Interviewing Chef Gordon Ramsay

This morning I interviewed Gordon Ramsay - the many-Michelin starred culinary dynamo and arguably the world's most famous chef. Was I nervous? Um, yeah! As I read over my questions and prepared to head into the CityNews boardroom, where I was conducting the interview, my palms were sweaty and I think I was actually shaking a little bit. My colleague and friend Brian, who was filming the interview, tried to calm me down, but I could tell he was nervous about it too.


We didn't know which Ramsay to expect - the charming, wisecracking regular guy that you'd love to have a few pints with at the pub, or the angry, expletive-spewing beast from the shows Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares.

Thankfully, it was the former. Chef Ramsay was clever, funny, and eloquent in answering my questions about food, cooking, and his new book Healthy Appetite, which contains some mouthwatering recipes I've yet to try. He also came out with some hilarious Ramsay-isms over the course of our 16-minute chat, including, "That's pants." He was referring to the organic movement and how silly it's become, saying that buying local is better. I guess 'pants' is a bad thing.

When talking about the immense pressure involved in becoming a chef, and how demanding it is, he said something along the lines of having chosen to be amongst the top tier of chefs in the world. "I'm a chef, not a cook at T.G.I.Fridays," he noted vehemently at one point. Or something along those lines. T.G.I.Fridays got a few smackdowns in the interview as I recall. Hilarious stuff. Here's the full interview on CityNews.ca.

Chef Ramsay was also kind enough to pose for a picture (see above), and when I told him I was taking a cooking course at George Brown Chef School, where he'd done a demonstration earlier in the day, he wished me luck in it.

All in all, it was a great experience and a great interview. I can see how, for those who get it, who have that true passion for food and cooking, Ramsay would be a source of huge inspiration, not someone to be feared. You want to rise up to meet his challenge, not shrink away from it.



In fact I'm feeling pretty inspired myself - I'm going to have to come up with something extra special to cook next weekend.

Salut!

Suzanne

Comments, questions, suggestions? Email suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com.

Winterlicious in the city

For two weeks each year, in the dead of winter, dozens of Toronto's finest restaurants drastically drop their prices to offer three-course prix fixe lunches and dinners to the dining public. It's called Winterlicious, and given the current state of the economy I'd wager this year will be busier than most.



Lunch ranges from $15 to $30, and dinner from $25 to $45, not including tax and tip.

Good luck nabbing a reservation if you haven't already made one - restaurants began booking for the 14-day event on January 15th and many of the city's most talked about hotspots are filling up fast. I attempted making reservations last night and after striking out at two places I was looking to try: Mildred's Temple Kitchen (the new spot from the people behind the venerable, now shut Mildred Pierce), and The Rosebud (Rodney Bowers's hip Queen West eatery), I found success at The Citizen.

Bowers's latest venture, The Citizen (another nod to his favourite film, Citizen Kane) is located on Queen St. East, near Broadview, and has garnered mainly positive buzz since it opened in 2007. Before opening his own restaurants, the Newfoundland native worked in some of the city's finest restos including Auberge du Pommier and Mistura.

Since The Citizen is in my area of town I'm hoping the Winterlicious menu will impress. The choices for the three courses sound intriguing:

Starters

Caesar with double smoked bacon, parmesan and poached egg
Split pea soup with salt beef and cabbage
Salt cod cakes with aioli

Mains

Roast brined pork loin with buluga lentils and apple chutney
Roast sweet spiced Cornish hen, cracked olives, lemon and white beans
Calamari with clams, anchovy, sweet onion, herbs and dried tomato

Dessert

Pavlova with winter fruit and Chantilly cream
Warm apple crumble with creme Anglaise
Plate of nice cookies

How to decide?!

Check the City of Toronto's site for more on what restaurants are participating and the menus they're offering. I also found this Toronto Life article on Surviving Winterlicious amusing.

Looking at the list of participating restaurants, I was proud to see just how far Toronto's culinary scene has come. Yes, we have some of the tried-and-true standbys, from Bymark, to Truffles, to Canoe, but we also have some interesting (relatively) new kids on the block, from Quince, to Caju, to The Citizen. Wherever you end up, hope it's a delicious meal!

Salut!

Suzanne

Share your Winterlicious experience with Plum Tart, by either leaving a comment or writing suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com.

Sunday Brunch at The Lakeview

Torontonians love their brunch and I'm no exception. But with the holiday craziness in December, and settling into the New Year, it had been weeks since I'd been out for one. So when my friend Olga suggested earlier in the week that a bunch of us get together for Sunday brunch this weekend, I needed no convincing.

Our initial plan was to meet at The Dakota Tavern for their Sunday Bluegrass Brunch, but arriving shortly after 11am we found it packed to the rafters, with an hour's wait before a table would be available. So, we headed around the corner to The Lakeview, formerly Lakeview Lunch, at the corner of Ossington Ave. and Dundas St. West.



I'd been to Lakeview Lunch with another friend years ago - and I remembered that though the seating was a bit cramped, my brekkie, Eggs Florentine, was lovely. Well the new owners have done a bang-up job in reno'ing the Lakeview. Happily, they kept the diner feel of the original, which had been around since 1932, but freshened everything up. White wallpapered walls, spacious, comfortable new booths, Art Deco touches here and there.



And though our food took a while to arrive, we were in no rush, happily chatting away over our coffees. When it did come, everyone seemed pleased with their order - from the smoked salmon Eggs Benedict, to 'The Standard' poached eggs and peameal, to my French toast, which came stuffed with lemon ricotta and Canadian maple syrup on the side.



So, though we may not have had banjo music accompanying our breakfast, The Lakeview was a fine substitute indeed.

The Lakeview
1132 Dundas St. West, at the corner of Ossington Ave.

Salut!

Suzanne