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Thursday, December 10, 2015
Nanaimo News Bulletin 7
Two chefs help diversify downtown dining Culinary couple blends business, love of cuisine By Chris Bush The News BulleTiN
Sometimes you just have to take a shot and hope the stars align. Husband and wife culinary team Daniel Caron, chef, and Tammy Deline, pastry chef, took their shot with 2 Chefs Affair on Commercial Street in 2010. In just five years they’ve gone from employing themselves and one server to 38 employees, a catering business and the addition of the Modern Café to their culinary presence in downtown Nanaimo. 2 Chefs Affair didn’t come about by chance, but was a wellresearched decision by a couple who’ve known the
restaurant business all their lives. Deline’s father was a restaurateur in Ontario. Deline studied business management, but it was a job in Germany that turned her on to pastry. “I worked in a big bakery there and it was just phenomenal…” Deline said. “Going from doing stuff in a grocery store to seeing all the pastries in Europe, France, Germany, everywhere, I said ‘I have to go home and do something about this.’ So when I went home I got hired right away at the Chateau Laurier and it was amazing.” The hotel in Ottawa offered her an apprenticeship while she attended school. She and Caron met at the Chateau Laurier and developed their careers through the Fairmont Hotels chain at the Banff Springs Hotel and Waterfront Centre in Vancouver. But prime positions involved thee hours of
ChRis BUsh/The News BULLeTiN
Culinary couple Tammy Deline and Daniel Caron brought their dream of creating their own restaurant to life in 2010 with 2 Chefs Affair. They’ve since renovated the former Tina’s Diner to a catering kitchen and in June took over the Modern Café.
daily commuting on top of 14-hour work days. A job interview at the Wesley Street Café in 2001 ended the Lower Mainland rat race. Early in 2015, 2 Chefs moved its catering kitchen into the former Tina’s Diner. They bought the Modern Café in June.
“A restaurant needs multiple pillars to support itself,” Caron said. “If you just have breakfast and lunch, like I had, it’s wobbly. If you add catering, you have a third pillar there. Now you’ve got more stability.” The Modern Café offered a midday and
evening venue, a liquor licence and the dinner restaurant Caron had long wanted to create. Caron and Deline still cook, manage business and put in long days, but have chefs for the 2 Chefs Affair and catering divisions. The couple are part of downtown’s day-to-day complexion as they bustle to and from their restaurants. With the right people in place, Caron is learning to stand back, a little, to let the people they’ve hired run their divisions. “It’s very difficult to find that right chemistry and people with the same drive,” Caron said. “If all they want is money, that’s not what I want. I could give you the money, but you’re not going to give me what I want and that’s love, your passion and your food.” That chemistry in the kitchen includes sharing Caron’s love of collaboration over new dish cre-
ations and pairing wines. On occasion, Caron and Deline get a moment to watch what they’ve created, especially on nights when the Modern’s dining room is humming. “I’ve always loved this room and now with all the brick showing ... and Tammy and I have always liked a lot of art,” Caron said. It means the Modern’s decor and menu is an expression of the two chefs’ tastes they share with everyone. “That’s more us,” Caron said. “I don’t do it because someone tells you to do it. I do it because it feels right and that’s the same as why we purchased the place. It felt right.” Might the two chefs cast an eye toward the recently vacated Acme Food Co. as well? “The place is up for lease,” Deline said. “I don’t want Dan to see that.” photos@nanaimobulletin.com
Full flavour of spirits shines through as bartenders whip up custom concoctions By Karl yu
Jenny Garceau, of the Vault in Nanaimo, makes up a cocktail.
The News BulleTiN
James Bond may have taken his cocktails “shaken, not stirred,” but Harbour City residents can enjoy a number of tasty concoctions that are either-or. Beer and wine can accentuate a night out and people who are out on the town can also sip on a cocktail if the mood strikes them. Jenny Garceau of the Vault Café said her establishment likes to honour the alcoholic spirit that it is using and doesn’t try masking it with something that is too sweet. A lot of the cocktails will have an herbaceous note, with fresh herbs among the ingredients. One of the cocktails on the Vault’s winter drink menu is the maple old fash-
KARL YU/The News BULLeTiN
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ioned, which consists of bourbon, orange bitters and simple syrup. “Instead of using simple syrup, we’re using a maple, it’s got grapefruit notes to it, that pairs better with the maple, and we love using great bourbon,” said Garceau.
Courtenay Althouse, Rewsters restaurant manager, said she has a yet-unnamed zesty cocktail ready to be unveiled. “So what I do, is I take fresh jalapenos, we take some mint, we take limes and simple syrup and muddle it in with gin and then
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literally just put on the shelf our mulled brandy liqueur, so that’s distilled from raspberries and it’s got lots of cranberries soaked in it and it’s spiced,” he said. An espresso-infused vodka is also available, which uses espresso from local roasters Regard Coffee Roasters. Pizzitelli said the natural character of Arbutus’ vodka pairs well with espresso.
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spirits, of the alcoholic variety, are a key ingredient of cocktails and Arbutus Distillery has a number of beverages Michael Pizzitelli, of Arbutus Distillery, said the core brands are Coven vodka, empiric gin and absinthe, but there is also a seasonal line. “The one that is out right now is the Junipers lupulus, which is a harvest hop gin and then we also
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we take grapefruit juice and a bit of ginger ale,” said Althouse. James Graham, bartender at the Modern Café, characterized his cocktail menu as eclectic, with some specifically designed to support tourism. That includes one patterned after a chocolatey dessert treat Nanaimo is famous for – the Nanaimo bar. It’s a blend of espresso and chocolate flavours, he said. Graham said customers are looking for simpler cocktails. “There’s a shift where people, I don’t think, are looking for fussy cocktails as much anymore, so we are taking the inspiration from the classic cocktails like Manhattans and sours and things like that,” said Graham.
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