arielle
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Posts posted by arielle
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I wonder if anyone else here smells an attempt at some free advertising?
I wonder if anyone here ever reads the New York Forum?
I do.
I wonder if NonDoctor realises that in one post in January, he stated:
"I work as Sommelier at the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar in Toronto"
I wonder if anyone appreciates this site being used as a format for
non-declared advertising?
I don't.
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I made a whole batch of Creme Brulee/Burnt Cream desserts (3-4 dozen) using salt instead of sugar. The first burnt cream that night was served with the sugar top carmelized to perfection, only to be sent back to the kitchen by a gagging customer.
We had a similar experience, except the chef who was on pastry that night tried to top the brulees with salt before caramelizing them: big mistake.
She then sent the (literally) bruleed custard out to the guest: bigger mistake.
Salt caremalises?No - it burns. (see above)
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A ripe, juicy Bowen mango - the flesh is tender and sweet, and with a little fresh lime squeezed over it........oh!
I like to eat them in a bikini, on the beach, so it doesn't matter if the juice runs down my arms and all over me!
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I buy any vanilla-y ice cream flavor for the cat, Arielle, and if I get him a half vanilla, half chocolate one, he'll lick the entire vanilla side down to to point where he starts to be able to taste the chocolate side coming through, and then he stops. I guess he thinks chocolate tastes icky.
I tried to take a picture of him licking the pop one day, because I thought it would be a really neat thing to show, but it was very hard to hit the shutter at exactly the second that he has his tongue out, touching the pop.
Do you think that the fact that I spend time feeding my cat lollipops and trying to photograph him eating them indicates that I've got a little too much time on my hands?
Not at all!
Plus, I want to take photos of my baby (we have two: she's only 18 mths but uor big boy is nearly 5!) because she eats her kibble with her hands!
I kid you not - she picks up the kibble one piece at a time and eats it from her paws! She's right-handed, but sometimes uses her left paw if she's about to drop it! 
Vanilla..hmm...every morning when I finish my museli, the two of them fight over licking the bowl, but only when it's natural yoghurt that I've used, if it's vanilla they won't touch it!? Go figure......
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I flipped through this one at Books for Cooks on Saturday. It's comprehensive. Worth a second look.
I also went home with Bourdain's new gem. Fucking great.
Got Fergus Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating on Order, and Keller's Bouchon.
Will be a great month ahead.
Is that the same (Aust. issue) of the Nth American "The Whole Beast"? It's a fantastic book......we have "Bouchon on order, and were supposed to receive it *before* it came out in bookstores.......it's been out for a week or two and.....nada..
Slightly pissed.
Back to the topic, though, thankyou for the heads up on this (for me) new chef and his book. It's always great to see young Aussie chefs make a name for themselves.......of course Donna Hay has made a fortune through her books, but, not wishing to denigrate her, it's great to see chefs' recipes out there, rather than the "easy" home-cooking fare that she promulgates.......
'though it must be said: anything that gets people in the kitchen and away from the TV must be worthy!!!!!!!!!!
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I expect a chef to show me the inner soul and defining spirit of the food(s) they choose to work with.
That's the sort of thing that I meant - that is to say, I would expect a chef (with due respect given to Daniel's very prudent observations on the 'level' of the restaurant, of course) to take the time to source the *best* produce and then to use his cooking to showcase the soul, spirit of the food. Too many chefs try to 'wow' us with immensely complicated constructions of food, that are pretty on the plate, and 'read' very daringly on the menu, but which don't really work, because they are over-reaching their ability to integrate flavours. I'm not suggesting by 'integration' that every mouthful should taste the same, quite the contrary. What I mean is that there is harmony achieved on the plate, that flavours which simply do not go together should not be together. I appreciate that some chefs who are studying molecular gastronomy are accused of doing this, but it's not about pre-conceived notions of what does and does not work, it's about whether or not they can make it work.
So I expect that a chef will produce the *best* food that he can: if you aren't Messieurs Adria or Blumenthal, don't try to be them. If you can, however, produce a brilliant cassoulet or bouillabaisse, dishes that are traditionally 'peasant food', then that's what you should be doing. If you find some rich, ripe heirloom tomatoes, serve them with a little Mozzarella di Bufala, some torn basil, a little reduced balsamic and sea salt and fresh black pepper, because that reveals the essence of the produce.
Beautiful!!!!!!!!
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How can you not like rare duck? Or squid and octopus, for that matter? Yumm.
I don't know about the chicken sashimi, since I haven't had it, but I have a feeling I'd like it a lot.
Arielle: I like chupa chups, too. But I usually don't get to have more than one lick. I buy them for my cat and he licks them down to little nubs. It takes about 10 minutes or so, but he likes them so much that I feel it's worth it to sit there and hold the stick for him.
And processed cheese is probably one of the grossest things around. Except for canned peas, of course.
Actually I kinda like canned peas! (With lots of salt and pepper - somehow they are very comforting to me!)
Your cat likes them?! What flavour in particular - chocolate?
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The restaurant where I work has an extensive by-the-glass wine selection, including half-pours (3oz instead of the usual 6oz).
One of the customers yelled and swore at a server when the bill arrived, because his wife had asked for a 3oz glass of wine, and he had asked for "a glass", so the server thought he wanted a 6oz pour. He accepted the drink and consumed it entirely without saying anything, and it wasn't until it came to pay the bill......and then he went ballistic at her "How dare you *presume* anything! You should have asked me to specify! (insert very foul expletive here)"
Man, this sort of thing really pisses me off. (Please insert very foul expletive here on my part, directed at said "gentleman" )
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One night the ubiqitous 'difficult' table, that ate every morsel of food presented to them, called me (I was the Assistant Manager) over to complain that their meals should be comp'd because they were "inedible". I pointed out that I had cleared their plates and seen that they had even used bread to mop up the residual sauce.....and further had asked if they had enjoyed their meals, and that their response was, "Everything was wonderful".
The 'gentleman' replied that he simply didn't want to seem rude!
He continued to make a fuss, but I refused to deduct anything, so they left, loudly proclaiming that they would never return and would advise their friends to do likewise.
The table next to them asked me if we (in hospitality) had a special word for such guests.......the GM, walking past, said, "Yes, we call them arseholes!"
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Now here's a question. I've noticed that most of the posts on this thread, mine included, talk about sandwiches on cheap white bread (of the Wonder Bread ilk) as one of our guilty pleasures. Is that due to the shame associated with eating it... never, ever letting anyone else know that the alter ego to our multigrain/whole wheat/rye/pumpernickel eating self has indulged in so lowly a loaf?
Hmmm...
For me it was a great treat as a kid to be able to go to birthday parties etc and have 'fairy bread': sliced white bread (usually crusts off), with butter or margarine and 'hundreds and thousands' (multi-coloured sprinkles that, I think, are just coloured sugar...?).
It wasn't until I was about 10 or 11 that we even had white rice or pasta at home, and we certainly NEVER had white bread or candy, so you can imagine the likelihood that I would have been allowed to have something so lacking in nutritional value.
Funny thing is that I have zero desire to eat stuff like that now. Makes me feel kinda queasy, actually.
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Please excuse the ignorance (or, perhaps, impudence) here, but I thought that a "burger" was necessarily a patty, or rissole of meat between two peices of bread or encased in a bun.............thus, a "burger", sans bread, ceases to be a "burger", and becomes a meat patty, or rissole..........am I wrong?
Is it perhaps a cultural thing - not hailing from Nth America......
Possibly we still say "burger" because the long name for the slab of ground meat, "hamburger patty" is just too much for us.
Thanks SCE! I'll remember that in future discourse (not with you, but "the others"!
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I have no info on any new treatments (ie PILLS) for lactose intolerance, but please: BE CAREFUL!
I was taking the pills for a year, and developed a stomach ulcer (age 19!) I stopped taking them, the ulcer went away........6 months later, the Australian govt or medical profession (whoever is responsible for such action?) pulled them from shelves.
Yes, they may allow the intolerant to consume dairy, but is it worth the pain?
PS - I can consume "Lactaid" milk without difficulty, but to be honest, I stick mostly with soy milk now.
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Please excuse the ignorance (or, perhaps, impudence) here, but I thought that a "burger" was necessarily a patty, or rissole of meat between two peices of bread or encased in a bun.............thus, a "burger", sans bread, ceases to be a "burger", and becomes a meat patty, or rissole..........am I wrong?
Is it perhaps a cultural thing - not hailing from Nth America......
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For those of you who are having problems with the grind:
1) Craig is right - Lavazza espresso, illy, and Vittoria are all readily available in supermarkets and work very well;
2) If you live in close proximity to a cafe that sells beans, you can ask them to grind them for you. Each machine is calibrated a little differently, but I usually find that if you turn the dial 1 notch coarser than espresso grind, it works perfectly.
If you go for option 2, often you can have a range of roasts, and origins of beans to choose from. If you're like me, you can also buy 'fair trade' coffee, and ensure that the farmers can make a living wage, and also hopefully protect the environment!
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I recall that on a trip to New Zealand, all the high-end restaurants charged for a roll, or a slice of bread. It was rather astonishing - there was no mention of such a thing, and the server would appear with a basket, inquiring if you would care for a roll or a slice of bread with dinner. In all three instances, we were doing 5 and 6 course meals, and were somewhat taken aback to discover that we had been charged about $3.00 for each roll or slice of bread. Actually, horrified is more like it.
I agree that it's very wrong to provide something automatically and then to charge for it later. But to someone from NZ or Aust, it is presumed that you will be charged for bread, it's usually a nice surprise when you haven't been. We have a small restaurant, and we provide bread and oil to our customers free of charge....but it costs us a lot because we buy it in, and we get the best artisinal bread in the city. I just hope that the customers appreciate it!
In the other thread that GG mentioned, there were several posters who noted that in Europe everyone drinks bottled water - someone said that you'd be considered "cheap" if you didn't get it. I'd be more inclined to say that they'd think that you were crazy. It's insanely cheap to buy bottled water there, most people drink it in their homes, and would never consider drinking tap water unless they were in a dire situation.
And to comment on the price of water in restaurants: it is infinitely frustrating to pay $8 here in a restaurant for $1.20 worth of water (that's a mark-up of 670%!!!!), but to read that in NY some places are charging $14!!!! It's enough to turn you off your food!
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I think that you'll find that you can cook with Lactaid just as well as regular milk. If you use 'whole' Lactaid, you may be able to cut back a little on the butter or cream, without losing buttery consistency.
May seem a little weird, but olive oil-mashed spuds are great too, especially if you include a little (or, for me, a LOT) of roasted garlic.....mmmmm, heaven.
Lactaid is just milk with lactase (an enzyme to break down the sugar in milk) - this is for all those lactose-tolerants out there who don't even know what we're talking about!
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#2: I will never again pour water, even a little bit, onto a grease fire. I finally got the fire out by removing the skillet to the Formica countertop (scorch) and blanketing it with flour. I managed to clean up by the time my mom got home (I was 16).
I remember doing this when I was 18(?) - the kitchen ceiling and upper walls were utterly blackened. Hours of standing on a chair with my head tilted back and my arms above my head.........and then I had to clean the ceiling afterwards!
Oh yeah, welcome Darcie B!
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Since I don't see any limitation to only processed foods, here are some real food yucks:
Rare duck
Dear God! How do you like your duck?
Have a friend who's very fond of saying "I'm so hungry I could eat the crotch out of a low-flying duck!"
Now *that's* rare!
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well, Bourdain and a good deal of other food writers commonly refer to 'honest' food, which I read as the idea that a chef is presenting the best possible product that they can make, selling it at a fair price and not cutting corners, abusing employees, screwing over purveyors, etc. In an industry where (commercial) success and failure can often be a question of pennies, a Chef who does not compromise his/her commitment to their craft is the best kind of chef.
Having worked for a few meglomaniacal, dishonest chefs, I really appreciate the ones who don't f*** around and take care of their business like real, honest, people.
I agree with you, Markovitch, and I'd like to add that I think 'honest' food includes non-pretentious, well-executed dishes that are authentic and 'true' to their origins. That is to say that ironic twists such as the elevation of junk food to haute status can work really well, but if chefs are over-reaching themselves.......sometimes what you really want is just a nice plate of al-dente pasta with some olive oil and sauteed garlic, or perhaps a fillet of fresh snapper, pan fried, and served with some sea salt, a grind of black pepper, a squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkling of parsley.
Okay.....that's a little too simple. But you know what I mean...
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I think that overall it's about eating EVERYTHING that you enjoy in MODERATION. Others have posted about this and I agree with them. I grew up in ahouse that rarely had butter, because of allergies, but I've come to know the level of dairy that I may consume without ill effect.
I also went through a period where I consumed next to no fat......became waaaayyy too thin....I'm over that now. But I have to admit that my diet now is very healthy for 99% of the time, and I save my indulgences as such; so no, I don't have butter or duck fat etc every day. I enjoy them when I do, and I eat lots of fatty fish and olive oil to give me the fats (and minerals therein) that I need.
As for the rest: I exercise a lot, have a good metabolism, and blood pressure that is at the extremely low end. I also have a low standing heart rate.......but that's more exercise related.
I understand the hereditary aspect.......but my parents and brother are all very healthy, as for the rest of the family, we have those who live 'til they're 95, and those who die of (with?) diabetes at 58.......so I'm doing what I can.
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What do I think is gross?
Fake (ie processed) cheese.
Frosted cereal.
All candy, with the exception of jelly belly beans and chupa chups!
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someone explain marmite to meRe: Marmite. One must be English or at least British to enjoy it just as one must be Australian to appreciate Vegemite.
Also, those who love Marmite loathe Vegemite and vice the versa.
I don't care much for either now but, when in boarding school, would have killed a sibling or a second-best friend for a bit of Marmite on toast. But that's because toast (which was made illegally under one's bed) was the only edible foodstuff.
Vegemite and avocado on toast, or vegemite and cheese sandwiches! Mmmm.
I like it for breakfast with some banana sliced over the top, and a few crushed nuts on top of that! The umami of the vegemite heightens the nuttiness of the bread and nuts and the sweet creaminess of the banana!
I am also somewhat of an anomoly: I love vegemite, but I really don't mind mar- or promite either; and I like it thick and strong (no wimpy scraping of it for me, it's nearly that I have a little bread or toast with my serving of vegemite!)
Needless to say that it totally grosses my family and friends out!
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As for females being harder on each other.............I think there may be some truth to that when it comes to attracting the opposite sex, women can be brutal to each other. But I don't see that behavior in well functioning work places. In kitchens we might pick on someone who isn't carrying their weight, we might be tough on someone who needs to be tougher..........but that doesn't break down to sexist behavior. The example of the hand placed on the flat top doesn't break down to a sexist behavior. It's just as likely to happen to a weak female as a weak male. That childish (shouldn't be allowed) behavior is about being tough, teaching (something). Which is seperate from actual sexist behavior or racism.
I've been treated poorly by a sexist chef whom happened to be a different nationality then myself. But that behavior came from someone with a real lack of education so I didn't take the actions personally (when I look back-even though at the time I did take it personally). When a women is harder on another women it's out of competition which is different then being sexist, in my opinion. Competition is good..........but for many women it's not comfortable. We play nice (mostly) as children playing barbie unlike boys who run each other over with their trucks. I think that's why we take it as an "attack" and try to label it as sexist.
I didn't mean to suggest that women in competition were engaging in sexism, I'm just saying that I think that it's disappointing to see their attitudes. I think that we should all be helping one another, not back-stabbing and cat-scratching.... I understand that at times you do have to be tough on people (that which doesn't kill them etc) but there is clearly a difference between toughening someone up and trying to undermine or humiliate them.
I agree that education is important. It does not excuse behaviour, people need to take responsibility for their actions and treatment of others: if you join the KKK and string an African-American up from a tree, it's no defence to say that you were simply poorly educated and prejudiced because your parents were.......
It's also our responsibility to do our best to help people escape their own prejudices, for them to realise that they have been labouring under misconceptions all this time, and that the best thing that they could do would be to change this situation.
PS - the apprentice with the hand on the flat-top *was* a male, I'm not suggesting that sexism on the part of the chef was involved, rather that women are less likely than men to put up with that sort of treatment by their boss.
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Hey Adam!
I guess it's not really lannie's fault that (s)he is simply promulgating a popular myth about Aust.
'nuff said.
Jamie Kennedy RESTAURANT (not Wine Bar)
in Ontario: Dining
Posted · Edited by arielle (log)
To answer all of your questions...
The JK Restaurant will seat around 30 people.
Jamie K is Chef de Cuisine and will be very, VERY much hands-on in the new Restaurant.
Chef is Eric Walker who has been with JK for 5 years, moving up from prep chef through events chef to his current position.
Front of House is being taken in hand by Aron Mohr, ex of Etoile, Vancouver, who has been with JK Wine Bar for around 1 year.
If you ever enjoyed JK's food at the Palmerston then I would imagine that you would be excited by the new menu.