Chefs Share Their Recipes For Success

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Danny-SmilesBroadcast Radio — not cooking — was one of Danny Smiles’ first passions. That wasn’t the industry he was hoping to break into but the name of the indie band he toured with across Canada. Incidentally, it was that passion that led him to the kitchen, where he initially signed up to earn enough money to buy drums; instead kitchen camaraderie wooed him into the world of culinary arts. After learning the craft, he staged with renowned Michelin-rated chef Gualtiero Marchesi in Italy and founded his own catering company. Four years ago he was in the right place at the right time and landed a job at Montreal’s Le Bremner while grabbing a meal the day after celebrity chef-owner Chuck Hughes opened the resto. Since then, Smiles has risen from the role of line cook to chef de cuisine, competed on Top Chef Canada and was the first Canadian to compete at the 14th annual S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Italy last year.

F&H: What have you learned from chef Chuck Hughes?

Danny Smiles: Honest cooking. [He’s a] very ingredient-driven chef. And, I’ve learned how to be a key player in the front-of-the-house – have that charisma. I learned how important it was to be there for your customers and not only be in the kitchen.

F&H: What’s your fondest career memory?

DS: I cooked for Ferran Adria. I remember Chuck calling me in the morning, saying, Ferran Adria is coming to eat at the restaurant. And, it was 8 o’clock in the morning, and he’s like, “You should come down now, and we’ll plan.” I was a sous chef at the time, so it was really cool. We were all really excited. He’s done a lot for food.

F&H: What did you cook for him?

DS: We did a nice rosemary bread, a Dungeness crab salad [and horseradish gravlax].

F&H: What was your greatest career challenge, and how did you overcome it?

DS: To become the chef at Bremner at a very young age. I became the chef in 2011, so I was 26. I had the weight of Chuck’s career on my shoulders… I don’t think I was ready, and I had no choice; it was really hard for me the first six months. [Being] very young, trying to prove yourself, people had a hard time respecting [me] in the kitchen… That was my challenge – how to create a team, how to surround myself, how to keep going. And, I’m still here at 30.

F&H: What advice do you have for young chefs?

DS: Make sure this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. It’s not a lifestyle, it’s a life-life dedication. If you come from a sports background, or a music background or anything you’re dedicated in, you’ll do well, but make sure you’re not lying to yourself.

Amira BecarevicNestled inside the swanky Thompson Toronto, the 119-seat Colette Grand Café is the epitome of a modern Parisian bistro, and behind the plush banquettes and colourful produce on the plate is a chef eager to innovate and inspire her team to prepare dishes such as veal tartare ($16), trout ($36) and goat’s cheese soufflés ($16). Meet Amira Becarevic, a 33-year-old Toronto native who developed a love for cooking at the age of 17 during a summer catering job. Since then, the Liaison College grad’s résumé has grown to include the Four Seasons Whistler, Splendido, Reds Wine Tavern and Epic at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. In 2013, Becarevic joined Toronto’s Chase Hospitality Group, where she advanced from the role of chef de cuisine at The Chase to executive chef. Earlier this year she was promoted to executive chef of Colette Grand Café, where she’s creating buzz about the nearly year-old concept.

F&H: What’s your culinary philosophy?

Amira Becarevic: Getting the most beautiful product you can and not altering it too much. Bringing out the beauty of the product – the freshest, the ripest, the most prized in the market and in season, and ideally keeping things local … [with] flavours that remind you of your childhood and fond memories. Nothing overcomplicated or too fussy. Just honest, pure flavours.

F&H: What childhood memories shaped your career as a chef?

AB: My family is eastern European. We would roast pigs on the weekend in the backyard. My lunch at school was hard-boiled eggs and grilled chicken thighs from the barbecue or roasted lamb, pickled peppers. It wasn’t Wonder Bread and baloney. (Colette’s Grilled Leg of Lamb is marinated in yogurt and chili and accompanied by spiced hazelnuts, charred eggplant and toasted couscous, $24.)

F&H: What type of a leader are you?

AB: Firm but fair. I’ve been part of that old-school mentality of screaming and yelling, and I don’t find this generation of cooks responds well to that. They’re more productive when they’re given a clear direction with positive encouragement as well as consequences if things aren’t up to standard.

F&H: What is your biggest challenge at Colette?

AB: It’s a keen understanding that we want to keep learning, we want to keep growing. We’re always evolving and having inspired ideas – not reinventing the wheel but having a fresh take on the classics or a new version that’s going to keep people excited and wanting to come back.

F&H: What’s next?

AB: We’re starting to think about summer dishes, so I’m excited for summer produce. I can’t wait for tomatoes… We do a nice brunch here… It has something for everybody, and it’s received great comments, and a lot of regular guests return, so I’m excited for that to ramp up. Colette is only nine-months old, so I’m excited to see what lies ahead.

 

Farzam-FallahDon’t skip dessert. That’s the message Tehran-born pastry chef Farzam Fallah hopes to send to guests at Toronto’s Richmond Station, where each bite of his whimsically inspired eats offers a new experience. His desserts are memorable. After working his way through the kitchens of Thornhill, Ont.’s Terra restaurant, Toronto’s Ruby Watchco and Pizzeria Libretto, he whipped up a lemon posset for his soon-to-be front-of-house manager at Richmond Station and impressed her so much that it helped him land his current gig. With desserts such as white chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream, cooked citrus, cultured tres leches and afsaneh spice ($9), the 23-year-old is converting the masses, convincing them to take new joy in the last course.

F&H: What was your earliest culinary memory?

Farzam Fallah: Sitting at [my aunt’s] dinner table. While cooking she would take a piece of bread, dip it into a pot and feed me. She used a lot of animal fat to cook with… and I always remembered oil dripping off her fingers and just how delicious that fat-soaked bread tasted.

F&H: What attracted you to the sweet as opposed to the savoury?

FF: The number of things that I can do with flour, eggs, butter and sugar are astronomical when you think about it. With these four basic ingredients you can create so much, whereas a carrot can only be turned into a carrot soup or a carrot puree or roasted carrot- it will always be a carrot. With flour you have a chemical change, and it can become something new.

F&H: Did you have a mentor?

FF: Not really. I’ve been fairly independent in the industry. I’ve had this thing where I’d get a job, work at a restaurant, and, as soon as I got bored, I would leave, which isn’t the best characteristic of an employee. I wanted to constantly learn and become better, and that’s why I moved from restaurant to restaurant.

F&H: Tell me about one of your more memorable creations.

FF: My favourite dessert so far has been the snozberry sherbet, [inspired by] that scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory where they’re eating the everlasting Gobstopper, and they keep mentioning different flavours they taste. So my idea was to create something where every single bite [would] be different, texturally and flavourfully. The ice cream itself was tonka-bean based, and we would add beet juice, carrot juice and spinach into it-each one sweetened to a different level. It was served with five different sauces.

F&H: How do you address dietary concerns on the menu?

FF: When I started writing menus for Richmond Station I made an effort to create gluten- and dairy-free desserts, and, on every menu, there’s at least one gluten-free dessert and one thing we can create on the fly that is dairy-free or vegan.

 

katie-hayesMore than 20 years ago, Katie Hayes roamed her family’s property in Upper Amherst Cove, N.L., picking rocks to open garden beds. Today, the 29-year-old graduate of Charlottetown’s Culinary Institute of Canada is working that same land, having opened Bonavista Social Club — a reference to the Cuban venue, band, album and nearby Bonavista Peninsula — in 2012 with her husband, Shane. The timber-frame outpost was originally built by Katie’s father, Mike Paterson, to house his wooden furniture, before he renovated it to become a seasonal 24-seat restaurant (with a 40-seat deck) brimming with rustic charm. The wood-fired oven churns out bread daily, which complements the local-inspired menu of pizzas, sandwiches and salads ($25 to $40 per person), topped with house-made oils, vinegars and dressings. The three-hour drive from St. John’s, N.L. doesn’t deter diners who flock to the oceanside hideaway, commanding 100 to 150 covers daily. The goal? “To showcase the simplicity of how this local-raised fare has always been part of our culture,” says Hayes, who will no doubt pass on her love of the land to her two girls, Claragh and Dorothy.

F&H: What ingredients from the restaurant are sourced from your backyard?

Katie Hayes: We tailor our menu to what is available from the garden each morning- sweet overwintered parsnips to start the menu in the spring, early greens from the heated greenhouse, raspberries, apples and rhubarb, asparagus, herbs throughout the summer. Honey from our beehives, goat’s milk soap from our goats, meat from the animals in the field, eggs from the roaming hens, seafood from the bay in front of the restaurant complement the garden fare. Just for fun, we import green coffee grown on my uncle’s eco-lodge in Costa Rica, roasted on site for maximum freshness.

F&H: What’s your signature dish at the restaurant?

KH: My signature dish would have to be pizza. It easily incorporates the fresh ingredients that surround us and highlights our wood-fired bread oven.

F&H: Diners drive hours to experience your restaurant. Food aside, how do you woo them?

KH: Our location in a secluded community off the highway at the ocean’s edge – a relaxed atmosphere [offering] fresh food in a fast-paced world – makes people slow down and think about what they are eating. The friendly local staff, open kitchen and view of the gardens and animals enhance this experience and keep people coming back. Not to mention the icebergs, whales and bald eagles.

F&H: What advice do you have for potential chef/farmers?

KH: Any chef looking to farm his own land and run a restaurant would do well to keep it simple, grow what does well in that climate and not try to do too much. Well-grown produce speaks for itself Ñ showcase it. Don’t underestimate the value of home-grown ingredients.

 

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