Roll out the barrel...
Saturday, November 3
Roll out the barrel, or keg of beer, let's have a barrel of fun! Then roll out the customers after all the beer and good food. The October 27 gourmet vegan dinner with organic and local beer pairings last weekend was a success on many accounts.
When we held the wine pairing dinner last June, people asked, what about beer? From this, came the idea of a beer pairing dinner, focusing on local and organic beers. Sommelier and beer aficionado Marc was very keen and enthusiastic to take on the task of researching beers, along with Dave who helped in the research and tasting, and I started to think about upscale pub type food in the usual gourmet healthy vegan style to pair with various beers. Thus, came about the October 27 dinner with beer pairing that 3/4 of the room participated in, with the rest more on the wine side and asking about the next wine pairing.
It is only fitting that we had a beer event at the Chelsea Club, a house that was once owned by Sir John Carling himself from 1887-1897, the President of the Carling Brewing and Malting Company, and his spirit must have been pleased by the aromas of various beers floating in the room from different brewers and beers lovers coming together to appreciate the craft of the brewers and for the love of beer and food.
It was relatively easy to come up with the menu, thinking of upscale pub type food and comfort food with the weather becoming cooler and more humid. Actually, it's Dave fault that the weather was cold and damp on Saturday. He said that he hoped that the people coming to the dinner could really appreciate the comfort food that was being prepared and if it was cold and damp that would really enhance the food. And, la voila, the day was cold and damp and people practically ran into the club to take shelter with beer and food, in a beautiful environment, with good company for the evening.
I just did an interview with Centretown News yesterday and one of the questions the reporter asked was what kind of food I enjoyed preparing for people and at my dinners. I didn't think much about this before as I usually prepare food that I would love to eat and food that even carnivores would enjoy eating. And, I like to surprise people about how gourmet vegan food can be healthy, delicious, and satisfying. A nice creamy wild mushroom soup without any cream or butter. A country pot pie with a rich dark "meaty" curry made with root vegetables, rich broth and slow-roasted tempeh. A rich elegant dessert of chocolate cake, dark chocolate ganache, carmelized pecans and a caramel-bourbon sauce without using any milk, butter or eggs. Someone at the dinner said the dessert was so delicious and moist, and couldn't believe we didn't use ingredients like milk or eggs. That's what I enjoy and that was my answer to Centretown News in a nutshell. People loving food for the sake of loving food, without thinking that it's healthy or that it's vegan or that it's different. I've always believed that good food is good food, and if on top of this it's healthy and good for the local economy and environment, wow, what a bonus. It's getting people to start thinking through their taste buds and stomachs, to change their way of thinking, to make them curious and want to know more, learn more, eat more. That's why I started ZenKitchen.
The kitchen was so zen this time around too, even more than usual. We did a lot of work trying to figure out how to make the servicing of the food more effective, quicker and less painful as it's one of the trickiest parts of trying to serve 40 plus people at all once and keeping hot things hot and cold things cold, etc. It requires some real thought and planning and starts with the menu development of what you will put on a plate and what course you will be serving after what course... for example, a hot soup should be followed by a cold course if possible, otherwise all your heating elements will be taken and it gives you a bit of rest while preparing the next course, which is usually hot or has hot elements, and hot elements have to be plated carefully, quickly and the plates have to go out the door almost immediately. There is always a lot of pressure and stress around this in kitchens, to get everything heated up and at their peak for serving, to prepare the different elements for plating and keeping them hot, deciding who is going to do what and in what order, and when to start plating everything. It's even harder when you have less people in the kitchen and you really have to think this through. In larger operations, a plate usually goes down the line and different hands put down different things on a plate like a production line... one rice, then the sauce, then the vegetables, then the garnish, etc. With a small team of three in the kitchen, then we really have move swiftly and work together very cohesively to plate all the dishes in the same way and very quickly. It's quite the team effort and art. This time Louis returned to the kitchen as he was out of town last time with his regular government job, and we had a miracle that appeared out of no where. We were wondering if we should have extra hands in the kitchen and who this would be, when I received an email from a person who wanted to volunteer and intern with me to gain experience in the kitchen with my cuisine. She is a strong supporter of buying local, organic and in season, and liked my approach. So, I contacted this person and felt that she would be a good fit in the kitchen and asked her to help on Saturday. And, la voila, she appeared on Saturday and her enthusiasm, dedication and spirit was a good fit in the kitchen with the rest of the team. I was so impressed I invited her to assist with the rest of the upcoming dinners for this year. What a team we have in the kitchen and we will only get better and stronger over time. We also had a wonderful server team that came together, one person from last time and the others new, but people who understood and appreciated my approach to food and cooking. That makes a huge difference I find. We take so much time to carefully buy and prepare the food, and the person serving needs to take that same care and thoughtfulness in presenting that food to guests. It was truly one of the best evenings we've had for several reasons, and that was only from my perspective back of house. The customers seemed pleased to, and I guess the best sign is that the next dinner is already almost sold out and the December over half sold out, without any promotions or me putting out a newsletter, which I will do very shortly.
So, wanted to write while I take a breather before another crazy period with a Vegetarian/Vegan Whole Foods course at the Urban Element on Tuesday night, sold out like all of my classes there to date. Also, I'm catering a few functions, creating meals for clients, and have another segment of "Caroline No Kitchen" to tape this week, among several other things. To think I was in NYC last year and there was so much to experience and do. I feel just as busy back in Ottawa with never a dull moment except for my knives after chopping all weekend...
Roll out the barrel, or keg of beer, let's have a barrel of fun! Then roll out the customers after all the beer and good food. The October 27 gourmet vegan dinner with organic and local beer pairings last weekend was a success on many accounts.
When we held the wine pairing dinner last June, people asked, what about beer? From this, came the idea of a beer pairing dinner, focusing on local and organic beers. Sommelier and beer aficionado Marc was very keen and enthusiastic to take on the task of researching beers, along with Dave who helped in the research and tasting, and I started to think about upscale pub type food in the usual gourmet healthy vegan style to pair with various beers. Thus, came about the October 27 dinner with beer pairing that 3/4 of the room participated in, with the rest more on the wine side and asking about the next wine pairing.
It is only fitting that we had a beer event at the Chelsea Club, a house that was once owned by Sir John Carling himself from 1887-1897, the President of the Carling Brewing and Malting Company, and his spirit must have been pleased by the aromas of various beers floating in the room from different brewers and beers lovers coming together to appreciate the craft of the brewers and for the love of beer and food.
It was relatively easy to come up with the menu, thinking of upscale pub type food and comfort food with the weather becoming cooler and more humid. Actually, it's Dave fault that the weather was cold and damp on Saturday. He said that he hoped that the people coming to the dinner could really appreciate the comfort food that was being prepared and if it was cold and damp that would really enhance the food. And, la voila, the day was cold and damp and people practically ran into the club to take shelter with beer and food, in a beautiful environment, with good company for the evening.
I just did an interview with Centretown News yesterday and one of the questions the reporter asked was what kind of food I enjoyed preparing for people and at my dinners. I didn't think much about this before as I usually prepare food that I would love to eat and food that even carnivores would enjoy eating. And, I like to surprise people about how gourmet vegan food can be healthy, delicious, and satisfying. A nice creamy wild mushroom soup without any cream or butter. A country pot pie with a rich dark "meaty" curry made with root vegetables, rich broth and slow-roasted tempeh. A rich elegant dessert of chocolate cake, dark chocolate ganache, carmelized pecans and a caramel-bourbon sauce without using any milk, butter or eggs. Someone at the dinner said the dessert was so delicious and moist, and couldn't believe we didn't use ingredients like milk or eggs. That's what I enjoy and that was my answer to Centretown News in a nutshell. People loving food for the sake of loving food, without thinking that it's healthy or that it's vegan or that it's different. I've always believed that good food is good food, and if on top of this it's healthy and good for the local economy and environment, wow, what a bonus. It's getting people to start thinking through their taste buds and stomachs, to change their way of thinking, to make them curious and want to know more, learn more, eat more. That's why I started ZenKitchen.
The kitchen was so zen this time around too, even more than usual. We did a lot of work trying to figure out how to make the servicing of the food more effective, quicker and less painful as it's one of the trickiest parts of trying to serve 40 plus people at all once and keeping hot things hot and cold things cold, etc. It requires some real thought and planning and starts with the menu development of what you will put on a plate and what course you will be serving after what course... for example, a hot soup should be followed by a cold course if possible, otherwise all your heating elements will be taken and it gives you a bit of rest while preparing the next course, which is usually hot or has hot elements, and hot elements have to be plated carefully, quickly and the plates have to go out the door almost immediately. There is always a lot of pressure and stress around this in kitchens, to get everything heated up and at their peak for serving, to prepare the different elements for plating and keeping them hot, deciding who is going to do what and in what order, and when to start plating everything. It's even harder when you have less people in the kitchen and you really have to think this through. In larger operations, a plate usually goes down the line and different hands put down different things on a plate like a production line... one rice, then the sauce, then the vegetables, then the garnish, etc. With a small team of three in the kitchen, then we really have move swiftly and work together very cohesively to plate all the dishes in the same way and very quickly. It's quite the team effort and art. This time Louis returned to the kitchen as he was out of town last time with his regular government job, and we had a miracle that appeared out of no where. We were wondering if we should have extra hands in the kitchen and who this would be, when I received an email from a person who wanted to volunteer and intern with me to gain experience in the kitchen with my cuisine. She is a strong supporter of buying local, organic and in season, and liked my approach. So, I contacted this person and felt that she would be a good fit in the kitchen and asked her to help on Saturday. And, la voila, she appeared on Saturday and her enthusiasm, dedication and spirit was a good fit in the kitchen with the rest of the team. I was so impressed I invited her to assist with the rest of the upcoming dinners for this year. What a team we have in the kitchen and we will only get better and stronger over time. We also had a wonderful server team that came together, one person from last time and the others new, but people who understood and appreciated my approach to food and cooking. That makes a huge difference I find. We take so much time to carefully buy and prepare the food, and the person serving needs to take that same care and thoughtfulness in presenting that food to guests. It was truly one of the best evenings we've had for several reasons, and that was only from my perspective back of house. The customers seemed pleased to, and I guess the best sign is that the next dinner is already almost sold out and the December over half sold out, without any promotions or me putting out a newsletter, which I will do very shortly.
So, wanted to write while I take a breather before another crazy period with a Vegetarian/Vegan Whole Foods course at the Urban Element on Tuesday night, sold out like all of my classes there to date. Also, I'm catering a few functions, creating meals for clients, and have another segment of "Caroline No Kitchen" to tape this week, among several other things. To think I was in NYC last year and there was so much to experience and do. I feel just as busy back in Ottawa with never a dull moment except for my knives after chopping all weekend...
posted by Caroline at 11:21 AM
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