Our weekend at the liquor store and serving 2,500 hors d'oeuvres...
Sunday, April 13...
Well, it's all over and we served over 2,500 gourmet vegan hors d'oeuves from Friday, April 11-Sunday, April 13 from the lovely demonstration kitchen at the big downtown LCBO store at Rideau and King Edward Street. We had originally made around 2,200 hors d'oeuvres over two days with a crew of around 8 people before the event, and Saturday was so busy that we decided that we needed to make more so we wouldn't run out. So, Adrienne, our lovely and faithful volunteer who is going back to BC soon, came to my rescue and we both made more phyllo triangles all Sunday afternoon and Dave and Phil, the wonderful person that LCBO provides to assist us, served them up with a smile.
The LCBO has a lovely kitchen space to work from, full of light, brightness and a good vibe. When I started making the triangles, the special events co-ordinator said I could be on TV and put the cameras on me and la voila there I was on two demonstration TVs in the kitchen area for people to watch my every move and to draw them in. It was strange to watch yourself on TV live and I felt like I should be doing more like flambeing, or battling another chef, or doing a little dance vs. just slowly making phyllo triangles. Also, at different points during the day, I would look up from my work to see people watching the screens and wonder what they were watching, and then it would clue in that it was me and my movements! I guess this is what it's like to be on reality TV. At some point, you forget the camera is on and carry one with your normal life, and then that's when they catch the good stuff. Not sure if I had any good stuff to observe but it was interesting to see people watching the screen vs. me, especially as they were so close that they could come up to me but preferred to watch the screen instead. I guess it's less intimidating and intrusive then standing right there in front of me.
Dave and I had a great time, meeting so many different people that were surprised by the free wine and beer samples, and the chance to sample some food. It was a veganextravaganza right in the heart of Ottawa all weekend, with ZenKitchen's vegan hors d'oeuvers and B Goods with his vegan cookies, made from his mobile bakery kitchen truck that he parked at the back near the loading dock. He would make a batch of cookies and have a timer so that he knew when to run to get them, and then bring them back to the kitchen for people to eat. This is probably one of the reasons he stays so trim and fit, the running back and forth alone must have been a few kms during the weekend. It was a hard place, tasting hot fresh cookies all day... chocolate mint, chocolate ancho, ginger molasses, etc. etc.
Actually, we got along famously and Brad of B. Goods will be bringing samples of his cookies for my guests at the next dinner on April 26, along with himself as a dinner guest and to speak a bit about his business. That's another wonderful thing that Dave and love about our business. We get to meet so many interesting small businesses, especially with similar philosophies and approaches, and we can help each other in so many ways, not only in working together but providing names of contacts, suppliers, etc. It's been really great to be helped and then to help others as each action makes a big impact.
We were ideally situated with B Goods supplying vegan cookies on one side and then Mill Street from Toronto and their organic beer on the other side... tough job. We already love Mill Street and serve it at our dinners but we spoke to the rep about doing a special dinner and beer pairing with Mill Street in the near future. We would love that and I think our dinner guests would as well.
The other great thing was introducing people to the good gourmet natural food, vegan food, and they loved it. When we offered hors d'oeuvres either someone would say they were vegetarian or vegan and couldn't eat it or would ask what was in it, and you could see their eyes light up and smiles appear on their faces when they said it was vegan. Then they would eagerly gobble up one, and at least another, and be supportive and enthusiastic about what we were doing. Vegetarians and vegans are so used to people making non-vegetarian/vegan food at these type of events that they are really shocked when it's switched around.
The other camp, the majority, would eat the hors d'oeuve, love it, and when they found out it was vegan and made with natural foods, they became very interested, curious and enthusiastic about what we were doing and ZenKitchen. That was rewarding as I've always believe that you can open up people's minds through their palates and that good food is good food first and foremost before giving it labels. Also, I feel it is so important for people to see food more than food, but the person cooking the food, how it was made in a certain way and why, who made the ingredients that went into the food, etc. Numerous people also asked if they could buy them or where they could buy them, and we said that were not selling them at the moment... we could cater their party with hors d'oeuves or they could come to a dinner or other event, but that was the only way for now. That was rewarding to hear from mostly non-vegans.
Also, numerous people were interested in cooking classes and the LCBO has asked if I would give a combined cooking demo-dinner in their kitchen this fall, paired with wines selected by their wine consultant. Now, won't that be fun! I know that ZenKitchen dinner guests would love that and it would be such a treat!
Even thought the first dinner last April was held in a coffee shop, people said they loved it as they were able to see the kitchen and see us cook. There was no divide or separation between the kitchen and the diners, which people seemed to really enjoy and it was great for me to see the dinner guests. It's something that I would like to strive for in a place in the future, although it might be a lot tougher to be on show while you are working hard and it would have to be a nice space that would be part of the total concept. Most restaurants try to hide their kitchens well and for good reason, mostly I believe because in their current set ups they feel it would take the glamour away and dreamy visions guests have of chefs and kitchens. They see so many kitchens on TV and you don't see any normal kitchens that are often in basements or places with no natural light, with low ceilings, cramped quarters, old dingy equipment and supplies but they work still, etc. etc. Also, I believe they feel that everyone would have to be on their very best behaviour with people watching and couldn't behave how they normally are in kitchens.
However, at the same time, it's nice to see the dinner guests you have spent countless hours cooking for and feel the vibe of the people that are all rooting for you, as they want a great dinner experience just as much as we want to provide it to them.
On Saturday, I also did a cooking lesson at the Japanese Centre on Japanese Vegetarian, which has been sold out for awhile and everyone was enthusiastic to having me there and making together lots of good food. It was a dreary day with rain, almost like snow, and cool and damp, so it was nice to have them try clear soup with different kinds of miso and then make a number of other Japanese-inspired dishes that kept them busy and full.
So, in short, a full weekend, with lots of people that we met in our travels and I feel more adventures are ahead for us.
Well, it's all over and we served over 2,500 gourmet vegan hors d'oeuves from Friday, April 11-Sunday, April 13 from the lovely demonstration kitchen at the big downtown LCBO store at Rideau and King Edward Street. We had originally made around 2,200 hors d'oeuvres over two days with a crew of around 8 people before the event, and Saturday was so busy that we decided that we needed to make more so we wouldn't run out. So, Adrienne, our lovely and faithful volunteer who is going back to BC soon, came to my rescue and we both made more phyllo triangles all Sunday afternoon and Dave and Phil, the wonderful person that LCBO provides to assist us, served them up with a smile.
The LCBO has a lovely kitchen space to work from, full of light, brightness and a good vibe. When I started making the triangles, the special events co-ordinator said I could be on TV and put the cameras on me and la voila there I was on two demonstration TVs in the kitchen area for people to watch my every move and to draw them in. It was strange to watch yourself on TV live and I felt like I should be doing more like flambeing, or battling another chef, or doing a little dance vs. just slowly making phyllo triangles. Also, at different points during the day, I would look up from my work to see people watching the screens and wonder what they were watching, and then it would clue in that it was me and my movements! I guess this is what it's like to be on reality TV. At some point, you forget the camera is on and carry one with your normal life, and then that's when they catch the good stuff. Not sure if I had any good stuff to observe but it was interesting to see people watching the screen vs. me, especially as they were so close that they could come up to me but preferred to watch the screen instead. I guess it's less intimidating and intrusive then standing right there in front of me.
Dave and I had a great time, meeting so many different people that were surprised by the free wine and beer samples, and the chance to sample some food. It was a veganextravaganza right in the heart of Ottawa all weekend, with ZenKitchen's vegan hors d'oeuvers and B Goods with his vegan cookies, made from his mobile bakery kitchen truck that he parked at the back near the loading dock. He would make a batch of cookies and have a timer so that he knew when to run to get them, and then bring them back to the kitchen for people to eat. This is probably one of the reasons he stays so trim and fit, the running back and forth alone must have been a few kms during the weekend. It was a hard place, tasting hot fresh cookies all day... chocolate mint, chocolate ancho, ginger molasses, etc. etc.
Actually, we got along famously and Brad of B. Goods will be bringing samples of his cookies for my guests at the next dinner on April 26, along with himself as a dinner guest and to speak a bit about his business. That's another wonderful thing that Dave and love about our business. We get to meet so many interesting small businesses, especially with similar philosophies and approaches, and we can help each other in so many ways, not only in working together but providing names of contacts, suppliers, etc. It's been really great to be helped and then to help others as each action makes a big impact.
We were ideally situated with B Goods supplying vegan cookies on one side and then Mill Street from Toronto and their organic beer on the other side... tough job. We already love Mill Street and serve it at our dinners but we spoke to the rep about doing a special dinner and beer pairing with Mill Street in the near future. We would love that and I think our dinner guests would as well.
The other great thing was introducing people to the good gourmet natural food, vegan food, and they loved it. When we offered hors d'oeuvres either someone would say they were vegetarian or vegan and couldn't eat it or would ask what was in it, and you could see their eyes light up and smiles appear on their faces when they said it was vegan. Then they would eagerly gobble up one, and at least another, and be supportive and enthusiastic about what we were doing. Vegetarians and vegans are so used to people making non-vegetarian/vegan food at these type of events that they are really shocked when it's switched around.
The other camp, the majority, would eat the hors d'oeuve, love it, and when they found out it was vegan and made with natural foods, they became very interested, curious and enthusiastic about what we were doing and ZenKitchen. That was rewarding as I've always believe that you can open up people's minds through their palates and that good food is good food first and foremost before giving it labels. Also, I feel it is so important for people to see food more than food, but the person cooking the food, how it was made in a certain way and why, who made the ingredients that went into the food, etc. Numerous people also asked if they could buy them or where they could buy them, and we said that were not selling them at the moment... we could cater their party with hors d'oeuves or they could come to a dinner or other event, but that was the only way for now. That was rewarding to hear from mostly non-vegans.
Also, numerous people were interested in cooking classes and the LCBO has asked if I would give a combined cooking demo-dinner in their kitchen this fall, paired with wines selected by their wine consultant. Now, won't that be fun! I know that ZenKitchen dinner guests would love that and it would be such a treat!
Even thought the first dinner last April was held in a coffee shop, people said they loved it as they were able to see the kitchen and see us cook. There was no divide or separation between the kitchen and the diners, which people seemed to really enjoy and it was great for me to see the dinner guests. It's something that I would like to strive for in a place in the future, although it might be a lot tougher to be on show while you are working hard and it would have to be a nice space that would be part of the total concept. Most restaurants try to hide their kitchens well and for good reason, mostly I believe because in their current set ups they feel it would take the glamour away and dreamy visions guests have of chefs and kitchens. They see so many kitchens on TV and you don't see any normal kitchens that are often in basements or places with no natural light, with low ceilings, cramped quarters, old dingy equipment and supplies but they work still, etc. etc. Also, I believe they feel that everyone would have to be on their very best behaviour with people watching and couldn't behave how they normally are in kitchens.
However, at the same time, it's nice to see the dinner guests you have spent countless hours cooking for and feel the vibe of the people that are all rooting for you, as they want a great dinner experience just as much as we want to provide it to them.
On Saturday, I also did a cooking lesson at the Japanese Centre on Japanese Vegetarian, which has been sold out for awhile and everyone was enthusiastic to having me there and making together lots of good food. It was a dreary day with rain, almost like snow, and cool and damp, so it was nice to have them try clear soup with different kinds of miso and then make a number of other Japanese-inspired dishes that kept them busy and full.
So, in short, a full weekend, with lots of people that we met in our travels and I feel more adventures are ahead for us.
posted by Caroline at 8:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home