ETHICAL GOURMET / Remind me to Tell You About the Time I Looked in the Heart of an Artichoke

BY BRYAN LAVERY                At one time Mother felt certain that owning and managing a restaurant, even with an experienced partner, (me) was probably the toughest job in the world. Her thoughts of sipping champagne with Stepfather in the front window of our restaurant, La Cucina, while everything ran smoothly, were dashed within the first few days of our opening. When I suggested that she didn’t actually have to get down on her hands and knees and scrub the kitchen floor after each shift, she replied, “Really,” acting as if I were questioning her work ethic and her belief in the moral benefit of hard work. This continued night after night until we sold the restaurant a couple of years later. It was the truth, she did not need to wash the floor but for whatever reason, if she was on the premises at closing time she chose to wash the floor herself.  It allowed her a certain moral authority. If you were to ask about the difficulties inherent in running a restaurant my mother

BY BRYAN LAVERY Martha’s back against the wall Dispensing common sense Consuming critics like side dish Bulwarks of self-defence It’s another literary device Angling tackle and advice We all pay the price Fishing for compliments In the unchartered seas Of wordsmiths and fishermen Baiting idleness and tempo Is the lure and hook of verse Casting lines, we curse An Armada of self-doubt When nets are full of syntax We’re still tethered to a pout Gone fishing for inspiration Rigging the line with bait Just the folly of a writer’s Block and tackle fate Hooked tongue-in-cheek Small mouthed complaints The bragging and laments Of the one that got away Big fish with small pond goals One more drag anchor symptom Like treading water in fishbowls Waiting for hardships to come in copyright 2002 Bryan Parker Lavery

Air Canada just announced the longlist for Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2017 and Wolfe of Wortley makes the list. Front: Jennifer Wolfe (Service Manager), Justin Wolfe (Owner/Executive Chef), Gregg Wolfe (Owner/Mixologist/Bartender) Back: Josh Ward (Sous Chef), Kyle Rose (Chef de Cuisine) The Big, Bad Wolfes: The Wolfe of Wortley in London Justin and Gregg Wolfe upped the ante when they opened Wolfe of Wortley in Wortley Village last this summer. The brothers, who initially found sustenance in music careers, are also the proprietors of downtown London’s red-hot retro diner The Early Bird, and the former the piñata-themed Rock Au Taco. The Wolfe brothers plan to open their new Modern Mexican-inspired Los Lobos in the former Talbot St. Whisky House space in the next few weeks. The menu will show their love for tacos and other Mexican classics, with the focus at the bar being on tequila, mezcal and bourbon. “The Bird,” as it is warmly referred to, has an id

BY BRYAN LAVERY Pre-conceived perceptions of vegetarianism, veganism and plant-based dining are changing very quickly. Again this year we will be celebrating the popular VegFest London in November. The ground-breaking festival presents plant-based and vegan food and products, health and wellness vendors, special guest speakers, cooking demos, and a children’s activity at the Progress Building at the Western Fair.  Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, or cosmetics and soaps derived from animal products. In the quest for a more healthful lifestyle more people are adopting vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, organic and other plant-based products. Good examples of the rise in plant-based food culture are specialty food artisans and vendors like Margaret Coon’s Nuts for Cheese on the second floor of the Far