Restaurant in Stratford. “A traumatizing experience to say the least, at the
time I vowed never to work in the food biz again,” Lindsay told me in 2013.<o:p></o:p></div>
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High school jobs included night and weekend baking at Buns
Master Bakery and working in the kitchen at the local A&W drive-in. Reid
attended the Stratford Chefs School after a two-year stint studying journalism
at university. Lindsay said, “I felt the desire to follow a career path that
involved creativity and working with my hands. A strong appreciation for food
and entertaining was nurtured at home, so a career in food seemed a natural
choice.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“My imagination and creativity didn’t seem to be adequately
fired, being in my early twenties where everything in life seems to be either
black or white. I was much less experienced than the majority of the
apprentices when I began the school. I remember Jim Morris (co-founder of
Stratford Chefs School) telling me to not move around from job to job, best to
stay in one place for a while and learn absolutely everything you can from the
situation, ” recalled Lindsay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lindsay apprenticed with Chris Woolf at Woolfy’s (first
incarnation) in Stratford. “Thanks to divorce and my ‘All About Eve’ phase, (a
reference to the overly ambitious ingénue that insinuated herself in to the
life of an established stage star (Bette Davis) and circle of theater friends
in a ruthless climb to the top, in the film All About Eve) I ended up running
the kitchen for Woolf’s ex, who became sole proprietor.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1992, Reid’s sister Mari-Jane (M.J.), and her family
returned to Stratford and she and Lindsay decided to go into business
together. “We purchased Tastes on Wellington Street and turned it into
Lindsay’s Food Shop, offering deli, bakery, and catering in 1997 and 1998. I
also ran Lindsay’s Restaurant where Pazzo Taverna is now located,” Lindsay
said.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since leaving chefs school, Lindsay had been employed as a
breakfast cook at the Westin Harbour Castle, server at Canoe, and catering and
event manager at Senses Catering in Toronto. There was a stage at Grano with
Ellen Greaves when she was briefly the chef at Winston’s. “In Montreal, he
was a sandwich maker at Café Titanic in Old Montreal until he took over the
kitchen at Olive et Gourmando.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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Lindsay said, “My boss Dyan Solomon of Olive et Gourmando in Montreal and I would test items for inclusion in our selection of fresh baked goods. We would go over and over a particular item, i.e. brownies, until we got the exact result we wanted. And when it went on the menu we would not vary the item. The customer expects and should receive the exact same quality of a particular item every time they purchase it.”</div>
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Lindsay enjoyed the interaction with his regulars and
clients. “Relationships that are built through weekly visits give meaning and
feedback to a baker; it helps me with my product consistency and refinement,” Lindsay
told me. It was essential to Lindsay to produce consistently tasty baking that
he would want to eat himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At Christmas, crocks of mincemeat, made with locally
harvested apples, would have been marinating since early fall, and fruit
mixtures in brandy and rum have been baked into cakes and puddings. Lindsay ground
whole almonds to make the almond paste for dark fruitcake. He would prepare a selection of his and his
family’s personal favourites: Christmas fruit cakes, puddings, mincemeat pies
and tarts, panettone and gingerbread cookies.</div>
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“Small business depends on many variables lining up.
Sometimes your concept gets adapted to fit the variables. My initial
concept was to supply other businesses. I soon realized that I could better
control the quality of my product by selling directly and that I could sell
directly for a much better price than wholesale. So, I began doing farmers’
markets,” Lindsay explained.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After getting to know Lindsay we realized we had many friends and acquaintances in common. Lindsay left the Western Fair Farmers' Market in June 2016 to take an indefinite hiatus. He was, and will, continue to be sorely missed by a large community of people who genuinely cared about his well-being, his skill and talent as a baker.</div>
Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-84507571036380878562018-02-04T16:24:00.002-08:002018-02-04T16:24:48.020-08:00Hunter & Co: Speakeasy Ambience with a Big City Vibe <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">BY BRYAN LAVERY</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Londoners
can now enjoy the output of chef Matt Kershaw of Hamilton’s acclaimed
restaurant group The Other Bird, at Hunter & Co. on Talbot Street</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Photos by
Nick Lavery, Lavery Culinary Group</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Restaurateur Erin Dunham and executive chef Matt Kershaw of The Other
Bird restaurant group in Hamilton have expertly refurbished the former
Kantina/Black George space on Talbot Street for their latest restaurant
project. Hunter & Co. is a sultry cocktail bar/lounge with a speakeasy vibe
featuring interesting hot food, as well as charcuterie and fresh oysters. We
attended the soft opening and realized immediately that if you want a seriously
well-crafted cocktail this is the place to go. We could sit at the bar all
evening and watch Dave Fauteux and crew craft cocktails.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The restaurant’s urban vibe takes inspiration from two of their
Hamilton-based restos: Rapscallion Rogue Eatery (offering culinary connoisseurs
a full nose-to-tail experience) and a little bit of Two Black Sheep (offering
oysters, charcuterie, salumi, cheese and pickles, carefully crafted cocktails,
awesome wine and delicious craft beer). Menu items, described as
“big-flavour-probably-bad-for-you cooking,” include Confit Lamb Shoulder,
Tongue ‘n’ Cheek, “The Best Grilled Cheese,” Pumpkin Seed Crusted Whitefish,
Pig Ear Poutine, Halloumi Tikka Masala, Fried Calamari and Korean Fried
Chicken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Whether you’re visiting the chef-driven and carnivore-focused
Rapscallion Rogue Eatery, Two Black Sheep, or playful taco bar The Mule in
Hamilton, Burro in Burlington (serving everything from ahi tuna ceviche to fish
tacos), or the Woolf & Wilde at the elegant-and-boutique Arlington Hotel in
Paris, Ontario, the motto is “And we just want satisfy you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Hunter & Co.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br />
349 Talbot Street, London, ON<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">hunterco.ca<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">3:30 pm–until late, seven days a week<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-78559094667541954372018-02-04T15:24:00.001-08:002018-02-04T15:24:42.473-08:00Los Lobos: Modern Mexican from the Invincible Wolfes <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">BY BRYAN LAVERY</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">When Air
Canada announced Canada’s top 30 best new restaurants on its longlist for 2017,
Wolfe of Wortley, in London’s Wortley Village, made the prestigious list. Los
Lobos is the latest creation from brothers Justin and Gregg Wolfe, who are also
the proprietors of The Early Bird (and the former Rock au Taco and Nite Owl).
Los Lobos literally means “the wolves” in Spanish.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Left
to right: Greg, Oliva, Jenn and Justin Wolfe at the visually arresting Los
Lobos bar</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Photos: Mariam Waliji </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gregg and
Justin both come from musical backgrounds. They spent years traveling as
musicians and gaining valuable experience, which they put to use in their
business ventures. Gregg spent a decade in Toronto working in nightclubs, while
Justin worked as a chef at various restaurants in between travelling. The
brothers went into business as Wolfe Pack Inc., and opened the Nite Owl rock
lounge in December 2009. In 2012 they opened The Early Bird on Talbot Street,
attached it to Nite Owl, and operated it all as one business. This “fine diner”
made its name serving everything from Fat Elvis breakfast to Turducken
sandwich.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Trying to
introduce to London something it didn’t already have, the Wolfes brought
Mexican street food downtown with Rock au Taco in the space the Nite Owl had
occupied. In anticipation of the opening of the Los Lobos project, Rock au Taco
was closed and The Early Bird expanded into the adjoining space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
building has housed a number of restaurants over the years, including The
Whiskey House, the Coates of Arms, Alex P Keaton and The Rose and Crown. At one
time it was home to Marg or Rita’s, another Mexican hotspot with plenty of
credibility in its day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On our
first visit we were greeted warmly by Olivia Wolfe, who is married to Gregg,
and who was charming and conversational while expertly managing expectations to
facilitate the brief crush in the kitchen. Open just under a week, Los Lobos
was a busy and happening spot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Think
modern Mexican flavours, with innovative riffs and ideas and lots of cool
Mexican imagery and local references. The dining room and bar is painted floor
to ceiling in stunning, colourful murals, and one-of-a-kind art installations
by Toronto artist Stu Andrenelli. There are plenty of colourful motifs and
indigenous Mexican folk art featuring skeletons, skulls and crosses. It is the
kind of iconography that people are used to seeing associated with the
celebration of Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Chef
Kyle Rose is my right hand and had a big hand in the menu with me at Los
Lobos,” says Justin Wolfe. “He’s our first addition to Wolfe Pack Inc. outside
of the family. Rose will continue to help me oversee, balance kitchen teams and
menus as we continue to grow.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The focus
here is on platos pequeños (small plates). They predominate on a menu of
gourmet Mexican-inspired fare with a modern twist. The menu shares the love for
tacos but also covers a take on classics. We love the chilaquiles (corn
tortillas cut in quarters and lightly fried) with mole, questo blando, and
cilantro. The crispy cornmeal battered jalapeños rellenos stuffed with Monterey
Jack and served with red salsa or mole sauce are sensational and never
disappoint. The ceviche is prepared with bay scallops which are small, tender
and slightly sweet. The marinade is fresh and prepared with red onion, radish,
lime, cilantro and habanero giving it both citrus and heat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Los
Lobos tacos are rooted in tradition and topped with various combinations of
salsa, aioli, pickled vegetables and hot sauces</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Los Lobos
tacos offerings are generously topped with various combinations of salsa,
aioli, pickled vegetables and hot sauces. Over several visits, we sampled all
ten tacos on offer. We liked the beef cheek taco with pickled red onion, queso
fresco and horseradish. The savoury pork belly taco is finished with lime sour
cream, radish and jalapeño. Green salsa, pickled cabbage, corn and cilantro are
perfect accompaniments for the bay scallop taco. The yuka taco (yuka is the
plant from which tapioca flour is derived and not to be confused with the yucca
plant) has a great texture and perfectly matched with pico de gallo, cumin
crema and green onion. Forced to pick a stand out, it would be the crunchy
battered cod taco with chipotle aioli, cabbage, pickled red onion and cilantro.
There is also beef tongue with radish, red salsa and iceberg lettuce and other
iterations with cauliflower and black beans. All tacos are priced at $5 each.
Tacos can be made into a burrito with rice and or beans, served dry with crema,
green or red sauce. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The La
Carne section includes beef cheeks that are chilli braised with fried yuka and
pickled cabbage, and chicken a la plancha (grilled chicken) with Lobos mole and
pico de gallo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Karla
Conde is Los Lobos’ dedicated, in-house Mexican pastry chef. Exquisitely
prepared churros are served with a generous portion of thick and creamy
chocolate ganache and chilli heat. We love the flourless chocolate cake with
lots of chili heat.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
plating and presentation of the food is top notch. Everything we sampled lived
up to the promise of the Wolfes’ prodigious talents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Wolfes take the cocktail side of things very seriously. The cocktail list
features craft cocktails that are prepared with fresh ingredients, homemade
mixers and premium liquors. The bar serves up ice cold cervezas, smooth
tequila, mezcal and bourbon-focused cocktails, and blended margaritas. The
combination of cucumber, cilantro and tequila makes for knock-out margaritas.
Other kindred flavours include strawberry and cumin; watermelon and apple;
pineapple and jalapeno; and grapefruit ginger vanilla. You can expect the
bartenders at Los Lobos to take blended drink classics and island-style
beverages to a new level by offering plenty of options. We sampled and liked
the strong and deeply flavoured Blood in Blood Out made with tequila, port,
lime, ginger and bitters. We also tried the Los Lobos, a signature cocktail,
prepared with tequila, Amaro Nonino, Cynar, maraschino and lemon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Los Lobos
has a fun, funky and eclectic vibe that is appealing. There is a no reservation
policy. There’s plenty of room inside or, in season, outside on the spacious
patio. In the meantime, Justin tells us that Nite Owl reopened in December
above the restaurant, as a speakeasy type of cocktail bar focused on crafted
cocktails. There is an unmarked back alley entrance beside Los Lobos. The Nite Owl
operates Friday and Saturday evenings and is available through the week for
private bookings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Wolfes have taken over the former Harvest Bakery in Wortley Village, and are
slowly working out details for their next project. They are leaning towards an
Italian vibe, but with a different look at Italian food and culture. The former
bakery will also act as a small expansion for the Wolfe of Wortley out the
back, which will be used for more production and storage space. They plan to
continue to elevate and innovate their food offerings. Los Lobos’ business
continues to be strong, and the Wolfes are getting ready to offer new menu
items including adding a small brunch menu on weekends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jen, who
is married to Justin, along with Oliva Wolfe, are often on hand to keeps things
running smoothly and with style. Servers are knowledgeable, articulate and
welcoming, as you’d expect from a restaurant that is modern and driven by a
family of cutting-edge hospitality professionals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Los Lobos<br />
580 Talbot Street, London<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tuesday
to Saturday: 11 am-11 pm<br />
Sunday: 5 pm-11 pm<br />
Closed Monday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-36773281837738161592018-02-01T15:21:00.001-08:002022-11-07T19:51:03.415-08:00Chef Thomas Waite’s Go-To Neighbourhood Destination, Spruce on Wellington, Celebrates its One Year Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div><br /></div>NOW CLOSED<br />
<br />
Spruce on Wellington is a seriously good neighbourhood restaurant. Chef/owner Thomas Waite and his staff are celebrating the restaurant’s first anniversary this month. The food is among the top-tier in London, Ontario. Waite and his staff are among a select group of restaurant professionals devoted to offering and advancing locally-focused contemporary Canadian cuisine in the city. The restaurant opened in January 2017 in a small house on Wellington Street between Oxford and Piccadilly Street. Its warm minimalist design has charm and is compact with 32 seats in the dining room and 22 on a nicely appointed seasonal patio.<br />
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Waite is celebrating the anniversary with updates to the warm décor, acoustic enhancement and the launch of new and accessibly priced menus. The friendly, intelligent staff includes chef Ashton Gillespie, Jamie Sandwith, Larissa McCutcheon and Jason Astels who are committed to delivering a professional restaurant experience. The culinary team is known for classic, seasonal food preparations, with a modern twist. Changing menus allow the team to express a focused and curated culinary point of view with an emphasis on locally-sourced ingredients. Innovation is the driving force to which Waite attributes the success of The Spruce, and of The In Home Chef as one of London’s most well-regarded caterers.<br />
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Acknowledging that he has been on a steep learning curve this past year, Waite has learned what to do better. He realizes that restaurants that continue to grow and prosper are the ones that are most willing and readily able to adapt to changing trends and shifts in the marketplace. To stay at the top of the game, Waite is constantly re-evaluating his approach to the restaurant business and on a continuing basis, developing fresh new menus. In a dedicated effort to avoid being pigeonholed by the “special occasion” restaurant moniker, Waite has intentionally encouraged patrons to view The Spruce as more of a go-to neighbourhood destination.<br />
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Streamlining his restaurant operations at The Spruce, to synchronize with his In Home Chef business, Waite anticipates that the operations will be more cohesive. He is also pleased to announce a new slate of immersive cooking classes to be held at the restaurant for culinary enthusiasts.<br />
As modern dining experiences continue to change, Waite and his staff, appreciate shifting demands create the need for fresh ways to heighten the customer’s experience.<br />
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<i>“Waite is a chef for whom work is everything — his consuming passion is for cooking and jobs he can really sink his teeth in. His cuisine is beautifully handcrafted, classic in its influences, innovative in sensibility and plating.” — Bryan Lavery, Food Editor, eatdrink Magazine</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>“To me, being a chef isn’t a job; it’s my life’s passion. When I am in a kitchen working with my hands, I feel complete. Being a chef isn’t just a part of me, it’s who I am.” — Thomas Waite</i><br />
<br />
The Spruce on Wellington<br />
731 Wellington St.<br />
London, ON<br />
519-434-9797<br />
www.spruceonwellington.com<br />
<br />
MONDAY-Cooking Classes<br />
TUESDAY-SATURDAY: 5 PM-10 PM<br />
SUNDAY: CLOSED<br />
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<br />Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-74498278100310963622018-01-25T17:15:00.002-08:002019-05-27T12:58:34.905-07:00Craft Farmacy – Dispensing Deliciousness Farm to Table & FEAST ON Certified<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">BY BRYAN LAVERY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The talented
Jazey-Spoelstra and Wolwowicz are partnered in Craft Farmacy with Harmen
Spoelstra. General Manager Geoff Hammond and Assistant Manager Cody Ballman
round out a powerhouse restaurant team. This is the ultimate neighbourhood
restaurant. With 112 seats, it features sharing plates, fabulous house
cocktails, craft beer, a superior wine list and plenty of pizzazz. There is a
private event space with room for 40 on the second floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jazey-Spoelstra’s
stylish design sensibility is reflected in Craft Farmacy, and delivers style
and comfort, with attention to the smallest details. Setting the tone is a
long bar, stunning fireplace, custom-made leather banquettes and repurposed
tables with comfortable chairs. The servers’ leather aprons are custom designed
by Coakley’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jazey-Spoelstra
delivers cutting-edge and quality food experiences combined with extraordinary
service, her forte and hallmark as the owner of North Moore Catering, River Room
and Rhino Lounge. Wolwowicz (formerly of The Springs on Springbank Drive) cooks
with reverence and purpose, sourcing ingredients from producers and farms
dedicated to sustainable agriculture. Wolwowicz is aided by sous chef Kyle
Trafford and cook Jayden Wickert. Menu items are progressive, rustic in style,
featuring high-quality ingredients crafted from local, region-specific and
specialty products, and executed with aptitude, innovation and attention to
detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At a couple
of pre-opening menu tastings, we watched Chef and Spoelstra tweak and fine-tune
every nuance of the menu. Chef and his team are big on prep and having mise en
place ready, allowing for quick and easy execution of the dishes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We enjoyed
Roasted Bone Marrow with Ox Tail Marmalade; Lamb Belly Croquettes; Chicken
Schnitzel with Warm Potato Salad, Forked River Abbey Jus and Rapini; and Black
Pepper Crusted Duck Breast, Root Vegetable and Duck Confit Hash with Blood
Orange Gastrique. There is a fresh oyster bar featuring a changing selection including
Malpeque, Irish Point, Daisy Bay, Raspberry Point, Lucky Lime and Savage Blonde
varieties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Craft
Farmacy is London’s first Feast ON certified “Taste of Ontario” restaurant.
Feast ON is a criteria-based certification program designed to promote, market,
and protect the authenticity of foodservice operators whose specific attributes
qualify their commitment to local food. It is a program designed to help you
experience restaurants that champion Ontario food and beverages. The program
uses both verification and enforcement mechanisms to maintain its integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Craft
Farmacy</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">449
Wharncliffe Road South, 519-914-2699<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">11:30 am–Midnight</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sunday Brunch & Dinner</span></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-17292037565489675892018-01-25T16:46:00.001-08:002018-01-25T22:36:57.804-08:00 Reverie Restaurant: London's Best Kept Secret - Chef Brian Sua-an's Thoughtful Modern Canadian Cuisine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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BY BRYAN LAVERY</div>
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There has been a movement towards a modern, minimalist
cuisine that is natural, but also resolutely seasonal, local, and with a focus
on pristine ingredients and terroir. New Nordic Cuisine has been a phenomenal
success, one that has resonated with chefs all over the world. London-based
chef Brian Sua-an has adapted the Nordic discipline in refining the spectrum of
Canadian flavours. This is a new concept, modern, minimalist and hyper-curated.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before Reverie opened, I attended a tasting menu preview
that garnered spectacular reviews. This is an intimate 500-square-foot space
with four tables of two (or a communal table of eight) and four seats at the
bar with an open kitchen. There is one five-course tasting menu that changes.
The goal is to serve inventive and intelligent cuisine based on simple,
high-quality ingredients and traditional techniques. Everything else is secondary.
By keeping everything simple, from the pared-down equipment (dishes are
hand-washed) to the minimalist interior, the environmental footprint is kept to
bare bones. The focus is on innovation in a casual and relaxed setting.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Reverie is operated by Sua-an and his wife Jerrah Reville.
Sua-an previously staged at NOMA and at 108 Restaurant in Copenhagen. It had
been his dream to open a restaurant, but he never thought of it as a 12-seater,
let alone serving a tasting menu only. Chef uses modern techniques and applies
them to his cuisine to make a dish better, not less. Using seasonal and local
produce is important, but quality is paramount. Chef plans food items months in
advance, but also intends that the concept and development will evolve organically.
Chef gravitates to perfect ingredients and goes to great lengths to source the
very best of what is available. Forests, meadows and waters provide a diverse
range of edible wild plants and funghi to forage for the menu. Chef encourages
diners to eat specific courses with their hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The glassed frontage is reminiscent of a terrarium and
somehow seems fitting allowing the outdoors to be part of the experience.
Sua-an says, “Simplicity with quality comes first. Everything else is
secondary.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Reverie Restaurant</b><br />
1–208 Piccadilly Street<br />
reverierestaurant.ca<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reservations only, Wednesday to Sunday or by special
arrangement<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-14702450688124803602017-12-14T14:56:00.000-08:002017-12-14T14:56:30.002-08:00Rising Culinary Stars 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTKN4INH7dGL3VJfq-QFJvsnphtNqPpDlQXv9UkcEsbLQpdM1QHmdRgO3T5dCkuUQdDX-JH_9XOJRriMbNg-MxdB08v_bEHV3vWwfAnXdapSgNCcvKneQOWRgQfJta-QvYArZOPEGDqw/s1600/3chef_brulee_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="876" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTKN4INH7dGL3VJfq-QFJvsnphtNqPpDlQXv9UkcEsbLQpdM1QHmdRgO3T5dCkuUQdDX-JH_9XOJRriMbNg-MxdB08v_bEHV3vWwfAnXdapSgNCcvKneQOWRgQfJta-QvYArZOPEGDqw/s640/3chef_brulee_main.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>I am dedicated to supporting and mentoring emerging
talent in the culinary and hospitality industry. Rising Culinary Stars are
young, up-and-coming culinary professionals who represent the vanguard of the
modern Ontario culinary scene and have a reputation for originality and
creativity. They have exceptional, compelling culinary philosophies and are
committed to fostering a cutting-edge farm-to-table culinary repertoire by
sharing their knowledge with fellow professionals. Ultimately, it’s innovation,
ambition, exquisite presentation and most importantly, delicious cuisine that
combine to be awarded the distinction. Please send me your nominations for 2018.
ethicalgourmet@yahoo.com<o:p></o:p></b></div>
Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-13487296485584090452017-11-02T05:29:00.000-07:002017-11-14T12:17:47.283-08:00Dragonfly Bistro — Intimate, Stylish and Attentive with an Indo-Dutch Flair — Celebrates 10 years<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzlK9NCUgtOzgbAHGC_xiAUzLIc6Y6lvJDVX7TAuyGjJXbAJfp9evOsW9pLdxH7t4xafwYarpiG4chmoVwPX9zjz_mXqz1Pp-SL5FeC6gFA1JJbHTJygBwRp90-Y9d0yH9ZjkMqpSj_o/s1600/Dragonfly+Bistro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="136" data-original-width="372" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzlK9NCUgtOzgbAHGC_xiAUzLIc6Y6lvJDVX7TAuyGjJXbAJfp9evOsW9pLdxH7t4xafwYarpiG4chmoVwPX9zjz_mXqz1Pp-SL5FeC6gFA1JJbHTJygBwRp90-Y9d0yH9ZjkMqpSj_o/s640/Dragonfly+Bistro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-E8X-g8ZgkESMBTH4ZpB6EF6nd74UoBXgYzUsIJzEzmiaEqM0JRiISy64sMAY36fmNj1gJHoDhVDDSOBTfa5yafx8eijff-HFuIpS1AzjW06uYpNoeTzdTs-fzRvoIydF7z04e-JeV-Y/s1600/Dragonfly+Bistro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-E8X-g8ZgkESMBTH4ZpB6EF6nd74UoBXgYzUsIJzEzmiaEqM0JRiISy64sMAY36fmNj1gJHoDhVDDSOBTfa5yafx8eijff-HFuIpS1AzjW06uYpNoeTzdTs-fzRvoIydF7z04e-JeV-Y/s400/Dragonfly+Bistro.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Chef/Co-Owner Donald Yuriaan </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJqWmKLx-yBRO_mx5Pc4GhAuywBPROaUlndkeR6n3z952WGLPkSK8O57GoeNWn1C1QPoxkFUreGnrFIVX-SYUJsHgdPzyoPzZ8c-zLp_oO47cTCJdjkP86aZOvpYL2zdTuxvTLMIVN7c/s1600/Dragonfly+Cauliflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJqWmKLx-yBRO_mx5Pc4GhAuywBPROaUlndkeR6n3z952WGLPkSK8O57GoeNWn1C1QPoxkFUreGnrFIVX-SYUJsHgdPzyoPzZ8c-zLp_oO47cTCJdjkP86aZOvpYL2zdTuxvTLMIVN7c/s320/Dragonfly+Cauliflower.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Kari Kol</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9l64U_zcIT1sGKcGE-4jGFkDgo_0ihmAWd3JPP6ViPO1eKMrknTTPbi-zkk9nN6E5kKZjboLGcXWw7AwZxN80pVsAktYFulXf1k5x0xVbr_QHyzp49wt9-10EuTleLoneWRx2Yd46t8/s1600/Dragonfly+Chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1272" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9l64U_zcIT1sGKcGE-4jGFkDgo_0ihmAWd3JPP6ViPO1eKMrknTTPbi-zkk9nN6E5kKZjboLGcXWw7AwZxN80pVsAktYFulXf1k5x0xVbr_QHyzp49wt9-10EuTleLoneWRx2Yd46t8/s320/Dragonfly+Chicken.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
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Ayam Bumbu</div>
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By BRYAN LAVERY<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Bistro,” a restaurant category that harkens back to the
late 19th century in France and the early 20th century in England, is flexible
in its connotations, but always refers to an establishment where one can have a
meal as well as drinks. True bistros are generally small, and their menus are
characteristically comprised of straightforward selections, often rustic in
nature but not pricey. Dragonfly Bistro is one such place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For me, the name Dragonfly conjures up images of beauty and
exotica. The adult dragonfly can thrust itself in six directions: downward,
upward, forward, backward, and side to side, so the choice of the name
Dragonfly for the restaurant intrigued me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even though the restaurant has large and attractive windows
facing the street, in some respects it remains hidden in plain sight at the
north end of Richmond Row, housed in the premises once occupied by the Village
Café next door to the Ground Up Organic Cafe. Seated by the window, I have on several occasions watched many
inquisitive passers-by stop to peruse the menu posted in the window and then
resume walking. I want to advise them to step inside to the intimate and charming 24-seat
dining room, which is now in its tenth year of operation.</div>
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When you first enter the restaurant, you are immediately
greeted, your coat is taken, and you are properly seated. There is a
disposition of giving and taking pride and pleasure in giving hospitality and
providing warm service. Co-owner Nora Yuriaan's service is attentive, personal, efficient and warm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smaller restaurants seem to impart an intimacy, conviviality
and hospitality that can never be duplicated in larger spaces. Compact premises
might bear more scrutiny, but the type of familiarity they afford often breeds
mutual respect and appreciation for both the kitchen and patrons. This has been
evident on the several visits I have made to the Dragonfly. There are starched red linen tablecloths and napkins here, as well as impeccably set tables with
quality stemware and polished glassware that adds panache to the surroundings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The kitchen is compact but ordered. Chef Donald Yuriaan produces classic
dishes that can be executed with ease and simplicity. He emphasizes that the
menus are designed to accommodate seasonal ingredients and locally procured
foods.<br />
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The culinary legacy of West Java, in Indonesia, might seem
like an audacious muse for this intimate and stylish restaurant. However, chef
Yuriaan is Indonesian by birth and was previously employed at the Grand Hotel
Preanger in Bandung, the capital of West Java, after graduating from Hotel
Management. For several years, Chef was employed by both Holland America and
Norwegian cruise lines. It is interesting to note that the archipelago of 17,504 islands known as Indonesia is home to over 360 ethnic groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the menu, there is spice for those who seek
heat. Mere heat, however, is not all that most of Dragonfly Bistro’s clients
desire. We were enthused by the sambal-like hot and spicy chili sauce that
bathed the Indonesian- inspired Ayam Balado (chicken breast served with a spicy
red chili, tomato and spice sauce with shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal,
lemon grass, palm sugar, lime leaves and Indonesian Bay leaves) on the inner
menu. Other entrees on the dinner menu might include chateaubriand, maple-glazed filet of salmon, lamb and wild mushroom spaghetti. There is a daily homemade
soup. On several occasions, we were impressed with Chefs’ velvety Cream of
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chef proffers a prix fixe Indonesian menu in the evenings that is
perfect for anyone looking for a rich and varied range of authentic favours.
Sour notes of galangal, lemon grass, tamarind and lime leaves offer more
subtlety and range to the cooking. Not since Mies Bervoest stopped serving a
skilled repertoire of Indo-Dutch inspired dishes in a rijsttafel at the former
Miestro restaurant several years back, have we had access to these flavour
mixtures.<br />
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From the Indonesian menu we ordered the Ayam Bumbu (sliced chicken breast) with Indonesian peanut sauce. It was served with Kari Kol, cauliflower in a sauce of Indonesian curry; with steamed jasmine rice known as Nasi Putih. The Indonesian menu is served family-style, priced based on portion per person, not an all you can eat buffet.<br />
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For dessert there is sticky toffee pudding and vanilla crème brulee which can be ordered ala carte. The Dragonfly Bistro has a refined kitchen, a moderately
priced menu, and service that is professional and hospitable.<br />
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Join them Mondays for the Indonesian prix-fixe menu only. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can order from the ala carte menu. 5.30
- 9:00 pm for dinner. Open for lunch Wednesday, Thursday and Friday .</div>
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Please call in advance to make a reservation. 519.432.2191</div>
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<b>Monday Night Indonesian Prix-Fixe Sample Menu - Menu
Changes Monthly :</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Daging Rendang<br />
Beef marinade with coconut milk, chili, coriander, galangal, tamarind, lemon- grass, turmeric, lemon leaf, white pepper, garlic & red onion<br />
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Nasi Uduk<br />
Yellow coconut rice with lemongrass, turmeric, Indonesian bay leaf and coconut
milk<br />
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Bakmi Goreng<br />
Indonesian-style fried egg noodles with bok choy, shredded cabbage and green
onion<br />
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Acar Acar<br />
Pickled Cucumber and Carrots<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>$20.00 per person</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Dragonfly Bistro<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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715 Richmond Street<o:p></o:p></div>
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519 432 2191 <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="mailto:dragonfly_bistro@yahoo.com"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">dragonfly_bistro@yahoo.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-37155826020895525412017-10-29T10:03:00.000-07:002017-11-02T09:02:02.217-07:00Ruminations on Appetite for Words: Literary Dinner with Stratford Chefs School, Gastronomic Writer in Residence, Chef Andrew George Jr.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfg2p0VgxFnhlWmPFkWT8Eqr4_GUOvJD1spTgGBTMtgoo4cOrmtyqo16O3Pl8vEvLrMtcfr50fF-MCCkdFgYZD5BVwmp_JxAToGiJQno598EVtqQ8BhkPjPfBxN5J68EcXOfPoQoOML9w/s1600/Stratford+Appetite+for+Words.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1600" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfg2p0VgxFnhlWmPFkWT8Eqr4_GUOvJD1spTgGBTMtgoo4cOrmtyqo16O3Pl8vEvLrMtcfr50fF-MCCkdFgYZD5BVwmp_JxAToGiJQno598EVtqQ8BhkPjPfBxN5J68EcXOfPoQoOML9w/s640/Stratford+Appetite+for+Words.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p>Stratford Chef School Co-founder, Eleanor Kane & Chef Andrew George Jr.</o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KE23TI0ZZ0B13s-yTBlHd8e90THA0XORN-3B5TliVNCRWDKBwRVNMQlD0PcyNjS3iJJ3maRsM8KNgrF01Oz9lDz6FXxQboieSe_ZpKGNBvhhdlptnVJKQXOCYLEMs_ChWizYgF00i_Q/s1600/Andrew+George+Dinner+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1286" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KE23TI0ZZ0B13s-yTBlHd8e90THA0XORN-3B5TliVNCRWDKBwRVNMQlD0PcyNjS3iJJ3maRsM8KNgrF01Oz9lDz6FXxQboieSe_ZpKGNBvhhdlptnVJKQXOCYLEMs_ChWizYgF00i_Q/s400/Andrew+George+Dinner+3.jpg" width="321" /></a></div>
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BY BRYAN LAVERY<o:p></o:p></div>
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DigiWriting Book
Marketing Agency (producers of the Stratford Writers Festival) launched Appetite for Words: A Literary Festival with
a Culinary Twist! at Stratford Chef School at end of October 2017, with Chef
Andrew George Jr. At the literary-themed dinners, food is paired with the
author’s readings, so participants can taste the words they’re hearing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Canada 150 has been a year-long celebration of the
sesquicentennial of Canadian confederation. Fifty years ago the Canada Pavilion
at Expo 67, Canada’s centennial celebration in Montreal, contributed to
strengthening a powerful cultural unity. At the time the pavilion’s two
restaurants were seen as providing a national culinary narrative. Restaurant La
Toundra, operated by CN Hotels, served a Katimavik (which means “meeting place”
in the Inuktitut language) Special that included chilled Okanogan apple juice
and “Tourtière Chateau” with buttered peas and Saratoga chips. This was
followed by Coupe Innuit [sic].This conceptualization of a Canadian cuisine was
viewed as an all-encompassing initiative containing regional dishes and
traditions derived from the First Nations and other clichéd multiculturalism stereotypes
within the country. It seems to me the idea was to unite all recognizable cultures
practising their own culture within Canada. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Canadian cuisine really is an abstract concept, indefinable
due to the contradictory nature of Canadian identity. Indeed, ours is a complex
identity, and paradoxically includes vast cultural and culinary differences.
For many years serious attempts to define a national cuisine have either met
with derision or devolved into stereotypes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you were to ask most people about what is meant by
Canadian cuisine, many would respond with the stereotypical dishes like cod
tongues, prairie oysters, Nanaimo bars, poutine, tourtière, back bacon,
Montreal-smoked meat, butter tarts, seal flipper pie or fried bannock – a bread
introduced to First Nation communities by Scottish settlers. It would seem to
be unjust to identify one particular dish as being emblematic of Canadian
cuisine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Co-Founder, Stratford Chefs School, Eleanor Kane said, “It
only seems right that chef Andrew George, Jr a member of the Wet’suwet’en First
Nations people be invited to be Stratford Chef School Gastronomic Writer in
Residence, during sesquicentennial year.” The program is <span lang="EN">one-of-a-kind and unique </span>to chef
training in Canada. Launched in 2007, the program is sustained by the family of
the Joseph Hoare, former food editor at Toronto Life magazine, and a group of
other donors. The school's previous writers in residence have had wide-ranging
experiences in gastronomy, but have been mostly celebrated authors or
columnists. Chef is the co-author of <i>Modern
Native Feasts: Healthy, Innovative,
Sustainable Cuisine; </i>and<i> A Feast
for all Seasons: Traditional Native Peoples’ Cuisine</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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At the Appetite for Words Literary Dinner at Stratford Chefs
School featuring Chef George, he spoke about giving instruction to both first
and second-year students ranging from cultural writing to recipe writing. Chef
also talked about his journey from the Bush (Wet’suwet’en traditional
territories and camps) to the World Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Wet’suwet’en
First Nations are semi-nomadic with two semi-permanent camps villages on the
Bulkley River and around Broman Lake and Francois Lake in the northwestern
Central Interior of British Columbia. Chef tells us, “The Wet’suwet’en First
Nations follow the cycle of the Salmon People”. Fishing for salmon is just as
an essential aspect of First Nation’s culture as eating it. It’s difficult to
measure the incredible bearing salmon has had on the Native people of British
Columbia. Salmon has been central to the First Nations diet, economy and
mythology for centuries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Going back and looking
to tradition, Chef was required to do a lot of research to write his cookbook.
He spoke to us about translating
personal history into a cookbook. He
said he first he looked to his ancestors and his elders for guidance. There
weren’t any written recipes and cooking was based entirely on oral history.
Part of the difficulty and challenge was that it might take ten English words
to describe something fundamental to the Wet’suwet’en First Nations
culture.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>A Feast for all Seasons: Traditional Native
People’s Cuisine</i> is not only
broken into seasons but into elements of water, earth, land and air. There is
significance in fours, directions, seasons, elements and colours. The book pays homage to clan gatherings and
respect for the land. For everything that is taken from the land, there is
always something given back.<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span>When
First Nations communities think about the future, they’re not just considering
the next generation, they’re thinking about the following seven generations,
George explained. This long-term perspective makes them exceptionally competent
to cope with climate change and other environmental issues.<i> </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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George has travelled the globe world to demonstrate and
promote the traditions and techniques of First Nations cuisine. He was part of
the first all-Aboriginal team at the World Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt,
Germany, in 1992. George was head chef at the Four Host First Nations pavilion
during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. George was one of 25
international chefs to participate in an event called Culinary Diplomacy:
Promoting Cultural Understanding through Food, by invitation of Hillary Clinton
and organized by the US State Department in 2012.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Appetite for Words Literary Dinner with Chef George
Jr.’s menu included Three Sisters Soup with Cornbread; a quartet of Smoked Fish
with Bannock Crisps, Braised Buffalo Ribs, Red Pepper Pesto, Baby Root
Vegetables and Wild Rice Pilaf. The dessert was Bannock and Berry Galette with
Crème Fraiche Ice Cream. Each course was expertly paired with a wine from Joie Farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-44000329897407922732017-10-27T06:01:00.002-07:002022-11-09T07:32:45.301-08:00A Brief Overview of My Culinary Life in 1200 Words or Less<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Making Pasta in Emilia- Romagna, Italy 1999</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">BY BRYAN LAVERY<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When I was a young teenager, our friends and family reacted like we were moving to Mars when we left Toronto to move to our cottage at Rice Lake. Our parents fulfilled a long-held dream when they purchased the cottage with a hilltop location and an acre of cedar forest backing on to the Ouse River. The site had previously been part of much larger farm acreage.<br /><br />The cottage was a prefabricated shell with no amenities, in my unformed mind a zeitgeist in the back-to-the-earth spirit of the times, a handyman’s special that we idealized and had the potential to be transformed into our dream home.<br /><br />At first, I thought we had landed in paradise, taking a cue from my parents who behaved like we had inherited heaven on earth. It was a convincing gambit that betrayed no hint of the hardships and sacrifices ahead. We briefly emulated the type of television family that enjoyed the solidarity of breaking bread together and took deep satisfaction from cooking meals over an open-fire in the moonlight.<br /><br />Our parents purchased an old cast iron, wood-burning stove at a farm sale auction that had to be moved on a flat-bed pulled by a tractor. The stove was connected by a stove pipe to a temperamental flue that vented the smoke outside. The stove was both a heat source and cooker and would rarely burn unattended for more than a couple of hours. Gathering and chopping wood became a necessity that seemed to dominate our lives. If the embers were allowed to extinguish no amount of stoking, bellows work or fanning with a newspaper would resuscitate the fire. It was on this volatile stove that I became a fledgling cook. I was most in my element in the kitchen or hunting and pecking on an ancient typewriter in my bedroom with a thesaurus by my side.<br /><br />The experience of moving to our cottage was like going camping for an extended period of time. Like any make-believe, reality often crushes expectations. When the honeymoon was over, practicality took over, and after several months the “everything is awful” phase replaced our pioneering spirit. For a teenager accustomed to the independence of urban life and navigating a large city on transit the realization that we were isolated came as a culture shock, the effects delayed but inevitable.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">At fourteen, I proved myself equal to stand a full days work. My first job was pumping gas and clerking at Heffernan’s, which was the only general store and one of few gas stations along a stretch of Highway 7 between Peterborough and the village of Norwood. Heffernan’s served a captive audience of hard-working farmers who purchased their weekly food stuffs and farming supplies as well as other passersby on route to small towns or the near north. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was here I perfected my distinctive writing style by using a ruler to keep the grocery receipts legible.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> It was as a side-kick in the kitchen at the back of the store that I was indoctrinated into the art and science of baking and in retrospect this contributed to my life-long interest in cooking.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">My formative years were spent managing the kitchens of the Keg and the Corkscrew chains, learning the business side of the industry when salad bars and steak and lobster were the very definition of middlebrow cuisine. Despite the lack of innovation in these kitchens I became an avid reader of cookbooks, the recipes were precise and I attempted to follow them to the letter.<br /><br />In my early twenties, I was fortunate to have several mentors with a dedicated interest in gastronomy and was given the opportunity to work with talented chefs and restaurateurs all with difficult temperaments and strong skill sets that helped me develop a culinary backbone. My real education and passion for the culinary arts began while working at a series of French restaurants in Toronto that were bastions of haute cuisine. The way I saw it, French seemed to be the only serious way to dine. Initially, I was an ardent student of regional French cuisine but after trips to Italy, I had to acknowledge that I was more inspired by regional Italian cooking and eventually I moved beyond France as my primary focus of interest.<br /><br />As far as I can remember, travels in Europe and my introduction to food writers MFK Fisher and Elizabeth David were how my passion for food writing was incubated. In any case, it was Italy where I first encountered giant turtles fated for soup pots, wild game, a variety of unusual feathered birds and truffle hunting dogs. I enjoyed scouting the open-air food markets in Pisa and Florence and the Rialto market on Venice’s Canal Grande. The Italian market was my nirvana, with its abundant varieties of fresh and saltwater fish and shellfish, the night markets piled high with seasonal produce, fresh fungi and obscure local cheeses.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">At an upscale dinner club in Chandler’s Ford in Hampshire, England, I was managing a large kitchen, just as mad cow disease was evolving from a cryptic veterinary conundrum into an epidemic affecting 120,000 cattle. Speculation about mad cow’s relationship to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans had created a state of panic. I realized that I had been naïve to put my confidence in the perceived safety of our food chain. It was about this time that I became politicized about food security and sustainability. began questioning our food and farming policies.<br /><br />A decade later I was chosen as part of a contingent to partake in a culinary education with seven Canadian chefs to the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. This was my first introduction to the Slow Food, the movement to safeguard traditional regional specialties, time-honoured techniques and farm-to-table cuisine. It was on this trip that I had an epiphany about regional culinary authenticity. I soon became a dedicated proponent of the local food movement, culinary tourism and Ontario's homegrown terroir.<br /><br />In retrospect, I have a rewarding career in the culinary arts and am gratified to be associated with establishing, owning or in partnership with many great restaurants that became a way of life but more importantly an ideology. My involvement with the Western Fair Farmers` and Artisans` Market gave me a platform to lead and support important initiatives in the community during a transformational time. I have always felt that my true calling has been as a communicator. It took me many years to find my authentic voice. As as food writer and editor I bring my years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, as a chef, restaurateur, mentor and consultant. </span></span><br />
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-39241834042308342962017-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:002017-10-15T15:04:15.188-07:00Thaifoon - London’s Premiere Upscale Go-To Thai Restaurant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Manisay Visouvath and Fouzan (Rafael) Beg are the proprietors of
Thaifoon, downtown London’s upmarket Thai restaurant. The restaurant remains a family
affair. Visouvath is the youngest sister of Eddy and Alex
Phimprhrachanh’s mother, Arounvaty, who is the head chef at Thaifoon and the
matriarch of a Thai food dynasty in the city. Several of Arounvaty’s sisters
have opened successful Thai restaurants in the city after being mentored in the
kitchen by her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Visouvath was born in the
Southeast Asian country and came to Canada with her parents in 1980. Rafael is
from Hyderabad India. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(Hyderabadi
cuisine comprises a broad repertoire of rice, grains and meat dishes and the
skilled use of various spices – </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Indian cuisine has a longer, slower
burn, rather than the sharper, built-up spiciness of Thai cuisine</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Thaifoon’s with-it and tasteful
take on the ancient Thai culture, with a décor that honours the past while
embracing modernity, has earned both raves and admiration. The restaurant
continues to set itself apart with bang-on exuberant flavours and an eye for
detail and presentation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The 38-seat restaurant is a tasteful and refined take on the ancient
Siamese culture, with a soothing décor and a rich palette of browns and blacks
with golden accents and pleasing Thai iconography. The minimalist room is
sleek, with a sexy, Buddha Lounge style soundtrack, rich dark woods and
ultra-soft leather banquettes with cushions. The kitchen’s oeuvre is a
consistent showcase of Thailand’s regional flavours of hot, sweet, sour and
salty, honouring tradition while embracing modernity. Thaifoon is careful to
give you just the level of spicing you want. The restaurant is popular with
vegetarian and gluten-free clients. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Won-ton bundles are flawless — well-executed crispy and crunchy parcels
of chili-infused minced chicken accompanied by a ginger and plum sauce. The Avo
Moon Shine dumplings with fragrant minced chicken, tamarind
and cashews are served with fresh sour cream and avocado dipping
sauces. Savoury curries surpass expectations with richness and variations
on spiciness that are tempered with velvety coconut milk and fragrant aromatics
The pad Thai continues to be properly prepared with perfectly cooked noodles,
firm tofu with a silky interior, egg, crisp bean sprouts, scallions, fragrant
cilantro, minced peanuts, lime juice and the crucial sweet and sour tanginess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The secret to their success is sticking to the basics of authentic Thai
cooking and offering a mixture of spicy, sweet and salty but also rich
coconut flavours mixed with fresh herbs like kaffir, lime leaves and
lemongrass. Coconut milk is the foundation of the Thai curry. Rafael
tells me that they use pure coconut milk and do not dilute their coconut milk
like many other restaurants in the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Arounvaty has kept her recipe grounded in how she was used to making and
eating pad Thai back home — rice noodles cooked with fish sauce, sugar,
tamarind, a few other spices and a touch of soy for the caramel colour. This
summer they subtly tweaked signature dishes like their pad Thai and pad gra paw
to offer more of a street style version of these dishes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Thaifoon continues to receive raves and praise for their consistently
well-prepared cuisine and responsive, knowledgeable service. Coconut and green
tea ice creams are made in-house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">This is London's premiere upscale go-to Thai restaurant. There is a
top-shelf cocktail list, mangotinis, lycheetinis and Mai Thais, and an above
average selection of imported beers and complementary wines. Singha beer,
a pale lager, pairs nicely with the spicy flavours of Thai cuisine. There are
plans for an exotic, secluded patio that will front on Carling Street. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Thaifoon offers an extensive menu for dine-in,
take-away and delivery.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thaifoon</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />
120 Dundas Street (East of Talbot)<br />
519-850-1222<br />
<b>thaifoonrestaurant.com</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lunch:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Mon
to Fri 11:30am – 2:00pm<br />
<b>Dinner:</b> Sun to Thu 4:30pm – 9:00pm<br />
<b>Dinner: </b>Fri to Sat 4:30pm – 10:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-33566139190551095842017-10-08T05:20:00.002-07:002017-11-30T09:51:33.335-08:00Where to Eat Chinese in London, Ontario: Dim Sum, Noodles, Dumplings, Duck and Congee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yue
Minjun </span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(born 1962) is a contemporary Chinese artist based
in Beijing, China. He is best known for oil paintings depicting himself in
various settings, frozen in laughter. A couple of prints of his work hang in
the dining room at Wing's Kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">BY BRYAN LAVERY</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nov8 <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333px;">Nov8</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov8 is a brand new, contemporary Chinese restaurant in the premises formerly
occupied by Nov8 Sushi, located in the Costco plaza at Wonderland north of
Oxford. The owners of Nove8 are
expanding the definition of Chinese food by skillfully combining traditional
and contemporary sensibilities – in the décor, cooking and presentation. Try the
stewed pork belly over onions with roasted garlic. Ask for the hot, salty and
crispy chicken</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">sparked
with ginger, sesame oil and dried hot chilies. The combination works
beautifully especially if you like heat. Crisp-tender baby bok choy with
meaty, earthy shitake mushrooms glazed in oyster and soya is a great
juxtaposition of flavours and textures. Caramelized Chinese yams (also called
cinnamon-vine) are caramelized so well that it looks like a thread is coming out
from the sugar syrup. Look for unexpected spins on region-specific
dishes with an ever-changing paper menu printed in both Chinese and English.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">701 Wonderland Rd. N.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><b>Alex and Wing Ip</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wing`s Kitchen/</span></b> <b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Đồng Khánh (Seafood Restaurant)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Located near
Highbury and Cheapside, Wing’s Kitchen (aka Đồng Khánh Seafood Restaurant) is located
in the same plaza as the 24 hr drive-thru Globally Local. The 15 month old Wing`s
Kitchen offers a large selection of dim sum options as well as standard
Cantonese dishes and a few Thai selections. Dim sum is a late morning and lunchtime food.</span> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is one of a few restaurants with a fresh lobster tank offering
fresh lobster at reasonable prices. The owners Alex and Wing Ip are long time London
restaurateurs who previously owned Green Tea Japanese, Asia Gourmet and Green Tea
Asian Cuisine. Wing was a seafood buyer in Hong Kong for over 30 years. There
is a hybrid Canadian-Chinese menu available all day. Pecking duck is served in
two courses. A whole duckling fried to crispy and carved tableside is served
with finely shredded scallion and cucumber on steamed rice crepes. This is followed
by crystal fold wok-fried minced duckling, vegetables, and fried noodles
wrapped in lettuce leaves for $36. On our initial visits we stuck to the dim sum
menu. This is dim sum without the carts. Our expectations were initially surpassed
with the attention to detail, portion sizes and juxtaposition of flavours and
textures. This is not the "factory" dim sum you'd find at the huge
dim sum restaurants in urban centres. We are told that everything is prepared fresh
from scratch. When ordering, the key is to ensure a mix of cold, hot, spicy,
salty, sour and soothing dishes. The highly-regarded, elderly dim sum chef only
works 4 days a week. I suggest visiting on the weekend when he is on hand and
everything is super fresh and meticulously prepared and presented. Plump
steamed har gow (shrimp) dumplings, seafood and taro dumplings and the braised eggplant
stuffed with shrimp are sensational. I strongly suggest you save room for both
the taro spring rolls and fragrant curry baby squid (cuttlefish). Also, don’t
miss the steamed soft and fluffy barbecue pork buns that melt-in-your-mouth. Made
in-house lotus mooncakes with salted duck egg yolk were out of this world. We
also like the coconut mousse red bean cake. We received a 10% discount for
paying cash<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">1141 Highbury Avenue. N.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">519 659 8888<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Daily Dim Sum 11 am to 3:30
pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Monday 11am to 11 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Closed Tuesdays<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Wednesday – Saturday 11am
to 11 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Sunday – 11am to 9pm <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><b><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Wenbei</span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Liang</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Congee Chan</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Congee Chan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">One of my
favourite spots is Congee Chan on Wonderland Road.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In ancient times, people named the thick congee, <i>chan</i>,
the watery one <i>chi</i> or <i>mi</i>. The restaurant offers a
large menu of Cantonese specialties prepared with fresh high-quality
ingredients. A favorite, traditional congee is the thick, preserved egg congee
with minced duck. The shrimp dishes are a notch above most Asian-inspired
restaurants in London. This is traditional Chinese regional cooking combined
with Canadian-Chinese cuisine with Americanized versions of modern Asian
specialties like the deep-fried, sweet and piquant General Tao chicken. Congee
Chan offers more than just congee and noodles, order the lobster with ginger
and green onion chow mein, and the clams with black bean sauce. Congee Chan is comparable
to the good congee/noodle/rice restaurants you'd find in Toronto. They serve set
Chinese dinners for a reasonable price. The interior is contemporary,
colourful, warmly lit and offers both booth seating and larger round tables. Congee
Chan has servers who are knowledgeable, hospitable and efficient.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">735
Wonderland Rd., North (Located in a strip mall behind Costco North across from Angelo’s).<br />
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><b>Youjin Wang</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>SO INVITING Chinese Bakery</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6AlmtrzuRqDc7uZ0xDq4DFIC8lO2-jyYcS9pZxIoRS4UiuIWGvPdApgcieIsOYi92_mrjTv8bk3Q4XVBtJ0g4YSv1qctou4PGqQBAa1_JgVq-GXrSHHBpfgSHDbtvmM__ltHawoz2ag/s1600/Annie+Tea+Lounge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1236" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6AlmtrzuRqDc7uZ0xDq4DFIC8lO2-jyYcS9pZxIoRS4UiuIWGvPdApgcieIsOYi92_mrjTv8bk3Q4XVBtJ0g4YSv1qctou4PGqQBAa1_JgVq-GXrSHHBpfgSHDbtvmM__ltHawoz2ag/s640/Annie+Tea+Lounge.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.3333px; text-align: start;">"Annie" Yu Wang.</span></div>
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<!--[endif]--></span>Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-44213864636391971612017-10-07T18:40:00.002-07:002017-10-07T18:40:36.452-07:00Transvaal Farm & C'est Bon Goat Cheese : As Goat as it Gets<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Kitchen Smidgen</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> is
a small bakery — a smidgen of a spot along the beautiful Thames in St. Marys
operated by Cindy Taylor.
Stop by for sweet and savoury treats; perhaps pick up some C’est bon cheese or
Transvaal Farm preserves. Taylor’s cinnamon buns and scones have a bit of a
cult following. </span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kitchensmidgen.com/"><i><b>www.kitchensmidgen.com</b></i></a></span></div>
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BY BRYAN LAVERY</div>
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To bond with the rural charm that defines Perth County,
consider day-tripping by car and staying in farmhouses or farm guest houses.
Agritourism, as it is defined most commonly, constitutes any
agriculturally-based operation that brings visitors to a farm. Many
agro-tourists have a strong interest in all things culinary. They want to meet
the local farmers, artisans and processors and talk with them about what
is involved in food production while getting an authentic taste of rural life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In Perth County, culinary entrepreneurs continue to develop
fresh takes on the farm-to-table ethos while examining the roots of local
cuisine and developing new region-specific specialties and products. They
characterize the entrepreneurial spirit of the modernist vanguard by
re-imagining the food chain, safeguarding the terroir and adding their unique
contributions to the collective Ontario culinary identity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On a beautiful mid-September day, at the invitation of
Stratford Tourism and the Ontario Culinary Alliance, I visited Transvaal Farm
and the small on-farm family run C’estbon cheese business as part of the
itinerary of a carefully planned FAM tour. The tour was geared to familiarize
the press with many of the epic culinary attractions in and around Stratford
and St. Marys, Ontario.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Down a bucolic backroad on the verge of the historic stone town
of St. Marys lies Transvaal Farm at the end of a tree-lined driveway. The
pastoral 50-acre farm has been home to Cindy Taylor’s family for over three
decades. Cindy and her raconteur husband Scott McLauchlan are our formidable
hosts on this informative and entertaining agritourism experience. The main
elements of this adventure are a guided tour by Scott of the storybook property
and farm gardens, a tour and a lavish farm-to-table breakfast prepared by Cindy
at the guest house, and a tour of the small-scale artisan goat cheese plant
operated by Cindy’s brother, owner and cheesemaker, George Taylor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shortly after our arrival we walk over to the chicken coop
to meet “the girls” a bevy of Rhode Island Reds, and collect some freshly laid
eggs for breakfast. Although they are excellent free range foragers, McLauchlan
tells us, “the girls” need some protection from the late-night wildlife
interlopers that prowl the farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Despite the intense hot weather we’ve had, part of the farm
garden is overflowing with the bright greenery of nasturtium leaves and their
vibrant edible flowers. There are plenty of hardy vegetables still in the
field, especially colourful varieties of ubiquitous peppers and tomatoes ripe
for the picking.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Back at the Transvaal Farm guesthouse the refrigerator is
stocked with samplings of fresh, milky and satisfyingly tart C’estbon goat
cheese, made on the property from a neighbouring herd of goats. There is farm
fresh goat milk on offer and a delicious creamy goat yogurt that is like crème
fraiche – “Not without similarities to Iceland’s super-trendy Skyr,” says
Ontario Culinary Alliance, Community Manager, Agatha Podgorski –
the yogurt we are told is still in the beta stage and we are the first to
enjoy a sampling. Technically, the yogurt is a cheese with full-fat content.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cindy a graduate of the Baking Arts program at George Brown
College has outdone herself by crafting a selection of high-quality baked
goods made in small batches using traditional methods from Transvaal
Farm’s fresh ingredients. These are the products that Cindy takes to the
St. Marys Farmers’ Market on Saturdays in season. We are the recipients of much
culinary largesse that includes her baking and Transvaal Farms preserves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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George is welcoming and willing to share his story. What
began as a retirement project sixteen years ago – which George hoped would be
able to sustain its own costs – became a successful artisan goat cheese
operation that soon showed both sustainability and profitability. George
famously swapped a flock of sheep for a herd of Toggenburg and La Mancha goats,
and began crafting farmstead, small-batch, cheese- by-hand, using only the milk
from his own herd to create his proprietary C’estbon chèvre. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In time, George eventually relocated his goats to a
neighbouring farm. Today, once a week about 5,000 litres of goat milk is
delivered from a local producer, Hewitt’s Dairy, and the process begins.
Not a single item goes off the property without George’s thumbprint on it.
Authentic artisan cheese can’t be mass-produced: it is limited in quantity and
has specific characteristics deemed to be specialty in nature. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A sense of community and an entrepreneurial culture are
important economic drivers in rural areas. Upwards of 80 percent of Stratford’s
upscale chefs and restaurateurs purchase C’estbon chevre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the experiences Cindy offers to farm guests is the
opportunity to participate in an on-site hands-on culinary workshop. She offers
workshops on preserving, home-made bread or pastry, chocolate truffles, and
even making your own goat cheese. You choose which culinary experience you
would like to partake in and Cindy will arrange a convenient day to make it
happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The culinary tour of Transvaal Farm and the C’estbon cheese
operations was both inspiring and informative. It reminded us of the strong
links of like-minded entrepreneurs by talking about the things we all have in
common — enjoying the benefits that we receive from a healthy entrepreneurial,
artisan and agriculture culture. On another level it reminds us to embrace
unique products that are locally conceived, locally controlled and as rich in local
content as the distinctive terroir and time-honoured ways of preparing them of
any given era.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4675 Line 3, St. Marys, Ontario<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.transvaalfarm.com/">www.transvaalfarm.com</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.cestboncheese.com/">www.cestboncheese.com</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-48324056418420232512017-09-28T02:36:00.002-07:002017-10-07T18:38:43.000-07:00Five Fortune Culture Restaurant’s Authentic “Pure Chinese” Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSj98_6tQLMUa5QjOrLQcLWyOPn91VSNJrqk-kH7nm_UgRRJF1vhtd4beBu5tSMDsy3UkmJYYYpbYzPjg5tZNDZ2C4cTxds0WttR5ndVSFXEkK11i5WVv6OugQHYQtii1lZbCrJczh0qE/s1600/Wenbei2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSj98_6tQLMUa5QjOrLQcLWyOPn91VSNJrqk-kH7nm_UgRRJF1vhtd4beBu5tSMDsy3UkmJYYYpbYzPjg5tZNDZ2C4cTxds0WttR5ndVSFXEkK11i5WVv6OugQHYQtii1lZbCrJczh0qE/s640/Wenbei2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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By BRYAN LAVERY</div>
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Although the ethnic cuisines of Yunnan province may not be particularly well known in the West, they are touted as being among the best regional eating experiences in China. There are 25 ethnic groups in this southwestern Chinese province, all contributing within their cultural cuisine subgroups. Agrarian by nature, Yunnan is the birthplace of tea. Yunnan’s northwest corner is said to be the inspiration for Shangri-La, as described in James Hilton’s utopian classic, <i>Lost Horizon</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A recent surge of interest in ethnic and regional Chinese cuisine is reflected in the growth and popularity of Yunnan restaurants in both Beijing and Shanghai. Encouraged by an explosion in cultural tourism the boom is a result of China’s modernization strategy which has put Yunnan on the gastronomical map.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In downtown London, Five Fortune Culture Restaurant proprietors W</span>enbei and Jie Liang Yin (Jeff) are part of the groundswell of restaurateurs offering an authentic "pure" Chinese dining experience. This is not the formulaic Chinese restaurant serving Anglo-genres conceived by old-style Taishanese and rural Cantonese immigrants who adapted traditional Chinese recipes to suit local tastes and available ingredients. <span lang="EN-US">The cuisine, as prepared by Jie Liang and interpreted by Wenbei is </span>Yunnan with Sichuan and Guizhou influences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many Yunnan dishes are typified by bold flavours, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of chili peppers and garlic of bordering Sichuan province. Southern Yunnan takes its influences from Vietnam, Laos and Burma and many dishes have a similarity to Thai cuisine. Meat commonly plays a supporting role as a mere seasoning to the vegetables.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Aromatic steamed pineapple rice is popular among Dai people and the perfect side dish to soothe the heat of spicy offerings. In Jie Liang’s hands the fragrant rice has a stunningly delicate balance of sour and sweetness. A ripe pineapple is scooped out and the flesh is cut in small cubes and mixed with the scented rice and other aromatics. It is served in the hollowed pineapple shell with the leaf crown acting as a lid to keep the rice hot.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yunnan is the home to a vast range of fresh rice noodle soups and stir fries. <i>Mixian</i> or fresh rice noodles are gluten-free with a silky texture which absorbs flavours efficiently. Yunnan's best known dish, <i>Crossing Bridge Noodles</i> is a bowl of extremely hot broth served with a range of ingredients supplied raw to the table, including rice noodles, thinly sliced pork, poultry and fish, leaf vegetables, bean curd, aromatics and cilantro to balance out strong flavours, much like a hot pot. If you’re not familiar with these flavours, it’s an assertive dish. If you are, it’s simply enjoyably comforting.<span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 18px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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A trio of fish are offered whole, with head and tail intact. The choices were salmon, tilapia and a deep- sea fish with an untranslatable name. I avoid farmed fish so we chose the untranslatable-named fish. Jie Liang’s grandmother provided the recipe which is a thirty-six hour process from start to finish. The fish is wrapped in foil and steamed on the grill which keeps the firm interior moist and intact, the outer skin of the fish was candy-sweet and caramelized with green onion, soya, ginger and garlic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Spicy Tom Yum seafood pot has a sharp freshness and briny meatiness, deriving its pungency from lemongrass and pepper. Other specialities include thick, soft and chewy Udon noodles made from wheat. The green onion pie is flavoursome and reminds me of the Japanese savoury pancake, <i>okonomiyaki. </i>Try the jiggly iced congee and glutinous <i>dia bao</i> (steamed buns). You will never need Sriracha again, once you’ve tasted Wenbei’s homemade, hot and spicy, red pepper dipping oil. She jars it and sells it in the restaurant.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Chinoiserie and other decorative arts and imagery decorate the dining room, giving personal expression to Wenbei and Jie Liang’s former lives in China. </span>The purpose of a “culture restaurant” is to be an emissary and to facilitate the exchange of Eastern and Western cultural values. On selected evenings there is traditional song and dancing on a small stage that flanks the dining room. Wenbei, a former fashion designer, has an excellent singing voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wealth, health, longevity, love, and virtue are the five good fortunes. Five also happens to be the name of their former business portfolio in China which they wanted to extend to include this restaurant. The investment projects included Five Fortune Herbal Cuisine (herbal cuisine restaurant), Five Fortune Very Ethnic (traditional embroideries and clothing), Five Fortune Arts (Chinese art and paintings), and Five Fortune Clothing (clothing design and production of ramie cotton produced from the nettle plant).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hoping to live a more peaceful life, the couple travelled nearly eight thousand miles to start a new life in a strange land. Wenbei, who comes from a lineage of doctors, cites Norman Bethune, who is enshrined as a national hero in China, as an influence on their decision to immigrate to Canada. Famously, Bethune’s accidental death from septicemia evoked Chairman Mao Zedong's essay "In Memory of Norman Bethune," which urged all Chinese to match his spirit of responsibility and humanitarianism and became required reading for the entire population.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Jie Liang, who studied to be an art designer</span> belongs to "Dai" a Tai cultural group from Yunnan that traditionally adheres to Buddhist principles. At Five Fortune the servers are intelligent and hospitable students that understand her vision and speak English. Service is welcoming and helpful with the kinds of detail about the dishes that can be hard to find in some Chinese restaurants. The restaurant caters to International students and gets extremely busy. When the restaurant is full the wait time for food can be exceedingly long.<br />
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There is a saying in Yunnan, “We will eat anything with four legs except for a table,” says Wenbei. Jie Liang’s translation of Yunnan cooking both pays respectful homage to the culture and, in the hope of making it more accessible, takes the most minor liberties with it. An epigram on the menu states, "The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose..." <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Five Fortune Culture Restaurant</b></div>
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368 Richmond Street<o:p></o:p></div>
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226-667-9873<o:p></o:p></div>
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Menu Changes Friday–Sunday <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hours can vary. Phone ahead for times.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-31925161283910924752017-09-25T07:54:00.000-07:002017-09-28T02:44:02.605-07:00Tea Rituals & Michelle Pierce Hamilton and Yixing Tang's The Tea Lounge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yixing Tang and Michelle Pierce Hamilton. Photo: Spencer Drake</div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">BY BRYAN LAVERY</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tea sommelier and nutritionist Michelle Pierce Hamilton and her business
partner Yixing Tang opened The Tea Lounge in a small
charming house on Piccadilly Street east of Richmond. They recently launched a
menu of cold drinks, iced teas and vegan-friendly lattes. Matcha, London Fog
and cinnamon-orange spiced tea lattes are available hot or iced. There is
afternoon tea service one Sunday per month. Book a sitting at the monthly Tea
Flight Nights to experience a comparative tasting. A small in-house scratch
menu and baked goods and healthful snacks from Petit Paris Crêperie & Pâtisserie, Boombox Bakeshop and Bliss Specialty Foods add to the
experience. tealoungelondon.com<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>London
may be part of the explosion of indie cafés serving small-batch coffee roasts,
which are part grab-and-go café and part bakery, but we’re a community of
dedicated tea enthusiasts too. And now, with the rise of the wellness tea
market, we are seeing several innovative tea-inspired concepts. These indie hot
spots are about tea craft and accessibility and offer us a well-curated selection
of ethically-sourced single-origin teas, blends, tisanes and infusions.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>The
upswing in the popularity of tea translates to enhanced flavour profiles, and
blends that add fruits, flowers and spices for a richer experience. Pairings of
tea with herbs, spices and fruits for beverages, tea-infused jams, condiments,
and desserts, cocktails, cold brews and ferments are all on-trend.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Tea
Lounge</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Certified
tea sommelier and nutritionist Michelle Pierce Hamilton and her business
partner Yixing Tang opened The Tea Lounge in a small and charming house on
Piccadilly Street east of Richmond Row last fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Millwork
shelving showcases an interesting selection of unique and traditional teaware.
The focal point is a 10-foot “Wall of Tea,” featuring over 100 hand-selected
teas from around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The café
has many seating options, including a rustic conference table with over-sized
hand-carved dining chairs for groups and classes. A long crimson sofa accents
the Indo-Asian decorative features of the eclectic central lounge. There is
additional seating on the front porch in the warm weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tang and
Pierce Hamilton offer a premium tea service experience, serving
ethically-sourced single-origin teas and tisanes from around the world, as well
as retailing striking teaware. The pair offers traditional Chinese, Japanese
and English teas, each with its own teaware and serving style. Chinese “grandpa
style” is another option on offer. Or you can simply get a quick cup to go.
Guests can sip meticulously-sourced teas while experiencing their choice of
traditional or contemporary style tea service in the laid-back lounge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Whether
you’re in the mood for a tasty treat, wholesome ingredients, or have food
sensitivities, delicious baked good and healthful snacks from Petit Paris
Crêperie & Pâtisserie, Boombox Bakeshop and Bliss Specialty Foods add to
the tea experience. A menu of light and nourishing food offers a daily
wholesome made-from-scratch soup prepared by the culinary team at The Spruce on
Wellington just around the corner. Other items include organic Mason jar
layered-salads with names like Plant Protein, Fruitoxidant, Kitchen Sink, Greek
Out and Sexy Mexi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is
an “All ’Bout Cheese Board” featuring a selection of local Ontario artisanal
cheeses like Gunn’s Hill Cheese, served with condiments, nuts and other
accompaniments that they switch up, to keep things interesting. For the
plant-based crowd, the “Nuts for Cheese Board” features a selection of artisanal,
handcrafted, and vegan cheeses made from cultured organic cashews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What
makes great tea? Pierce Hamilton believes, “It starts with excellent quality
leaf, with permission to naturally unfurl and fully reveal its flavours and
aromas. Not crushed or crammed into a little bag or a ball.” The tea lounge
owners create blends that don’t diminish tea’s nutrients, antioxidants and
essential oils. They do the legwork, sourcing and selecting teas and tisanes
from around the globe. An informative and exciting schedule of classes and events
is also part of The Tea Lounge experience. www.tealoungelondon.com<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1912213769210581244.post-25961036467303248422017-09-25T07:42:00.000-07:002017-09-25T07:42:37.137-07:00Tamarine by Quynh Nhi's Modern South Vietnamese Cuisine <div class="MsoNormal">
<b>By Bryan Lavery</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This sleek and urban-chic downtown hot-spot has a
sophisticated palette and an upscale mix of contemporary Asian-inspired motifs,
art, cuisine and ambiance. Chefs combine the freshest ingredients
with traditional flavours to create a unique menus designed to promote communal
dining. <o:p></o:p></div>
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From a design perspective, the attention to detail is
carried through in many small but striking ways such as the design of the
cutlery and dishes, seasonal exotic floral arrangements and the various choices
of seating arrangements. The mosaic tiles around the bar have a chameleon-like
ability to change into a myriad of palettes, creating a swanky, sexy cocktail
lounge vibe with a colour changing remote control. Lighting can also be
adjusted to set the mood particularly in the far end of the dining room, where
private booth seating provides an intimate and comfortable dining experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The cuisine is sophisticated and pushes
culinary boundaries without breaking the tenets of traditional South Vietnamese
cuisine. The flavours are multi-faceted and subtle and the dishes have plenty
of visual appeal. Dishes are designed to be mixed and matched in ways that
balance flavours and fragrance, as well as texture and colour.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The cooking is delicate and refined and combines the
techniques of Chinese cooking with indigenous ingredients, the light accents of
French gentility, and flavours and aromas reminiscent of India. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The signature Crispy Spring Roll at Tamarine is made with
chicken, pork, or a vegetarian version served with fresh mint, lettuce and a
chili-lime fish sauce. The restaurant is also known for its crispy Torpedo
Rolls, made with shrimp and crispy Imperial Rolls with shrimp, pork, wood ear
(a type of fungi) and glass noodles, which are also served with fresh mint,
lettuce and a chili-lime fish sauce. The Vietnamese use fish sauce to enhance
the flavour of their foods, much the same way we use table salt, and it pretty
much goes with everything.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Compared with its cousin, the egg roll, the spring roll is
smaller, with much less filling. (Phan tells me that the “spring roll” is
all about quality, not quantity). However, the terms “spring roll” and “egg
roll,” like “spring roll” and “fresh roll,” are often used somewhat
interchangeably and incorrectly. It can be quite confusing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fresh rolls are referred to by several different names,
including “salad roll,” “fresh spring roll,” and “summer roll.” Sometimes the word
“Vietnamese” is added at the beginning of these words; for example, “Vietnamese
roll” or “Vietnamese spring rolls.” It has been my experience that on the North
American west coast, many restaurants refer to fresh rolls as “crystal rolls,”
“soft rolls,” or “salad rolls.” Fresh rolls are easily distinguished from
similar rolls in that they are not fried and that the ingredients used are
different from (deep-fried) Vietnamese egg rolls.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Spring rolls” take their name from the freshness of the
spring season with all the seasonal ingredients, and frying would, of course
take away that element. At Tamarine, they offer fresh Spring Rolls with a
choice of barbecued chicken or shrimp, vermicelli, crispy pastry heart, fresh
mint, lettuce, and sprouts, all rolled in soft rice paper and served with
peanut sauce.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tamarine also has its own version of Pad Thai. Although it
is the national dish of Thailand and has been known in various incarnations for
centuries, the dish is thought to have been introduced to Thailand by
Vietnamese traders. Tamarine’s version is a choice of wok-tossed chicken or
beef with rice noodles and bean sprouts, finished with a spicy tamarind sauce
and cilantro lime, and garnished with crushed peanuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Tamarine is a second-generation restaurant. It is our
interpretation of how Vietnamese food has evolved,” says co-owner Long Phan. “Our food
is as symbolic as it is traditional. You can be anywhere in the world and
authentically showcase our heritage with our cuisine.” The cooking remains
delicate and refined and combines the techniques of Chinese cooking with
indigenous ingredients, the light accents of French gentility, and flavours and
aromas reminiscent of both China and India.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Words can describe the atrocities that Vietnamese “boat people”
suffered when they decided to flee their homeland in crudely built boats,
sparking an international humanitarian crisis. When Quynh and Nhi’s father Tan
Pham wanted a better future for his family the authorities caught wind of it
his first attempt to escape the country landed him 20 months of hard labour in
jail. Subsequent attempts yielded him no promises to get him where he wanted to
go. In 1990, he escaped Vietnam literally with the shirt on his back and that
was the price he was willing to pay for a better future for his family. At that
time there was no possible future for his family it was either poverty or
death. The survivors sometimes languished for years in refugee camps. More
fortunate ones were taken in by countries like Canada.</div>
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It has been a long journey for the family to get where it is
now but adversity instilled a solid work ethic and team spirit that is evident
in how they operate their restaurants. After making a name for herself at the
Trail’s End Market with her hand-rolled, high quality spring rolls and stir
fry’s, Du Bui (Quynh and Nhi’s mother who has always been in charge of quality)
parlayed her signature spring roll eventually into what her son-in-law, Long
Phan refers to as “the birth of two restaurants.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wrapping spring rolls in lettuce leaves and including fresh
herbs in the bundles is a vestige of the original civilizations that existed
before the centuries of Chinese influence in Vietnam, and is practised with
delicacy at both Quynh Nhi and Tamarine.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">118 Dundas St, London<br />www.tamarine.ca.<br />Tuesday– Saturday 5 pm–9pm</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Friday Lunch 11 am–2:30pm</span></div>
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Bryan Parker Laveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02753537579555415878noreply@blogger.com0