The Chef's Inn

Mallard Clean up & Planning

2012-01-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots from the first few days of clean up and planning around the Cottage. Chatting with architects and general clean up. These pics will give you some sense of where we are and where we have to go!
The one above is me chatting with one of our architects about the beaded clapboard on the exterior walls. Original cladding that we will have to preserve as best we can.

Here we are outside the front. This pic gives you a sense of the scale of the building. It looks like I could shingle the roof on a stool, which is almost accurate!

This is upstairs in the cottage in what will likely be our office. Chatting structural integrity, a little boring but necessary - obviously!

The front porch plus a hold over from who knows when. Still trying to determine the breed.

The small hallway between what will be the two small dining rooms in the cottage proper

A good shot of one of the dining rooms with the fireplace. Imagine a cozy evening around the fire surrounded by 200 years of history. Something to warm you inside and out.

Another shot in what will be our upstairs office.

This is an add on from 30 years ago or so. This will not be saved as we intend to remove this building and build a new add on to compliment the Cottage. This new structure will house the main dining room and our new "open" kitchen.

Here we are out back discussing the deck that we will build here. Planning a NL friendly deck, that means it will have walls and 2 roof plus a thermal mass masonry heater, at least that's the idea.

Tearing out the old to expose the older.

Here's where you'll need to watch your head.

Long on ideas here. All about our vision and getting to be a reality right now. Not afraid of it, but definately aware of our challenges.

Stay tuned for more!! Lots of these posts to come.

Mallard Cottage Pre Reno

2012-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of pics before we get the work started! The Cottage itself and another of the proud owners!

Resto Biz here we come......!

2011-11-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted here! Apologies again for that, but it's been a busy few months! Still riding the wave of Top Chef Canada, at least while I can, and at the same time working on what's next for me.

The Chef's Inn had a great year!! Busiest one yet and our guests keep getting more interesting - if you can believe that! We so enjoy being a window for folks into Newfoundland - St. John's in particular and with the growing interest in our part of the world we seem to get to do that for a constantly expanding variety of tourist.
We look forward to next year, which is already shaping up to be busier than this one just past. Busy times in St. John's.

On top of our Chef's Inn commitments, we have had a busy few months with "Roots, Rants & Roars" in Elliston, NL (www.rootsrantsandroars.ca), "What's On the Table" in TO, (http://thestop.org/event/02-nov-2011), instructing at a Culinary Tourism course at the Bonavista Institute for Cultural Tourism, & a Gala fundraiser for Ronald MacDonald House hosted by the good folks at Cohen's - to name a few!

Now we have decided to jump back into the restaurant business. Well, "jump" might be a bit strong given we have been thinking long and hard about it. It is hardly a rash move, but it did come along at a time that was unexpected. Sometimes you just have an opportunity that comes along that seems too good to pass up. Too good, but still full of headaches, long hours and things that are beyond your control.
If you are afraid of these pitfalls than the resto biz is not for you to begin with. Fortunately or unfortunately, these things do not warn me off.

I am in the fortunate position to have the chance to purchase what is one of the oldest wooden structures in NL(http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/rhs/rs_listing/119.html), that happens to be practically in my front yard, that happens to be in one of the most beautiful and interesting part of St. John's, which happens to be one of the best cities in the country to open a restaurant today!

Also fortunate that my wife and daughter both think it's a great idea!! So here it goes, we start work on what will be our "Family Restaurant"!

Many, many details still to be sorted. Lots of balls to drop, but the process has begun. Keep watching this space for updates, videos and pics. We intend to take you all along for what will be an amazing, fun and tumultuous ride. At the end of which we hope that we will have created not only a solid restaurant where "foodies" can get what they need, but most importantly a comfortable, inviting, FUN and delicious place to fulfill the promise of Newfoundland's and Canada's great ingredients.

Stay tuned!

The summer, the CNE and a recipe!

2011-09-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from this space for a while, so for the five of you who are interested in what I write here - I am sorry!:)

Been a busy summer around home and The Chef's Inn, lots of tourists and things to do as our summer passed. And passed it did with one of the most horrible summers, in terms of weather, that St. John's has suffered in recent memory.
Even the NL Folk Festival was forced from Bannerman Park and into Mile One Stadium. Let me tell you, I have spent some fabulous soggy weekends in the "most easterly beer tent" in North America and for the weather to be so bad that the Festival had to be moved is, well - Epic!

The worst thing about the bad weather has been it's effect on our gardens this year, with no tomatoes, no cucumber, barely any zucchini, no pumpkins and generally poor yields. But there is always next year!
Having said that, we have been eating successfully from the garden since early August with several good weeks left yet. Potatos, garlic and onions have done well, so we have that much. To be honest several of the best meals I have ever had have started with just those three ingredients, so I haven't too much gumption to complain.

The summer has also brought some travel and cool experiences for me, the latest being my "Celebrity Chef" appearance at the CNE in August. What a laugh! Was frightened to death really, but I think I gave the folks that attended a decent show. Most of all it was fun to have my wife and daughter there for my "moment". Best part of the week was after my first demo, when my girl Alex came up with a big hug and says, "I'm proud of you, Daddy" - could have died a happy man right there!

That was my first time at the CNE since I was probably 12 years old and I had forgotten what it was all about. The CNE is to Toronto, what the "Regatta" is to St. John's. It has the same love/hate dynamic. Some people love the CNE, some hate it, just as the Regatta has it's fans and those who loathe a trip to Quidi Vidi Lake on that first Wednesday in August.

Was funny to me to have that comparison on my mind as I walked around, all reinforced by the fact that I am sure it's the same guys running the concessions in Toronto as here in St. John's! They at least all have the same Mom.

All in all a successful summer with some exciting times ahead! Some irons in fires that are getting hotter, and a couple of cool projects ongoing. The biggest of which is "Roots, Rants and Roars", a very cool culinary/music/cultural weekend in Elliston, NL that I am organizing. Lots of great food, wine and fun in one of the most spectacular settings you can imagine! Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 will be rooting, ranting and roaring on the Bonavista Peninsula for sure! Check it our here www.rootsrantsandroars.ca

Other fall highlights, a trip to James Beard House in October with a group of NL chefs. Another trip to TO in November to work on a big charity event - deets to come. A teaching gig at the Bonavista Institute for Culinary Tourism for a few days, a long overdue visit from some great friends and a trip to MTL for a weekend of foolishness. Will be worn down to the nub by Christmas!

Will end this blog with the recipe from the dish I made at the CNE. Some folks were interested in it so here it is:

Szechuan Chicken Marinade
20 basil leaves (or cilantro)
4-8 whole dried red chilies (to taste)
1/2 TSP. szechuan peppercorns
1 cup ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 TBS. honey
1 cup soya sauce
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup seasame oil

Combine all in blender and process until smooth. Marinate chicken (boneless thighs are best) 6-8 hours or overnight.

Grill, bake, roast your chicken as you like. Great on pasta with a curry cream sauce, or on fresh garden salad or in a wrap with some sesame scented vegetable slaw.

Let me know how it turns out!

Long Time, No Blog

2011-06-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally grabbed a few moments to update this space - long overdue but such is life in the B&B business! Once the season begins it takes a few weeks to get back into the routine and get a schedule set. Until that happens you find yourself a little scattered and blogs don't find themselves high up on the priority list.

Much has happened since my last posting, not the least of which was my ousting from Top Chef Canada! #8 on Top Chef, #1 in your heart - I hoped anyway? It turns out that #1 in your heart has proved true, at least with some folks. I have written here before that when I signed up for TCC I didn't know what to expect. In that vein, I certainly did not expect to have "Fans", but I have found out that "Fans" I do have - a goodly number it seems. About all I can say about that is AWESOME!! and THANK YOU to all the folks who have offered support, pats on the back, words of thanks and encouragement to me since I was chopped from the show.

It is a great feeling to know that people appreciate your style, both personal and professional. Validation, not exactly, but I have always tried to do my thing, my way and that has only gotten stronger as I have aged. The TCC experience reinforced to me that I have made some good choices in my life and in my food.

Do I have adoring groupies beating down my door or business offers and appearance requests pouring in?

Not exactly

But do I feel I had success on TCC, absolutely yes. I got to highlight ingredients from my own backyard on a National platform, I got to meet and work with an amazing group of Chefs who I can count now as my friends and I didn't embarrass myself or my family. WIN, WIN, WIN!

What's next, well off to TO next week for a Top Chef Canada Dinner at Great Cooks with Andrea, Steve, Patrick, and Michael. The Chef's Inn rolls along keeping me busy with breakfasts and dinners. An appearance at the CNE is coming up in August, planning a cool Culinary/Cultural event in late Sept. in a place not unlike this one,

and it looks like I may be off to James Beard in NYC with a group of NL Chefs in the fall!

All good!

Will my "fans" (even writing it makes me smile), get to see more of me on Food Network Canada?

Just keep watching!!

Week 5 and still alive!

2011-05-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged so this one is a bit overdue!

Since my last post we have had Ep. 4 and Ep. 5 of Top Chef Canada pass us by and lo and behold there I still am! For those of you that are enjoying watching my trials and tribulations you can revel in knowing that you have at least 1 more week to see me sweat. For those that wished weeks ago that I would disappear into Food Network oblivion, my apologies!

Well to start with Yay Ethiopia!! The Ep. 4 elimination challenge saw Connie & I teamed up to prepare our take on a traditional Ethiopian meal. Drawing Ethiopia was a bit of a shocker and an obvious concern, but those concerns were mitigated by having Connie as a partner. She and I had already worked to together on a previous challenge so I knew what to expect. With Connie that is ultimate professionalism, focus, attention to detail and passion for good food! I consider myself to have those traits as well, they manifest themselves a little differently in my personality than they do in Connie, but they are there.

Once we got started, the nerves about cooking Ethiopian food started to fade. I think that we both felt pretty comfortable as we got deeper into the challenge and once judges table came I think we felt pretty good. Then came the first comment. Susur Lee, a culinary legend and a guy who I have tremendous respect for, his first words to us "This is not very Ethiopian".

The heart dropped, a bit speechless for a moment, Connie and I kinda looked at each other thinking "What now?" But we explained our thinking and how we approached the dish and in the end we came out on top. Very exciting!!

On to Ep. 5, Pork, Pork and more Pork!!

The butchery challenge was crazy!! The show the other night just touched on what a challenge that was and how hard we all worked on it! As Dale said, butchering is one thing, doing it for speed changes the water on the beans. It was crazy hard and very intense. When Dusty gashed himself, I thought he might bleed out given how hard his adrenalin was pumping. I think he went through 4 or 5 gloves before we were done.

On to the elimination, there I was on the bottom. First time for me - no fun. I didn't think my dishes were too bad. I actually liked my Scallop dish, perhaps it was too warm in retrospect. The pork dish was tasty, definitely not God's gift to gastronomy, but tasty. Chef McEwan's description of it as kind of a "staff meal" was probably about right - good but not good enough.
Lucky for me there were a couple of disasters that day and although I was in the bottom, I was reasonably sure that I was going to be safe.

At this point the competition reminds me of the story of the 2 fly fisherman being chased by a bear.

One guy immediately takes off running - pole, hip waders and all. Hi buddy stops, takes off his waders, his fishing vest, lays down his pole and starts putting on his running shoes.
His fleeing pal yells back, "You aren't gonna try to outrun that bear, are you?"
To which his friend replies, "Of course not! All I gotta do is outrun you!"

Here's hoping I can stay 1 chef ahead of that bear!

Top Chef Canada, Weeds and the Canucks!

2011-04-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Week three of Top Chef Canada has aired and I still find myself in the mix! Wow! Not sure what I expected when I showed up in Toronto to do the do, but at this point I am definately feeling good about it.

No major disasters (yet!), and I managed to work a couple of our NL favorites into my dishes. You probably remember the seal from Ep. 1! The dessert from Ep. 3 the other night actually had NL Bakeapples on there as well. It didn't really come across on the show, but they were there - berry 'Caviar" on top - in keeping with the challenge.

There was a colllective holding of breath amongst my friends and family here when we they saw me pick up the dessert baton the other night. Lucky for me it worked out, considering that my wife was ready to kill me!

"What are you doing volunteering to do dessert??? Aaaargh!!!" and I quote. Anyway as I like to say, it was all good!

It's been an interesting few weeks, with Top Chef ramping up, spring beginning to arrive, getting geared up for a busy season at The Chef's Inn and watching my Canucks flirt with disaster!

A lot going on and a building level of excitement for what's to come! The collision of all these things at this time of year spawns a bunch of feeling and emotion.

It gives me a lot to think about as I work on the garden, pulling weeds, dividing strawberries and planting seed.

Strangely though all I keep thinking about is who will last longer in their competition - my Vancouver Canucks or me!

Thoughts on Episode 1 - Top Chef Canada

2011-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

After much personal anticipation, Top Chef Canada finally hit the air this past Monday!

We watched with family and friends, after a great nosh of BBQ NL Pork Shoulder, Spicy Yellow Eyed Beans (Hoppin' John style), Savory Scented Coleslaw and Squash Roasted in Panch Phoron Infused Pork Fat dotted with Crispy Pork Rillons. Great food, if I do say so myself, and of course all washed down with a great variety of libations, Champagne, sparkling wine of various styles, about 9 types of beer and a few hard spirits!

That's a Newfoundland, Monday night, TV watching party for you!

It was great to have so many friends, collegues and of course my wife and daughter to watch with and it made the tension a bit easier to deal with. I have to say that I was much more nervous than I expected! Not sure why, but there it is.

All in all, I thought the show was great! Remember, that was day 1! We were all just getting our feet wet and trying to figure out how the ovens worked, besides worrying about making an interesting and appetizing dish. It was a tough, tough first day from the general stress to the unbearable heat, and I was very happy to survive it. That was the best thing about the first show for me - surviving.

The worst thing about it was having to watch the first Chef get the boot.

I worked at the station right next to Michael during that challenge and from the preparation there were no hints that it was his day to depart. Having said that, upon watching the show, you can see the problem the judges has with the dish. Michael is a great guy, perhaps one of the funniest guys I have ever met - and that's saying something. He also is a talented and accomplished Chef. Working next to him for that 90 minutes in those conditions was all I needed to see to figure that out! He made a poor choice combining his tomato water and chevre fondant. It was a bit like oil and water and the judges couldn't get past it. It happens!

What one has to remember throughout the series is that it isn't always (but ususally) a bad dish that sends a Chef packing, it just has to be the least favorite. If everybody knocks a challenge out of the park, you better have done as well.

All in all, happy that I am still standing! Happy that I cooked a dish that I was reasonably happy with. Happy that I got to use a quintessential, NL ingredient - seal flipper!

Some folks called it gutsy, a few called it dumb, and a couple called it brilliant. Maybe - but I call it Canadian cuisine with regional Newfoundland ingredients. It's what I went to do and, lucky me, I got to do it on Episode 1!

It's Top Chef CANADA - isn't that the point?!

Ready for my close up?

2011-04-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Top Chef Canada hits the air 7 days from now! Am I ready? Not sure.

All of us who were fortunate enough to make it on the show have been living it for so long, it's almost hard to believe that the day has finally come. All of the hard work, the good, the bad, ups, downs and inside outs are about to be splashed on the nation's TV screens for all and sundry to see. Am I ready for that? At this point it doesn't really matter, does it?

As a chef, I am used to being under the gun. That is the nature of our business, high pressure, hot & sweaty - fun but often difficult work. Every time we garnish a plate and have it delivered to a paying customer, we lay it on the line literally. There are few occupations that come with as many direct opportunities for judgement, criticism or praise, as being a professional cook.

But that is what draws many of us to want to do it. Make no mistake, it's difficult to be criticized for a dish that takes hours of mental effort and physical toil. A dish you put your heart, soul and all of your experience into to make it the best dish possible, but somehow it fails. Fails so badly in fact that your guest has no difficulty in rejecting it to the point of banishing it, via a circuitous route, to your nearest land fill where it becomes a midnight snack for some furry creature. That's hard to take, believe me.

The other side of that coin are the culinary triumphs! The "Oh, that was the best thing I have ever eaten", moments. The triumphant stroll to what you know to be a contented table, in all your gastronomic glory, shimmering Chef's whites soiled with just a hint of grease and sweat from a hectic but successful service, can be magic!

That's the nature of the gastronomic high wire act that running a restaurant kitchen can be. Restaurant diners are like sports fans at a big game. They pay their money and that gives them the right to heap you with praise for a job well done or boo you off the pitch like an unfortunate Man U fullback who scores an own goal in the Champions League Final!

These are the ups and downs of our chosen profession. And Top Chef Canada has all that in spades! I have experienced the highs and the lows that working kitchens can throw at you, but for the first time I get to do it behind a window. A window that will open once a week in almost every home in Canada!

Am I ready? Was I ready? Watch, starting April 11th, and decide for yourself!

Has spring sprung!

2011-03-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hesitate as I might, I think that we might be in for an early spring!! That sound you just heard was the collective population of eastern Newfoundland damning me to hell for jinxing same. I can't help it though, it seems to me that we might be over our winter hump.

As I write this, I can see patches of garden peeking through the mottled patches of ice and snow that cover our back yard. Always a good sign this early in March. We here in Newfoundland, for those that don't know, suffer from an affliction that I like to call "Seasonitis". It manifests itself every year by us missing one of the four seasons that most of the world at our latitude takes for granted.

It can be different every year.

Winter often doesn't really arrive and we suffer through a mire of rain, sleet, warm, cold in months when we should be schussing down slopes and snagging trout through jagged holes on ponds.

Summer can pass us by also with no real fine weather in the crucial growing months of June, July and August. There are few things in this world as hardy as a burgeoning vegetable in a Newfoundland garden. Let's just say by harvest time, it has not only earned it's place on your table but your respect as well.

Fall skips us less often and as such is many Newfoundlanders favorite time of year. It's about the only one that we can count on and like a favorite pet, it usually comes when expected, brings some lovely color to our lives, and we don't mind cleaning up after it.

Spring. Well what can I say about spring in NL. It is the missing Spring that is most often the symptom of our "Seasonitis". To say that spring is fleeting here is perhaps one of the world's great understatements. A typical spring in NL doesn't last months or weeks. Usually we can pinpoint our spring to a 5 day stretch maybe in May, more often in June, occasionally in July! Not our greatest time of year, but if the weather here were always the standard perception of beautiful, our population would more closely resemble that of downtown Tokyo than the sparse reality of 500, 000 souls on the world's 15th largest island!

Being who we are, we take it all in stride. We like to say that no one lives here for the weather, which of course is not really true. There are many reasons to bask in the glow of what is never a boring climate. Our people are much like the climate. You never know what your going to get and if you wait long enough it's sure to make you laugh!