Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News - August 2015

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P A C I F I C / P R A I R I E August 2015 Vol. 21 No. 4

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FEATURE: CORPORATE CHEFS PROFILES FROM THE INDUSTRY

David Gunawan opens Royal Dinette Alberta plans to scrap

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VANCOUVER — Chef David Gunawan opened Royal Dinette on July 24 with a local and seasonal menu that will change depending on what’s available from 16 farmers.

As chef and owner of Farmer’s Apprentice, Gunawan works with suppliers closely and has a hand in determining the ingredients grown for the restaurant.

“Our relationship is so good that they give us seed catalogues every year,” said Gunawan, adding the crop’s success is dependent on a number of varieties.

“We can grow things that people have never seen before or never tried before. Some work and some don’t, but that’s sort of the basis of our restaurant; supporting sustainable practices and all these amazing farmers,” he said.

“There is a misconception that farm-to-table dining can only be done on a small, boutique scale or in a small restaurant,” Gunawan said.

He hopes the 80-seat Royal Dinette will serve as an example of how direct-from-farmer sourcing can be done in a larger establishment. “It can be fun; it doesn’t have to be exclusive,” Gunawan added.

The restaurant, located at 905 Dunsmuir St., will serve a wide range

server minimum wage

By Bill Tremblay, Assistant Editor

From left: David Gunawan, Jack Chen, Jonathan Therrien, Wendy McGuinness and Chen-Wei Lee. of guests in the heart of the financial district. “There is the office worker and there is also the executive; we’re trying to accommodate both ends of the spectrum,” said Gunawan.

With about 3,000 square feet below Blackbird Public House & Oyster Bar, the new restaurant is a joint venture with silent investor the Donnelly Group. As chef and owner, Gunawan and his team will be responsible for operations with Jack Chen, former Farmer’s Apprentice chef de cuisine, joining the kitchen as head chef.

Chen-Wei Lee, Jonathan Therrien and bar manager Wendy McGuinness will lead the front-of-house.

Mason jars and preserves line the wall space, which features décor by Beyond Beige Interior Design and Milltown Contracting.

The name implies a fancy diner and Gunawan describes the interior as fun and whimsical.

The restaurant features a 10-person chef ’s table and an outdoor patio for about 15 guests, an open kitchen and fresh pasta, butcher and pastry stations.

“Everything is being done right there. There is no segregation between [guest and] where the food is coming from, who is preparing the food,” said Gunawan.

Alberta’s incoming $15 minimum wage will force restaurateurs to cut jobs or employee hours, according to Restaurants Canada.

On Oct. 1, the province’s liquorserver minimum wage will increase $1.50 to $10.70 an hour. In 2016, the liquor-server wage will be eliminated in favour of a single minimum rate for all employees throughout the province. The general minimum wage rate is set to increase $1 to $11.20 on Oct. 1. The recently announced wage increase is the first step towards a $15 minimum wage that will be implemented by 2018.

“No employer can just absorb that type of increase,” said Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada’s vice-president of Western Canada.

“We are perfectly happy to keep up with the cost of living.”

A $15 minimum wage would require a restaurant with 25 employees to cut three positions or 3,300 work hours to stay afloat, according to Restaurants Canada.

“Other prices are going up too,” von Schellwitz said, noting alcohol

and food costs have also increased.

In response to the wage hike, Restaurants Canada created a petition requesting Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Lori Sigurdson, minister of jobs, skills, training and labour, consider other options.

“In any democratic country, if citizens are worried about something they have the right to make their voices heard,” von Schellwitz said. “If the economic situation in Alberta continues to deteriorate, and if the unemployment rate goes up, perhaps they will moderate their position.”

The petition asks government to reinstate the liquor-server wage rate as well as announce minimum wage increases annually based on economic climate.

Restaurants Canada also requests the implementation of a “first-job wage differential” to encourage small businesses to hire young and inexperienced workers.

“There is certainly a lot more work to be done on demonstrating to the government the adverse impacts of the minimum wage announcement,” von Schellwitz said.

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Licensees in Sask. to require SIRS training

By Bill Tremblay

Beach Bay Café and Patio.

Viaggio transforms Vancouver mainstays VANCOUVER — More than half a year after Raincity Grill and C Restaurant were sold to Viaggio Hospitality Group, the Vancouver restaurants are opening new restaurants with a nod to their former tenants.

Viaggio Hospitality Group (who have a number of restaurants and hotels in their roster, such as Uva Wine & Cocktail Bar, Cibo Trattoria and Hotel at the Waldorf) opened Beach Bay Café and Patio in June on Denman Street near English Bay beach.

Raincity Grill, which opened in 1992, was one of the first restaurants in Canada to name farmers, foragers and fishermen on its menu. Beach Bay will pay homage to the movement Raincity helped build.

“Our chef really tries to source from local producers, fresh ingredients. You won’t see anything that’s unsustainable on our menu,” said general manager Andrea Vescovi.

Executive chef Scott Korzack,

formerly of L’Abattoir, has created a menu of West Coast/Pacific Northwest dishes such as black cod with grilled cabbage and green tomatoes.

Bar manager Adrian Lindner heads up the cocktail program and Luc Trottier rounds out the management team as restaurant director.

The space is modern, bright, seats 35 on the patio and 65 inside at high-tops, which Vescovi noted were chosen to take advantage of the view through the large windows.

“We really wanted to capture that beach atmosphere; nice white tiles and marble bar, very airy,” he said.

Taking over the C Restaurant space at 1600 Howe St., Ancora Waterfront Dining and Patio is slated to open in early August.

The fine dining seafood restaurant will feature the sushi creations of Yoshi Tabo.

According to Vescovi (also general manager for Ancora) chef Ricardo

Valverde will bring “Peruvian flair” to the menu. “We’re pretty excited to have his signature dishes on the menu,” said Vescovi, who worked with Valverde at Blue Water Café.

The 100-seat restaurant will include a private dining space for about 25 guests and a 50-seat patio. Vescovi said the upstairs space has been opened up to create better sightlines.

“They really transformed the room,” he said.

A new wine cellar has been added to house Vescovi’s wine program, which he calls “focused” with good B.C. representation.

“I think gone are the days of the thousand-label wine list. People don’t have the time to look through lists that big anymore,” he said.

“They want either a sommelier to romance a wine to them or they want to make a very quick decision and just really enjoy the company of their friends.”

Alberta is home to about 10,200 restaurants Continued from cover Eliminating Alberta’s two-tiered minimum wage isn’t a new idea. In 2010, an all-party government committee recommended eliminating the liquor-server rate in favour of a single minimum wage.

“Our skilled, educated, ambitious people made Alberta a great place to start a business and create jobs, not the lowest minimum wage in Can-

ada,” Sigurdson said in an email to PRN. “A fairer, sensibly-implemented minimum wage won’t change that.”

The wage increase aims to ease income disparity throughout the province. On average, an employee in Alberta will make $29.24 per hour, the highest average rate in Canada.

“Minimum wage in Alberta has fallen behind the earnings of Albertans in general particularly for liquor servers,” Sigurdson said. “For liquor

servers, that gap is already bridged by gratuities, according to von Schellwitz.

“A server may earn two to five times their salary in gratuities,” he said.

Alberta is home to 10,200 restaurants, bars and caterers, representing $11 billion in annual sales and three per cent of the province’s gross domestic product. The restaurant industry employs 149,700 people.

REGINA ­— In an effort to reduce the ills of alcohol, Saskatchewan is implementing a mandatory training program for servers.

On June 22, the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) announced the province will phase in mandatory enrolment in the Serve it Right Saskatchewan (SIRS) course for all owners, managers and frontof-house staff of licensed establishments.

“Making sure all staff are trained is consistent with the government’s goal that beverage alcohol needs to be sold as safely as possible,” said David Morris, spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.

“It’s also consistent with what’s being done in other jurisdictions,” Morris added.

SIRS is a course designed to reduce underage drinking, overconsumption of alcohol, impaired driving and the risk of violence that may arise in or near establishments with liquor licences.

The training explains possible liability issues that may arise from serving alcohol, how to identify intoxication, how to deal with situations involving minors and refusing sale of alcoholic beverages.

“There are certainly issues the server intervention training will help address,” Morris said.

Mandatory SIRS training requirements will be phased in over the next three years. By June 30, 2016, owners and managers will be required to complete the course. As well, new employees will be required to pass the training within 30 days of their start date. As of June 30, 2017, a licensed establishment must have at least one person on each shift that has completed SIRS training.

All employees involved in the sale

and service of alcohol must have SIRS training as of June 30, 2018.

“The phase-in is meant to give the industry some time to ensure their staff is trained,” Morris said.

Jim Bence, president and chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association, applauded the new requirements for servers.

“As an association, we think it’s a great thing,” Bence said. “We do serve liquor and we want to make sure we’re at the front end of that and doing it responsibly.”

Bence noted the idea of mandatory training has been talked about for years throughout the province. As well, many restaurant and hotel owners already employ the SIRS training program for their staff.

“We are one of the last jurisdictions to have a server program,” Bence said. “It’s been much anticipated and there’s been lots of preparation for it.”

Although mandatory, Bence said the training could assist business owners to avoid possible litigation arising from alcohol sales.

“If servers are doing the right thing on the front end, they’re far more able to make reasonable decisions when somebody is close to being over-served,” Bence said. “They can make sure that doesn’t happen.”

SIRS is delivered by the Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council, and is available through a three-anda-half-hour online course or a sixhour seminar.

The cost of the course ranges from $30 to $50 and certification is valid for five years.

SIRS training will be required for an establishment to receive or maintain a liquor permit in Saskatchewan.

“Just like any other rule, a permittee could be sanctioned by SLGA if it doesn’t comply with the rules,” Morris said.

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P A C I F I C / P R A I R I E

EDITORIAL It’s long been accepted wisdom that you pair white wine with fish and red wine with beef. And more recently, chefs have paired foods with certain attributes with wines that have the same attributes — such as light seafood dishes with delicate white wines.

But Mark de Vere of Robert Mondavi, one of only a few Masters of Wine in the U.S., has a theory deemed heresy by some.

Indeed, I thought his theory a little odd until I tried it out at To Kalon winery in California’s Napa Valley in late June.

It involves umami, defined as a taste sensation that is meaty or savoury and is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides. It is also viewed by some as a fifth taste sensation, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

The origin of the word is from the Japanese, meaning “savoury quality, delicious taste.”

It’s found in meats, fish, shellfish, ripe

fruit, ripe vegetables and aged cheeses.

The idea is that if you bring sweet and sour to balance umami, the wine will taste the way it is supposed to.

De Vere started his tasting by lining up plain steak, chicken and fish, a small bowl of salt and several lemons in front of glasses of high-end Napa wine.

We drank a Fumé Blanc along with the plain fish, and found that it made the wine taste harsh. We tasted a Chardonnay that was oaky, and found that the plain chicken flattened the taste. We tried plain steak with Cabernet Sauvignon, and found it lost some of its fruit, and the tannins became bitter. Indeed, some in the crowd screwed up their faces with the unpleasantness.

The moral of the story is that high umami foods flatten taste, de Vere said.

Then we tried adding lemon and salt to the fish, and found that it worked well with both the Fumé Blanc and the Cabernet. If we added only salt, it didn’t work as well. But

the conclusion is that it’s okay to drink red wine with fish, de Vere said. In the same way, the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir tasted much better once salt and lemon were added to the meat — any meat.

“This puts the chef in complete control,” de Vere said. “[The chef ’s job] is to help people who walk through the door. You don’t change the artistry of a dish by adding acid and salt. Typically, it optimizes the food.”

During one of Robert Mondavi’s chef programs, well-known French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten finished his dishes with lemon and a pinch of salt, instinctively brightening the cuisine, de Vere said. Classically trained chefs often sprinkle a little acid and salt into the dish before it goes out the door.

“If you don’t have balance, no wine is going to taste good with food,” de Vere said.

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NEWS BRIEFS Maple Leaf promotes Indulge Rewards loyalty program THE PAS, Man. — Maple Leaf Foodservice is promoting its long-running Indulge Rewards loyalty program by highlighting some of the ways operators benefit. For example, Scott Burkart, who owns Pyrgos Pizza in The Pas, Man., a town of about 5,000 people more than 600 kilometres north of Winnipeg, used the loyalty program to re-invest in his restaurant. “I found exactly what I needed, a new refrigerator shelf,” said Burkart.

The program saved Burkart an eighthour drive to his local restaurant supply company.

Indulge program members include independently-owned bars and restaurants, kitchens in nursing homes, cafeterias and food trucks. Members sign up at IndulgeRewards.ca, send in their proof of purchase reports and start collecting points from the purchase of Maple Leaf products.

Then, they can use points to get a wide variety of rewards, from gift cards to iPads to supplies and foodservice equipment for their businesses. Everything can be done via email. There’s no entering codes or collecting stickers from boxes shipped to the kitchen. Members quickly and easily order from hundreds of different rewards online and the items are shipped anywhere in Canada.

Milestones brings tasty back TORONTO — Milestones is looking to its 25-year history to celebrate the quartercentury occasion by introducing a “Bringing Tasty Back Menu.”

The first Milestones opened in 1989 on Denman Street in Vancouver and now the Cara Operations chain has 54 locations across Canada.

The first Saskatchewan location opened in Saskatoon in March and last November,

4 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

Milestones made its first foray into Atlantic Canada with a St. John’s, N.L., restaurant.

“So we are coast to coast officially,” said senior marketing director Karen van Hunnik, adding the company has a growth plan for Canada’s other major cities.

A social media poll determined fan favourites — some of which were featured at a launch dinner in June including: Cajun shrimp Diane and roasted and carved tenderloin with truffle macaroni and brussels sprouts with bacon and pine nuts.

CHF Ball set for October TORONTO — The Canadian Hospitality Foundation’s annual fundraising gala is being held Oct. 24 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto.

This year, the benefit for Canadian culinary and hospitality students has the theme Black and White Masked Ball — A Night in Gotham.

Proceeds from the event fund scholarships for students entering the foodservice, lodging and hospitality industry.

Tickets cost $450 each and sponsorship tables of 10 are available for between $4,500 and $25,000 for a platinum sponsor table. Donations are accepted at thechf.ca.

Carl’s Jr. opens in Regina REGINA – Carl’s Jr. has opened its first location in Saskatchewan.

The California-based burger chain opened its doors at 1920 Victoria Ave East in Regina on July 8. The new location is the 16th Carl’s Jr. to open in Canada.

Ernie and Robyn Kouros of ERA Holdings Inc. own and operate the new Carl’s Jr. location.

ERA Holdings have exclusive rights to Carl’s Jr. in Saskatchewan and plan to open five additional locations throughout the province in the next five years.

In Canada, Carl’s Jr. franchisees are

operating restaurants in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and now Saskatchewan.

BC launches online tool to standardize recipes VANCOUVER, B.C. – Foodservice operators in British Columbia now have a new tool to help standardize recipes.

The BC Ministry of Health has launched the Recipe Standardization Module (RSM) to assist restaurateurs to participate in the Informed Dining program.

The RSM takes its user through 10 steps of what is involved in creating a standardized recipe, which is needed to complete nutrient analysis of their menu items.

To use the module, visit rsm.health.gov. bc.ca.

Customer spending climbs in Q2 TORONTO – Consumer spending at restaurants increased 7.82 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the previous year, according to the MonerisMetrics Quarterly Report.

Customer spending at fast food restaurants posted the highest increase at 12.54 per cent, followed by a 7.24 per cent increase for bars and pubs.

Dine-in restaurants recorded a 5.59 per cent increase.

Restaurants support CFCC TORONTO — On Oct. 21, about 50 restaurants in seven provinces will donate their dinner service food sales in the name of “healthy food for all Canadians.”

In its inaugural year, Restaurants for Change raised more than $120,000 for Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC). In 2014, CFCC served 143,419 healthy meals in 1,053 community meal sessions. It also built food skills by providing 414 community kitchen sessions and 1,030 community garden sessions.

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Organic farms on Thai rice menu

By Colleen Isherwood, Senior Editor

Introducing riceberry Canadian) per metric ton only.

On a trip to the Rice Science Center located in Nakhon Pathom Province, journalists from around the world learned that riceberry is a deep purple rice derived from cross-breeding JHN, a short-stature purple rice, and Thai Hom Mali (jasmine) rices, which contribute grain softness and tenderness.

Riceberry can be made into Thai sweets such as Ka Nom Tom Berry (coconut balls), Khoa Moa Berry (pounded unripe rice with shredded coconut — riceberry replaces hard-toget pop rice), lowfat, antioxidant-rich Riceberry ice cream, and Riceberry Refresher, a cereal-based drink with lemon and honey added.

Professor Apichart Vanavishit explained that in terms of value for farmers, jasmine and purple rice has the highest value, as a specialty rice that is certified organic and pesticide-free.

The centre is breeding riceberry to be high in antioxiKanonrat Luengsode, Dept. of Foreign Trade, dants, and tolerant Thai Ministry of Commerce, with riceberry. to heat and cold.

BANGKOK — As part of Thailand’s quest for organic, value-added crops, one promising product is riceberry.

Riceberry is a cross-bred organic rice with dark violet grain.

Riceberry has recently been considered as one of Thailand’s most successful economic crops as it guarantees a remarkable yield of up to Bt20,000 ($746) per metric ton, compared to white rice that achieves around Bt7,800-Bt8,300 ($291-$310

BANGKOK — Most years, Thailand is the number one exporter of rice in the world. Clearly, the country is a powerhouse when it comes to rice production. “Think Rice, Think Thailand,” was the theme of the recent Thailand Rice Convention, which included an address by Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and attracted delegates from all over the world.

Overall, the country is promoting the export of more high-quality rice — stressing quality over quantity. The idea is that with world tastes changing and demand for high quality and different types of rice fetching higher prices, it makes sense to cater to these new tastes.

Thailand has 27 rice research and development centres focused on varieties of rice and 23 centres dedicated to seedling development plus plans for 15 more. Types include sticky rice, long grain, short grain, red colour, purple colour and rice used to help control diabetes, Vichrai Sriprasert, honourary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told the recent Thai Rice Convention in Bangkok.

Internally the country struggles to balance the needs for exports with the desire to ensure that the country’s farmers get a good, stable price for their rice.

Complicating matters this year is a drought in many of Thailand’s ricegrowing regions.

Jeremy Zwinger, president and CEO of The Rice Trader, spoke about balancing the global demand equa-

tion, noting water and weather will have the greatest effect on rice markets. The California drought is so severe that it is more profitable to sell water they would use to irrigate the rice than it is to sell rice. Water would cost them $2,700 while a rice crop would only yield $600 to $700 per acre, Zwinger said.

Andre Leu, president of IFOAM, the only global umbrella for organic products with 800 member organizations in 125 countries, spoke about the value of organic products as higher value exports. Right now, rice only accounts for seven per cent of the organic cereals market, meaning it has incredible potential to grow. In Europe and North America, 60 to 80 per cent of people say they buy organic products, indicating huge brand recognition, Leu said.

The most moving presentation of the conference came at the end of the day from Mam Samsee, a farmer in Yasothon province in Northeast Thailand, who has been farming rice organically for nearly 30 years.

He said that his parents did not use pesticides in farming; then they discovered that with chemical farming, the rice grew beautifully and there was less need for water buffaloes to help till the soil. But over time, the soils hardened due to use of fertilizers, necessitating the use of more fertilizers. “Chemical farming caused so much damage, it was not sustainable,” he said.

In 1980, 400 families in the area decided to pursue organic rice farm-

Organic rice farmer Mam Samsee. ing. Some gave up fertilizers gradually until 1993, when there was a drive to recruit organic farmers, and many in the village received certification.

They implemented biodiversity, using the peanut family to nourish the soil, some in tandem with growing rice. Other crops included fruit and watermelon — all used to restore the soil. They used water dropping from buffaloes, pigs, and chickens as natural fertilizer, and they used drought resistant crops to renew the soil.

Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, in whose honour the Rice Conference was held, is leading a campaign to bring water buffaloes back to farming.

“The rice bowl is back. We have redeemed what we have lost. We are healthy; we got our buffaloes back, we have our vegetables and fish and the ability for farmers to be self-reliant,” Samsee said.

Advances in rice quality control metric tonne capacity.

AYUTTHAYA, ThaiThe rice processing land — While organic building has been defarming and premium signed with efficiency in products such as ricemind, with no seams in berry make up a growthe green floors and ening part of the Thai rice suring that materials in market, the industry’s the building do not conmain product for the taminate the rice.

North American market De-husked rice is eleis Hom Mali (jasmine) vated into 14-storey-high rice, said Paradon Munsilos. The processing inro, general manager of cludes cleaning, destemCP Intertrade Co. Ltd. ming, polishing, rotary One 10th of Thailand’s sifting, length grading, rice production goes colour sorting, and authrough the company’s tomatic packing by high newest rice processing speed machines. and packaging plant at Quality control inAyutthaya, an hour and Natapong Suthanarugh, Juthamart Dansermsuk and Paradon Munro of CP (Charoen Pokphand). cludes experts who check a half north of Bangkok. for rapid viscosity, moistonnes of rice per year.

Built in the shape of Munro stresses the plant’s quality ture, DNA analysis and unusual chara rice kernel, and housing a process that starts at the top and is gravity control systems are in place to meet acteristics.

Last, but not least, the facility does fed, the building has won numerous international standards that include domestic and international awards. ISO 9001:2008, GMD, HACCP and research and development on new Canadian Food Inspection Agency products — its showroom contains The facility employs 400 people.

“Our facility is the world’s larg- (CFIA) requirements. Every truck- 17,000 samples of rice.

“North American rice consumpest rice processing facility under one load of rice is weighed and verified. roof,” said Munro. The factory is Raw materials are unloaded into tion will continue to grow, steady capable of processing 1.08 million eight warehouses, each with 240,000 growth, not a big boost,” said Munro.

August 2015 | 5

Crave It plans to boost its Alberta presence

Connect Expo returns to Vancouver VANCOUVER – This year’s CONNECT Food + Drink + Lodging Expo will offer a glimpse into future foodservice trends.

Culinary trendologist Christine Couvelier, the event’s keynote speaker, will present an outline of emerging and developing trends in foodservice, as well as how these trends may be adapted for a menu.

“It’s a session on taste and where the trends are now, and where the trends are going,” said show manager Samantha Scholefield.

Couvelier’s resume includes executive chef of President’s Choice, executive chef and director of culinary and beverage for Cara Operations, chair of the George Brown College Chef School in Toronto and director of culinary strategy at Maple Leaf Foods.

Today, she owns and operates the foodservice consulting firm Culinary Concierge.

“She’s worked on some very interesting projects,” Scholefield said.

Couvelier is one of 15 industry experts delivering education sessions during the third annual expo, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West on October 18 and 19. Outside of education sessions, the show features more than 320 industry exhibitors, covering 90,000 square feet of floor space. About 4,300 industry members are expected to attend the expo, which is the largest hospitality trade show in Western Canada.

“We want people to use the show as a platform to increase their business skills and to really feel the excitement and passion of being in our industry,” Scholefield said. “What we want to cover for people is: what’s new, what’s happening and a sense of professional business development.”

This year, the show plans to expand its beverage focus with tastings, seminars, mixing demonstrations and a bartending contest.

“It’s such a hot trend in British Columbia now,” Scholefield said. “Some people are taking their bar menus so seriously in terms of cocktail selection as well as wine programs and pairings of food with beer, spirits and wine.”

The popular trends breakfast will return, with representatives from NPD Group and PKF explaining what’s happening in the industry from a business perspective.

Throughout the expo, professional and junior chefs will compete in the BC Iron Chef competitions.

“It’s always been a really strong area of the show. It’s always interesting to see what people are doing,” Scholefield said. “Some of the most successful chefs to come out of Vancouver have won the prize.”

The show’s local pavilion will feature the products of British Columbia-based food producers and processors. A beverage pavilion also showcases the province’s local beer, wine and spirits.

“It is a way to get locally produced and locally grown products displayed and in front of a professional chef audience,” Scholefield said. “We have a fantastic wine community here and a craft beer segment that is growing like crazy.”

An added benefit for exhibitors is this year’s partnership with Restaurants Canada, British Columbia Hotel Association and the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of British Columbia. All three organizations will hold board meetings in conjunction with the expo.

“Some of the top industry players from the restaurant scene, the hotel scene, and the bar and beverage side will be converging at the convention centre,” Scholefield said. “We’ll really have industry leaders there to participate.”

For more information about the expo or to register, visit connectshow.com.

Smoke’s targets western Canada for growth plan AJAX, Ont. – Smoke’s Poutinerie has announced an aggressive goal of “global domination,” but first the Ajax, Ont.-based chain is targeting its home nation.

The poutinerie plans to open 1,300 locations in the next five years, including 100 new Canadian locations, which would double its presence nationwide, as well as 800 locations in the United States.

“Opening 1,300 Smoke’s Poutinerie locations is an ambitious plan, but then again, we’ve never shied away from making big, bold moves that shake up the industry,” Ryan Smolkin, Smoke’s founder and chief entertainment officer, told PRN in an email.

“Once we conquer Canada east, west and everywhere in between, we’ll move towards our ultimate goal of global domination.”

Alongside the poutinerie, Smoke’s has added a burritorie and weinerie to its brand. The first weinerie opened its doors in Dartmouth, N.S. in December. The new venture offers a range of hot dogs, from the Montreal-style steamie to a half-pound 12-inch hot dog topped with peanut butter and jelly.

The first burritories are scheduled to open this month in Toronto. The burrito brand boasts original sauces, “suicide rice” and chorizo sausage.

“Burritos and hot dogs are two of the hottest food items in North America, and we’re the company with the brand power to

6 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

bring these foods to the masses,” Smolkin said. “Each brand takes comfort food to the next level, delivering delicious and inventive menu offerings to consumers.”

By the fall, Smoke’s expects to open 30 poutineries, 15 burritories and 10 weineries across Canada. The national expansion plan is focusing on western Canada.

“There is demand for Smoke’s Poutinerie in western Canada and we see the region as an untapped market with great potential,” Smolkin said.

To help reach its franchising goal, Smoke’s is looking to nontraditional venues, including stadiums, university and college campuses and amusement parks.

“Hot dogs are a no-brainer at places like stadiums, and burritos are an untapped market in these venues,” he said.

Smolkin opened the first poutinerie in 2009 on Adelaide Street West in Toronto’s entertainment district. Alongside 30 varieties of poutine, Smoke’s features a 1980s Canadiana theme, which includes its signature red plaid and Smoke, the brand mascot who is said to live in a cabin in the woods near the Quebec border where he creates new recipes. The burritorie and weinerie also feature similar branding.

“Each of our brands has its own theme and distinct story that follows the adventures of Smoke,” Smolkin said.

TORONTO — Crave It Restaurant Group is on the road to growth both in units and with a new fast casual restaurant in development with Toronto restaurateur Monte Wan. The restaurant group — which launched in 2013 following the sale of Extreme Brandz to MTY — was cofounded by Alex Rechichi, Mark Rechichi and Sean Black.

Through strategic partnerships and brand development, Crave It is the operator of The Burger’s Priest, Stoney’s Bread Company and Via Cibo Italian Street Food.

Burger’s Priest recently opened its ninth location in five years in Toronto’s Entertainment District with late-night hours and delivery through Hurrier. Burger’s Priest opened its first out-of-province location in Edmonton in March.

The brand will also be opening in Ottawa in the next year and has eyes on the Montreal and Calgary markets.

“We’re looking at some of the major markets across the country. We like starting off in the urban markets and getting the name out there — the [Burger’s Priest] name, I think, is pretty well recognized already across the country for a Toronto brand; it’s gotten a lot of press. We want to be able to go into these urban markets, open up, and from there determine additional stores that will open up around it,” said Rechichi.

“In Edmonton, for example, we have sites lined up for 2016 and we want to do the same thing in Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal.”

The Stoney’s brand, which has been in Oakville, Ont., for about a decade, opened a second location in Etobicoke, Ont. last year. “It’s got a pretty extensive menu, so we’ve been working on streamlining it,” said Rechichi.

“As soon as we start to hit some of our goals around streamlining the brand and building some of the operations around it, our goal is to open up another one, hopefully in 2016.”

Via Cibo, currently corporate, opened in Toronto in 2013. There is a Calgary location and construction has started in Sherwood Park in Edmonton. A second Calgary location is slated for Coventry Hills.

“By same time next year, we’ll [have] probably about eight locations,” Rechichi said.

With a food philosophy of “slow food done fast using chef-inspired recipes,” Crave It partnered with Wan after visiting his Toronto restaurant Khao San Road (Wan also opened Nana last October) to create Bangkok Buri.

“This is a new concept that’s being incubated from the ground level — it’s all about collaboration and bringing the right people with the right skill sets to the table,” Rechichi said. “We think there is a huge gap for this type of concept.”

With Crave It lending its operational experience, Wan will head up menu development. Drawing on elements he likes from the fast casual segment, Wan said he wants Bangkok Buri to be approachable as well as modern and authentic.

Bangkok Buri will offer a short menu of set dishes including pad thai, red and green curries and spring rolls.

There will also be some lighter fare, vegan and gluten-free options.

The name — buri means city — will be reflected in the design. “It’s going to be inspired by Thai street stalls.

It’s not going to be overly polished; we want it to feel very much like Thailand when you go into the restaurant, just like [Wan’s] restaurants do right now,” Rechichi said. The average footprint will be 2,000 square feet with 40 to 50 seats.

Rechichi expects to open within the next six to eight months in the Toronto area and like Crave It’s other concepts, will start with corporate stores before considering franchising.

TOOLS OF engagement

When all eyes are focused on the kitchen, restaurants are working hard to maintain front-of-house excellence.

BY DON DOULOFF

George Brown students at Chefs’ House.

Hawksworth Restaurant in Vancouver.

S

everal years ago, at the end of a meal in a high-end Toronto restaurant, the serving staff packaged the table’s leftovers (a black-cod entrée) and stored them in the kitchen. After dessert, the servers learned the kitchen had accidentally discarded the leftovers and were so mortified, they insisted the kitchen prepare a replacement dish, packed it up and presented it to the astonished group.

Those floor staff went above and beyond — and that elevated front-of-house service is what several Canadian restaurants, and at least one hospitality school, are aspiring towards in a competitive marketplace when all eyes are focused on the chef.

“People are coming for more than the food.

They’re coming for the environment and the connection to the server,” said Chad Clark, general manager at Vancouver’s upscale Hawksworth Restaurant.

Accordingly, Hawksworth — three-time winner of Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award’s Best Upscale Restaurant — hires servers as much for their personality as for their experience. FOH staff undergo a weeklong training process that outlines the restaurant’s cultural philosophy (work ethic, code of conduct, etc.) and then progresses to the next phase, where server trainees shadow floor staff for one or two shifts and learn precise details of the food.

Furthermore, the kitchen provides ‘drop lines,’ short descriptors servers use to explain the complex food, as they place the dish in front of customers. Clark estimates that up to 20 servers work the floor during dinner.

Hawksworth provides a “generous” staffdining discount on non-work nights, to allow the FOH team to “really understand what the guest experiences,” said Clark.

Wine service is another focus. Hawksworth employs a wine director, four accredited sommeliers and several wine commis staff dedicated to telling the story of the restaurant’s 500 to 700-label list, he said.

Hosts are trained to deliver “truly personalized service on every level,” which includes taking detailed information — guests celebrating a special occasion, for example — at the point of reservation and then tailoring their service accordingly the night that party visits. For example, staff will present a plaque commemorating the guests’ special occasion.

At The Keg Steakhouse, the restaurant places huge importance on communication skills, which are essential for front-of-house staff to get “the message across in ways that enhance the experience and reinforce the brand,” said Dean Sockett, vice-president, people and culture.

All FOH staff undergo a three-interview hiring process and once onboard, hosts undertake eight training shifts, while 10 to 14 training shifts are allotted for servers.

Their training involves written and verbal tests highlighting job knowledge and procedures, menu and wine-list familiarization and management’s and guests’ service expectations.

Servers then engage in dining-room role playing (typically, two three-hour sessions), during off hours, where they practice the knowledge and skills they’ve learned from fellow FOH staff

and management, who coach them through the process.

After that, trainees shadow staff during service, first observing, then being assigned one table — with a staff member in turn shadowing them — and eventually being assigned a group of tables. Hosts undergo similar shadowing sessions, said Socket, who noted that the host “delivers the first impression and sets the tone for the evening.” Currently, the Keg operates 92 Canadian locations and 12 in the United States.

Guests are visiting The Keg to connect with friends, family or co-workers, so service should meet their needs but not be intrusive, said Sockett, who noted optimum workload is three to four tables per server.

“Our FOH staff are the frontlines of our brand,” said Jason Rosso, executive national chef at Milestones.

“They are the first and last impression our guests will have when visiting any of our 54 restaurants.”

Milestones’ associate development program is a two-day course “that we put our potential hourly leaders and trainers through, to teach them how to drive our levels of guest satisfaction, streamline execution and drive salesmanship.”

George Brown College in Toronto places heavy emphasis on FOH training. Through its curriculum, which is shaped by consultations with the hospitality industry and through student feedback, the school delivers “experiential learning,” said Dario Guescini, chair of the school of hospitality and tourism management.

A key component to the curriculum is the food and beverage program’s simulation courses.

Dining Room Simulation 1, in semester one, emphasizes technical proficiency and hospitality/emotional intelligence, introduces students to food and beverage service taught in a simulated restaurant environment located in the school’s Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Instruction focuses on dining room preparation service skills, style and etiquette.

Designed to teach a higher level of engagement, Dining Room Simulation 2 (semester three) focuses on dining room preparation service skills and styles, etiquette, verbal and nonverbal communication and guest relations. It’s a hands-on course taught at The Chefs’ House, the restaurant simulation classroom and student-operated restaurant on King Street East.

Students learn to differentiate between the need for technical service skills and emotional engagement.

There is an emphasis on tableside service, wine decanting, etiquette, suggestive selling and product knowledge.

In semester four, students must run a software-simulated restaurant. This course requires students to calculate, interpret and analyze the restaurant industry’s financial results, forecasting results and the measurement of management’s performance and customer satisfaction.

This includes analyzing food and beverage costs, marketing, facilities and sales departments as well as human resources to make future strategic decisions.

August 2015 | 7

Cicerone® = Professional Beer Knowledge The Cicerone Certification Program certifies beer professionals at three levels:

BEVERAGE NEWS

What makes a great wine?

By Colleen Isherwood, Senior Editor What factors enable Robert Mondavi to command prices exceeding $150 US per bottle for its reserve wines year after year?

What goes into making a premium wine?

An outline of the winery on a window overlooking To Kalon vineyard.

This was the question at the heart of a media tour of To Kalon Vineyard in Napa, Calif., in June. Led by Mark de Vere, one of just a handful of Masters of Wine in the United States, with input from To Kalon director of winemaking Geneviève Janssens and others, journalists and wine buyers from around the world explored the making of great wine.

We saw vineyards from the air, floating in a hot air balloon above the Napa Valley. We tasted classic Cabernets from around the world; then zeroed in on California, the Napa Valley, the Oakville AVA (American Viticultural Area) and finally the Mondavi To Kalon Vineyard.

We learned about the subtleties of climate and soil — how they differ within the confines of the Napa Valley. And we learned about how the winemaker comes up with just the right blend for each year’s premium wines.

Old world versus new world

Only those who have passed rigorous exams can be called “Cicerone.” Look for professionals displaying these logos when you want great tasting beer.

Train a beer-savvy staff.

If beer is your business, we offer education programs that help.

Email info@cicerone.org with the subject “Canadian Restaurant News” for more info and a beer glassware poster.

cicerone.org/ca 8 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

One of our first assignments was to taste five Cabernet Sauvignons from around the world. There was a Chateau D’Issan 2012 Bordeaux from France, which de Vere described as having acidity, a graphite aroma, a hint of green pepper, but not too much, an expensive oak focus and a tightness on the palate.

It tasted quite different from a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, due to geographical influences. Bordeaux is at 45 N latitude, while Napa is at 38 N; Napa has an earlier spring and later fall; in Bordeaux, the days get shorter faster; Bordeaux is influenced by the Gulf Stream, while Napa’s climate is moderated by the cold Pacific Ocean.

Next, we tried five Cabernet Sauvignons from the West Coast, discovering regional differences. The 2011 Seven Hills Vineyard Cab, from Walla Walla, Wash., an inland desert area, was rich, dense and punchy. This area

Mark de Vere, Master of Wine. has a continental climate, and offers a strength in tannins different from California wines.

Napa rocks So why is the Napa Valley considered one of the world’s premiere wine regions?

Napa is 58 km from the Pacific Ocean and 78 km northeast of San Francisco. It’s small in size, providing only four per cent of California wines by volume. It’s just 45,000 acres, compared to 290,000 for Bordeaux, but it has a big impact on Napa County, generating $13 billion and 46,000 jobs.

Geologically, thanks to the Pacific Plate pushing under the Continental Plate forming valleys parallel to the coast, the west side of the valley has red, volcanic soil. There are over 100 soil variations in the valley, de Vere said.

“Napa has a dry summer, a Mediterranean climate and a long growing season that is consistent from vintage to vintage,” he said. A key factor is the cooling influence of the fog that

Winemaker Geneviève Janssens. comes off the Pacific Ocean from the direction of San Francisco. The south end of the valley is much cooler than the north.

Alluvial soils washed down by waters off the hills form alluvial fans; heavier stones are deposited first and the soils that are closer to the river are rich clay.

The Oakville AVA, where To Kalon is located, is largely a valley floor with vineyards on the side of a hill on the east side. De Vere calls it “the sweet spot” for Napa wine. “The fruit is ripe, with big tannins, but with finesse and it keeps its acidity. Oakville has the highest score for wines of any of the AVAs in Napa,” he said.

Soil preparation, spacing of the vines and row direction all affect wine production, To Kalon winemaker Janssens said, showing us soil samples taken from the vineyard.

On the last day of the trip, we tasted wines from the barrels. The barrel samples were from different parts of the 150 acres of the To Kalon vineyard, and were candidates for use in To Kalon’s Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

A sample from the north side of the vineyard tasted soft and round with an attractive nose, classic Napa character, soft tannins and fine structure — but it lacked complexity and intensity. Another sample from higher up on the slope and sandier soil, had more of a black fruit taste and was strong and firm, with more power and expression. The third sample, from the Monastery Block soils right at the back of the vineyard, had more elegance and finesse.

The fourth barrel sample was a Cabernet Franc from the back of the vineyard — Cabernet Franc being an invaluable blending tool.

Weather adds to the mix, Janssens explained. While 2011 was a challenging year due to climate, she describes the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve they made as “very poetic, and we expect it to age well in time.”

Central City Brewing partners with Earls Kitchen + Bar VANCOUVER – Earls Kitchen + Bar has partnered with Central City Brewing to produce Rhino, the restaurant’s house beer.

The partnership was announced internally in the spring, and production began earlier this summer with Central City-produced Rhino hitting Earls’ taps by mid-July.

“Earls and Central City are the perfect example of a true partnership,” Cameron Bogue, Earls Kitchen + Bar beverage director said in a news release. “Earls’ large volume of

Rhino Craft Beer helps the national growth of Central City while Central City’s award winning beer will only add to the quality of Rhino Craft Beer.”

Central City Brewing will produce Earls’ in-house brands for British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Muskoka Brewery continues to brew the Rhino beers for Ontario.

The brewery has added its own spin to the Rhino pale ale, wheat ale and lager brands. As

well, a winter ale is expected to launch this fall.

Central City Brewing, known for their Red Racer beers, has won numerous awards including Brewery of the Year in 2010 and 2012 at the Canadian Brewing Awards.

Gary Lohin, one of the original brewers of Rhino Ale at Whistler Brewing, started Central City Brewing in Surrey, B.C. in 2003. A recent expansion of the brewery has allowed Central City to brew enough beer to supply Earls’ 50 restaurants in Western Canada.

n e h c t i K I

n an increasingly competitive industry, the role of a foodservice company’s corporate chef is progressively more important and perhaps more demanding. Ontario Restaurant News spoke with Canadian chefs in charge of culinary creations for hotel and restaurant chains, suppliers, manufacturers and airport foodservice. Here are their stories.

By Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News Staff

Philman George, HIGH LINER FOODS Philman George’s background helped create his future.

With parents hailing from the small Caribbean island of Barbuda, where the ocean is the main source of food, George’s mother raised him on a steady diet of seafood.

“This appreciation and respect for seafood was instilled in me at an early age,” George said.

He landed his first job in the foodservice industry about two decades ago as a dishwasher at a pub in Streetsville, Ont. After graduating from high school, he was hired to work at a Mediterranean restaurant as a line cook.

“The chef saw my passion and suggested I enrol at George Brown College for culinary management,” George said.

“I took his advice and my career in foodservice really took off.”

After being hired for his first head chef position at age 24, George began

to build a reputation for his skills with seafood.

“I have to attribute this to my Caribbean roots and my deep appreciation for seafood,” George said.

From there, George would lead kitchens as far away as Australia and the Caribbean, before returning to Ontario to join High Liner Foods as their corporate chef and culinary manager.

“It’s very different from running a restaurant,” George said of his role with High Liner.

“Here I’m either creating recipes or testing out new products to see how they perform. Sometimes it’s taking a hard look at competitive products to help understand what makes us unique.”

The corporate kitchen, for George, is about understanding his customers. On occasion, High Liner’s customers will visit George’s kitchen in search of new ideas.

“Each one is unique and has their own set of challenges,” he said. “Their challenges are our challenges. We depend on each other for success.”

He added keeping pace with current flavours is an important aspect of the High Liner kitchen.

“As the foodservice industry evolves we must evolve alongside with it,” George said. “The exciting part is being able to help spark that evolution through product innovation.”

George’s answer to staying on top of culinary trends is straightforward; eating is the best way to stay current.

“It’s not enough to read about it, you have to go and experience it for yourself,” George said.

“I’m very fortunate to live in Toronto. The culinary scene here is off the charts. We have such a diverse ethnic culinary scene here.”

The draw to a culinary career, for George, is food’s ability to provide a temporary escape for his customers.

“That moment when you are biting into a perfectly prepared seafood creation, you’re not thinking of anything else but how good it tastes,” he said. “Bringing these moments of pleasure into people’s lives on a daily basis is one of those immediate gratifications that is unique to our industry.”

Graham Hayes, FRENCH’S FOOD COMPANY & MCCORMACK BOURRIE Graham Hayes got his first taste of the foodservice industry at age 10 and he has never worked anywhere else.

Born in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, Hayes’ mother and her husband owned Kelvin Catering, which travelled to events serving rock stars and royalty.

Hayes said this experience gave him a solid grounding in the industry. “I attribute that to a lot of my passion for what I do.”

He attended Larne Culinary College, in Northern Ireland and apprenticed at the Magheramorne House Hotel, where the menu changed every week. After some time working in Bermuda, Hayes moved to Canada in 1990.

He worked at Peter Oliver’s Bofinger Brasserie in Toronto and Hockley Valley Resort before taking his first head chef position at Whitlock’s Restaurant in The Beach area of Toronto.

After reopening Superior Restaurant (now closed again), Hayes got a job with SIR Corp in 1997. There, he spent 10 years as the executive

chef for Canyon Creek and five years as Jack Astors’ director of culinary before moving into the world of supply as a corporate chef for JL International Food Brokerage.

In January, Hayes became the Canadian corporate chef for French’s Food Company and director of culinary service for Ontario-based McCormack Bourrie Sales and Marketing.

The joint venture between the manufacturer and its broker means in addition to being the Canadian trend touch point for French’s family of sauces, Hayes has McCormack Bourrie’s other brands to work with.

“From a chef ’s perspective, I get to work with these unique, trusted bands and I can also twist them and manipulate them to do really cool things,” said Hayes. “I can pair lots of things up.”

Recently, Hayes made a Sara Lee molten lava cake with a ganache made from Hershey’s chocolate and Frank’s Asian ginger sauce.

“It’s really cool for me because I get to play

in two really big sandboxes,” said Hayes.

His day could start with a golf course meeting in the morning to discuss French’s trends, then over to a small chain at lunch representing Ventura Foods mayonnaise, and in the afternoon a chat at a health care facility about low-sodium or gluten-free products. Towards to end of the day, Hayes might find himself with a multi-unit operator. “There’s no two days that are the same,” said Hayes.

When creating a new menu item for an operator Hayes has to take into account a number of things such as labour, equipment and staff skill level.

“If somebody asks me to come up with ideas for their concept, I want to work in their restaurant first,” said Hayes. “The dishes I create, I don’t want them to be a waste of time looking at them. I want [clients] to know they already fit.”

August 2015 | 9

Boban Kovachevich,

EXECUTIVE HOTELS & RESORTS With an average day stretching from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Boban Kovachevich believes the role of a corporate chef requires a love for the trade.

“I just enjoy every second at work,” he said.

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Kovachevich spent a lot of time working in Europe including six years in Israel, where the Jerusalem Post named him one of the top 10 chefs in the Middle East.

He got a job with Executive Hotels & Resorts after moving to Canada in 1998 and was promoted to executive chef of the chain’s downtown Vancouver location shortly after.

Now, Kovachevich is the corporate chef for Executive Hotels’ Lower Mainland B.C. hotels, a position he’s held since 2007 following four years with Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa. He oversees foodservice for five hotel restaurant concepts: Tivoli’s Restaurant, an Italian eatery in Burnaby, B.C. and in the Vancouver airport location; The Wild Fig Restaurant, Asian fusion in Coquitlam, B.C.; Carver’s Steakhouse + Lounge at the airport Executive; Copper Chimney Indian Grill & Bar at Vancouver’s Le Soleil hotel; and La Vallee at the downtown Executive. Throughout Canada, Executive has 13 properties as well as a few in the United States, but other provinces have franchised foodservice.

Kovachevich is responsible for creating menus, food production and innovation, ensuring high food quality and consistency, educating property chefs about new products and adjusting day-to-day operations for efficiency.

He also oversees banquet foodservice, which Kovachevich said brings in about $2.5 million per hotel.

“Vancouver is, in my opinion, one of the most multicultural cities in Canada and there are lots of flavours from India through to Asia,” said Kovachevich, adding 90 per cent of banquets request fusion or food from

a particular culture.

Kovachevich visits each hotel weekly and spends Saturday at whichever property will be busiest. After a food and beverage team meeting, he and the property’s head chef spend time examining operations, costs and guest comments from the week prior.

“When you find out a guest complained about something, this is good for us to know how we can improve,” he said.

“I jump [on the line] anytime, anywhere, when it’s needed,” said Kovachevich.

Last year, he spent time heading up the kitchen at the Coquitlam property to fill the gap between executive chefs. “I really don’t like to rush to hire anybody just to cover the position,” Kovachevich added.

Working with Executive’s other chefs on menu development is Kovachevich’s favourite part of the job. This ranges from changing unpopular or less profitable dishes to creating a new menu when Wild Fig changed from a steakhouse earlier this year.

“When I introduce a new menu, I usually involve the chef and complete kitchen crew to talk and discuss,” he said.

John Pekka Woods, HMSHOST

If John Pekka Woods can’t find a product that meets his standards, he removes it from the menu.

“If you can’t make it well, don’t serve it,” said Woods, Toronto-based executive chef/ director of culinary standards Canada for HMSHost.

Woods was the executive chef at Epicurean Restaurant & Bistro in Niagaraon-the-Lake, Ont., for eight years before opening Alice’s Restaurant in Toronto (named for his daughter), which closed in 2009.

Looking for a job that would allow him to spend weekends and evenings with his two girls, Woods joined HMSHost in 2011.

“The flying public is asking for better food,” said Woods, who has seven airports from coast-to-coast under his purview.

At Toronto Pearson International Airport, the large production kitchen allowed HMSHost to elevate offerings more than airports with small prep spaces, according to Woods. The company recruited familiar local and national brands, but also partnered with celebrity chefs to create airport

1 0 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

restaurants including: The Hearth by Lynn Crawford, Twist by Roger Mooking, Lee Kitchen by Susur Lee and Bar 120, which features a menu of molecular gastronomy by John Placko.

Woods said it has been fun working with these sophisticated chefs. His role is to take their menu ideas and ensure they work in an airport setting with respect to volume, equipment and the airport’s varied customer base.

“On the street, you get a bus pulling up to your restaurant and that’s really scary. In the airport, we have three planes or four planes that will be delayed and now we have 800 people wandering around looking for food,” said Woods.

“When you’re flying through an airport, much like an amusement park, you’re there to get on a plane and go somewhere, so we need to make sure that it is approachable for as many people as possible,” he said.

Since bringing on these new restaurant concepts, more menu items are made in house, such as house-cut fries and Hearth’s caramelized onion soup, and sourced locally.

When it comes to prep, the kitchen is making smaller batches more often. “When I first got here, I think I counted the recipe book at about 80 recipes downstairs in production and now we have more than 300,” Woods said.

In addition to making sure everything is running smoothly with respect to supply, production and execution, Woods is sometimes found opening one of HMSHost’s restaurants for the day.

“I like to work the line, especially when they get busy. I tend to let them do the hard parts and I’ll move into the salad station or the fry station,” said Woods, adding this allows him to look for efficiencies.

As Woods’ role shifted to include more planning and implementation of new items, Claudia Gibson and Zubin Aria were brought on as specialty chefs to help with operations.

Geurin Sykes, RATIONAL AG

For Rational AG, 1976 was a landmark year.

The company launched what would become its flagship product: the Combi-steamer.

Coincidentally, 1976 is the same year Guerin Sykes, Rational Canada’s corporate executive chef and key accounts manager, was born.

However, Sykes’ interest in foodservice was piqued long before crossing paths with the manufacturer of ovens and food steamers.

He entered the foodservice industry at 12 years old, and eventually left his native Nova Scotia to pursue a culinary career in Ontario. By the time he was 22 years old, Sykes opened his first restaurant in Burlington, Ont. “I kind of grew up in this industry. My mom was a non-papered chef. At a very young age I was at the apron so to speak,” he said. “They couldn’t keep me out of the kitchen.”

Sykes originally joined Rational as an executive chef. As demand grew for the company’s products in Canada, he moved into the role of corporate executive chef.

“All of our corporate chefs were based out of Germany,” he said. “As sales grew, demand grew and our customer base grew. It was a necessary need.”

Rational employs corporate chefs in 15 of its largest markets around the world in an effort to meet its customers’ needs. Today, Rational’s products assist chefs around the world to prepare more than 100 million meals a day.

“It’s more relevant. Each country is a little bit unique. Not everything translates from country to country appropriately,” Sykes explained. “Each marketplace, although similar, definitely has its own struggles, challenges and needs.”

Backed by a support team of eight executive chefs and 85 regional chefs, Sykes leads the company’s training initiatives for customers throughout Canada.

“For Rational, I am the link between the manufacturer and the handson chefs,” he said. “My role is interpreting what the customer, or my

chefs’, challenges are and translating it back to the manufacturer, or vice versa.”

Outside of training clients, Sykes assists with research and development of Rational’s product line.

“I do a lot personally with large chain accounts. When it comes to the R&D side of things, I work with their corporate chefs or with their development chefs,” Sykes said.

“That part is definitely interesting, and quite challenging too.”

The R&D side of the position may be difficult, but Sykes explained solving problems for his fellow chefs rewards him. “It’s probably the best part of the job. Not everything is black and white and you do need to think outside of the box,” he said.

Research and development also ensures Rational remains current as technology continues to meld with kitchen hardware. Innovative kitchen tech is what built the Combi-steamer, Rational’s flagship product, which combines steam and dry heat in one cooking cabinet.

“We are the learning curve and we continue to be the learning curve,” Sykes said. “We focus on three simple things: we want to save people time, save them money and make their life easier.”

Brandon Thordarson, MOXIE’S GRILL AND BAR Long before Brandon Thordarson was creating menu items for Moxie’s Grill and Bar’s as executive chef, he had a vested interest in the culinary arts.

At nine years old, Thordarson enrolled in his first cooking class.

“I was cooking cookies and cakes. It was amazing and that sort of sparked the interest at a young age,” he said.

Thordarson continued to develop his skills, working at a family restaurant throughout high school. After graduation, he enrolled in culinary school, which opened the door to travelling the world to work as a chef.

His experiences abroad are now the building blocks used to create new entrées for Moxie’s menu, his main role with the company.

“I think culture and travel are the biggest inspiration,” he said.

Local ingredients also help spark ideas when developing a new menu item.

“When I am looking for a spring feature, I literally just go to the Cal-

gary’s farmers’ market,” Thordarson explained. “I like to buy a lot of fresh produce right there. I’ll grab what I need to do some discovery and development.”

Once Thordarson has a creation in mind, the recipe is perfected and eventually presented to the president of the company.

“We do full due diligence on the development piece before we launch it in five of our test stores,” Thordarson said. “From there, depending on the success or failure of the dish, we launch it nationally.”

From concept to customer, the process for a new entrée takes about six months to a year.

“It is cool to see it go live and land, especially when it’s executed perfectly,” Thordarson said. “When it’s done perfectly, and you know the methods worked, it’s a very invigorating feeling for sure.”

Since joining Moxie’s in 2012, Thordarson’s role has evolved beyond recipe development. When a new menu is created, Thordarson is tasked with training chefs at Moxie’s 64 locations throughout Canada.

“I’m getting more involved with operations as far as making sure execution is perfect,” Thordarson said.

He also follows up at Moxie’s various restaurants to ensure consistency with his original vision. The visit also offers insight into whether or not the wording of a recipe needs clarification, or if the dish could be prepared in a more productive fashion.

“I’ll visit with a chef and we’ll order the food together. It’s enlightening for myself to go and see the food being executed,” Thordarson said. “And it’s great for the young chefs in the company to have me come in and sit down with them.”

August 2015 | 1 1

Quesada on a roll

Emad Yacoub plans to open two more eateries at TELUS Garden.

Glowbal launching three eateries VANCOUVER — Starting with grab-and-go eatery Nosh, which opened in early July, Glowbal Restaurant Group will open two more establishments in the coming months at TELUS Garden.

The 1,600-square-foot Nosh will transition from a bakery in the morning to a salad and panini bar with fresh pasta in the afternoon and tapas and cocktails in the evening.

An online ordering system using food and beverage application xDine allows diners to pre-order lunch packages for $10.

With an emphasis on the dessert case, Nosh features creations by pastry chef Elie Nehme.

Proprietor Emad Yacoub said it is everything he wanted in a grab-and-

go concept. “The whole thing, as a combination, is working very well for us,” he said.

Yacoub opened his first restaurant in 2002 in Vancouver’s Yaletown and has 11 establishments under the Glowbal banner. Named for the restaurant group’s first and namesake establishment, Glowbal Grill, which closed about six months ago, a new flagship will open in late August.

Calling the new restaurant’s home “a gorgeous space,” Yacoub said the 16,000-square-foot restaurant, including the patio, seats between 450 and 500 guests. “I could fit more in it if I wanted to, but I want it to be spacious,” he added.

Yacoub described the menu as North American cuisine with West

Coast flair. Pedro Gonzalez, who ran the group’s COAST Restaurant for three years, is heading up the kitchen as executive chef.

Alley Bar will follow “next year when the building is finished,” said Yacoub.

He added plans for the future include growth, which may involve revisiting some of his past restaurant concepts.

Yacoub plans to target other major Canadian cities, such as Toronto and Calgary, with his flagship restaurants: Glowbal, Italian Kitchen and COAST. “They are great, solid restaurants that when you put them in big cities, could work with everybody,” Yacoub said.

Simmons Building opening fosters collaboration CALGARY — With a tenant team of Charbar, Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, the historic Simmons Building opened on June 20 after about three years of planning.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), the organization leading the transformation of East Village and the Rivers District, invested $6 million into restoring the site along the Bow River pathway. Originally known as the Simmons Factory Warehouse, the building dates back to 1912. CMLC and architectural firm McKinley Burkart led the rejuvenation of the 16,000-square-foot space.

With three levels of dining, Charbar seats about 300 people inside and 100 on its rooftop patio.

Jessica Pelland heads up the Charbar kitchen as executive chef supported by co-owners and chefs John Jackson and Connie DeSousa of Charcut Roast House. Co-owner and chef Mike Batke handles special events.

Pelland said Western Canadian ingredients inspire the menu.

With the name paying tribute to the wood-fired parilla grill (char) and its extensive raw bar, the menu also features ultra dry-aged Alberta beef, vegetarian small plates and fuggaza, Argentinean-style pizza derived from focaccia.

Charbar sources bread from Sidewalk Citizen, which also makes the fuggaza dough. “It’s got amazing texture and this beautiful, deep flavour,” said Pelland.

In the spirit of collaboration, the restaurant also serves Phil & Sebastian’s coffee prepared by its baristas.

Pelland said Charbar ascribes to the sharing philosophy of dining and the menu encourages guests to order a number of dishes for the table.

“That’s how I like to eat, so that’s how we designed the menu. In that sense it’s similar to Charcut, but what we’re cooking is completely different, which I love. Otherwise we would have just opened up a Charcut 2,” she said.

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The menu draws influence from Spanish and Italian cuisine, but Pelland said it focuses most on Argentine food.

“We decided we were going to buy this [parilla] grill and after that I went to Argentina to work and learn and do some research and development, not only on the grill, but on their cuisine. I absolutely fell in love with it,” she said.

Pelland started working at Charcut as a cook in 2010, shortly after the restaurant opened.

“I started as the lunch, soup and fry person and kind of worked my way up from there,” said Pelland, who was Charcut’s event chef when she found out she would become Charbar’s head chef two years ago.

“I had an inkling they were working on something new so I expressed some interest. I said ‘Whatever you guys are working on I’m totally in, I want to be involved in any way I can’,” she said, adding she didn’t anticipate that Jackson and DeSousa would put her in charge.

TORONTO – Quesada, home of than one per cent growth annually the “big ass burrito,” a Canadian- over the next five years. Restaurants owned and operated quick service Canada also released a survey in restaurant (QSR) chain that has been January 2015 that found 70 per cent steadily increasing in size year-over- of respondents did not expect sales year, continues to expand across to increase in the first half of the the country. The chain now has 44 year. Meanwhile, Quesada, which restaurants open and 16 in develop- focuses on serving healthy on-the-go Mexican-inspired fresh food, has exment.

“We’re ready to roll in New perienced a double-digit increase in Brunswick and Newfoundland,” said same-store sales this year.

“Stores are showing higher and Quesada president Tom O’Neill, adding that the new locations will be higher opening sales,” O’Neill said.

Steve Gill, a former technolin St. John’s, N.L., and Miramichi, N.B. One restaurant is under con- ogy consultant turned restaurateur, struction in Saskatchewan and six founded Quesada in Toronto in in Quebec. “We will be a national 2004. O’Neill, former area developer brand shortly,” said O’Neill, who for Subway, joined them in 2008. plans to build 300 across the country. “What impressed me about Quesada is all the little things,” Currently, Quehe said. “All the sada has eight area rice and beans are developers who are cooked in the restaucontracted to open rant — we don’t use 240 locations over pillow packs. Our a 60-month period: three salsas [raja, one in B.C., one in chipotle and verde] Saskatchewan and and sauces are made Alberta, four in fresh daily; we clean Ontario and two in and chop our own ciQuebec. Quesada is lantro; and we make currently handling our own Mexican the Atlantic prov- Quesada president coleslaw.” inces themselves, but Tom O’Neill.

The main drivers is open to having an area developer there too. The com- at Quesada are consumer demand pany is also looking for an area devel- for freshness and flavour, especially oper in Manitoba and the Thunder peppers, O’Neill said. “People are getting to know and appreciate pepBay area.

One of the chain’s newest fran- pers as a flavour enhancer — though chisee is a former 60-something ac- you have to start with real-deal ingrecountant looking for a “fresh” new dients.”

While the franchise fee is $20,000, career. He opened a unit in B.C. in O’Neill estimates the total cost to get May. “I wanted to make a change and a restaurant running is $195,000.

Quesada’s concept of freshness and This includes shipping, training flavour and competitive start-up costs costs, room and board while franchiworked for me,” said Barry Anand, sees are being trained, the first week’s who worked in finance but now owns food, signs, equipment, construction a Victoria-based Quesada on Yates costs and marketing fees for the first Street. “There’s definitely a more big push, O’Neill said. Quesada nehealth-conscious consumer here and gotiates and signs all leases, making so far we’re busy,” added Anand who sure the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted.

“We have very good financing is originally from India but immigrated to the United States in 1974 from the Royal Bank and the Bank of before moving to B.C. about two Montreal at a time when banks are pulling their horns in when it comes years ago.

Despite a long career in account- to restaurants. “We will sell the haming, Anand said finding a job in his mers and nails, but we expect [franmid-60s was a challenge. Over the chisees] to put hammer to nail,” he years, Anand had stints in the res- explained.

Typically, stores are 1,200 to taurant business — an industry he always enjoyed. He eventually 1,400 square feet, but they’re larger packed in his job search and began in Quebec because patrons there like shopping around for a franchise. Af- sit-down space. This is enough room ter researching numerous options, for 24-30 seats, or more in Quebec. he came upon Quesada. He liked Average check is about $10.

“Our target customer is 18 to the food and the fact there “wasn’t a heavy investment.” Finding the per- 49 years old. We also appeal to culfect location in a historical building tures that understand peppers,” said in Victoria proved challenging, but it O’Neill.

New menu items include drunken was where Anand wanted to be.

According to an NPD report re- chicken, a tequila-flavoured limited leased earlier this year, Quesada’s time offer. “We’re careful and logiexpansion is outpacing the QSR cal, whether it’s about expansion or industry norm that anticipates less about our menu,” O’Neill said.

S U P P LY

Relief on beef prices isn’t expected soon CALGARY – With beef prices continuing to climb, experts are signaling relief isn’t on its way anytime soon.

According to Statistics Canada, the slaughter cattle price was $192.80 per 100 pounds in Alberta throughout May, which represents a 36 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

“Most of the fundamentals are pointing towards these elevated beef prices staying fairly high,” said Brian Perillat, manager of CanFax, the market analysis division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “They may come off a little maybe next year, but I wouldn’t count on it too much.”

Perillat explained several factors have led to a shrinking number of cattle throughout North America, which fuels an increase in prices.

“Basically, it goes back to the fundamentals of supply and demand,” said Perillat. “Supply has been short and demand really has been phenomenal, not only domestically in North America, but globally.”

While Perillat believes the bulk of the price rise has already occurred, the cost of beef likely will not drop for two to four years. He said a lower price point for pork and poultry could help balance the price of beef in an effort to compete.

“We’ve seen the bulk of the rally,” he said.

“But we’re expecting to maintain quite elevated levels for a while yet.”

Charolais cattle graze in a field.

Photo courtesy of Ron Waddling.

While demand has grown, beef supply has shrunk. Drought throughout North America has led to beef producers slashing their herd sizes. In the United States alone, drought in 2011 and 2012 led to the sell-off of about one million cattle due to lack of feed and water.

“A lot of producers exited the cattle industry. Last year, the U.S. herd was at one of its lowest points in about 60 years,” Perillat said.

“The Canadian cattle herd is at its lowest point in about 20 years.”

Rebuilding the herd requires sending fewer cows to slaughter, as heifers are needed for breeding.

“You take them out of beef production to

rebreed and start to grow the herd again,” Perillat said. “That turnaround point takes about two, three or four years, and that just started in the United States.”

While American beef producers begin to rebuild their herd, Canadian producers are facing similar trouble with drought this year. For Alberta and Saskatchewan, 2015 marked the driest spring on record in 68 years.

“We just didn’t see the April showers that bring May flowers,” said Patrick Cherneski, manager of climate operations, monitoring and forecasting, for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “We’ve had extended periods, really long stages, with no precipitation.”

With 75 per cent of the prairie landscape receiving low rain, crops are suffering, particularly in central Alberta and western Saskatchewan.

Cherneski said crops typically used for livestock feed are the hardest hit.

“We’re hearing reports in those areas that the first cut of hay was poor and there likely won’t be another cut,” Cherneski said, noting two hay harvests a season is the norm.

The lack of hay means beef producers need to import feed or move the herd from its normal grazing location.

“Of course, there’s a cost equation here,” Cherneski said.

Beef isn’t the only ingredient with a climbing price tag. According to Statistics Canada, the Consumer Price Index, the price of meat in general climbed 7.9 per cent in May when compared to the previous year, while the cost of fresh vegetables increased 5.8 per cent, bakery products three per cent and fresh fruit jumped 2.9 per cent.

As well, the cost of food purchased from restaurants increased 2.9 per cent nationwide, the largest increase since December 2011.

A survey by Restaurants Canada found about 65 per cent of restaurants recorded higher food costs in the first six months of 2015. The survey also found that 53 per cent of respondents expect their menu prices to climb in the next six months.

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August 2015 | 1 3

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1. From left: Marcus Mariathas, Alan Dumonceaux and James Holehouse. 2. John Scurrey. 3. Paul Moran. 4. Lauren Mote.

Baking Team Canada will compete in February in Paris, France at the prestigious World Cup of Baking, also known as the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. The team secured a spot at the international competition after scoring the highest points at the Louis Lesaffre Cup in June in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Four of the team’s members are from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), including manager and Viennese pastry competitor Alan Dumonceaux (chair of NAIT’s baking program), technical advisor Clayton Folkers (NAIT baking instructor), artistic showpiece competitor James Holehouse (NAIT graduate) and Elien de Herdt (NAIT baking graduate).

Coach Mario Fortin, owner of Forma-Lab baking consulting business, and ACE Bakery master baker Marcus Mariathas, round out the team.

As part of the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) 2015 National Convention, chef John Scurrey was awarded Chef of the Year.

Scurrey began working in the cooking industry 44 years ago. He spent 28 years as a cook/warder at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s, N.L., while catering in his spare time.

He became a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Chefs and Cooks in 1980 and has held every executive posi-

tion over the years, occasionally more than one at a time.

Scurrey, the Eastern Region nominee, was joined by nominees Tony Fernandes (Central) and Anthony McCarthy (Western).

B.C. chef Paul Moran placed fifth in the San Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 competition.

Held in Milan, Italy in June, the contest invited 20 chefs younger than 30 years old from around the world to compete.

Moran, who is executive chef for both The Outpost, an exclusive fishing lodge in Haida Gwaii, and CMH K2, a heli-skiing destination in British Columbia, prepared his signature dish, blood pigeon smoked and roasted with beet jus and charcoal oil, polenta and salsify, for the inaugural contest.

Mark Moriarty, who represented the United Kingdom and Ireland, placed first in the competition.

Lauren Mote, Bittered Sling Bitters co-proprietor and UVA wine and cocktail bar manager, was named the 2015 Canadian Bartender of the Year in bartending competition Diageo World Class Canada.

Held in late June in Chicago, Mote competed against nine bartenders to represent Canada at the global finals in Cape Town, South Africa.

The global competition runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5.

CedarCreek Estate Winery announced it was bringing on winemaker Alexis Moore on July 1.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Moore has an affinity for pinot noir and aromatic reds.

“That moment when Darryl Brooker called me to convey the incredible opportunity to build the Okanagan Valley into one of the five great Pinot Noir regions in the world was something I just couldn’t say no to,” she said.

CedarCreek’s former winemaker, Brooker, was recently appointed as chief winemaker at Mission Hill Family Estate.

Moore honed her skills in the vineyards of Provence, France, and held positions at Flowers Winery in Sonoma and Oregon’s Penner-Ash Wine Cellars. With 16 harvests under her belt, Moore’s return to Canada comes from her most recent role with Gladstone Vineyard in New Zealand.

After eight years with Groupex Systems Canada and four years as chief operating officer of Restaurants Canada, Carmine Aquino left the association at the end of July.

Aquino joined Groupex — a group buying service for independent operators owned by Restaurants Canada — in 2003 and served as president from 2006 to 2011. He then joined the senior management team at Restaurants Canada, assuming responsibility for membership, trade

COMING EVENTS Aug. 23-25: Western Food Service & Hospitality Show, Los Angeles Convention Center. westernfoodexpo.com Sept. 3: Kitchen Bitches: Smashing the Patriarchy One Plate at a Time, Revival Bar, Toronto. kitchenbitches.ca

Oct 18-19: Connect Food + Lodging + Drink, Vancouver Convention Centre West. connectshow.com Oct. 21: Restaurants for Change. restaurantsforchange.ca Oct. 24: Canadian Hospitality Foundation Ball, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto. thechf.ca

Sept. 17-20: P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival, Charlottetown Festival Grounds, Charlottetown. peishellfish.com

Oct. 25-27: Natures Expo Virtual Trade Show. naturesexpo.com

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Nov. 8-10: HX: The Hotel Experience (formerly IHMRS), Javits Convention Center, New York City. thehotelexperience.us

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shows and sponsorship programs.

Prior to joining Groupex and Restaurants Canada, Aquino held various senior positions over a 23-year career at Sysco.

A decision on Aquino’s replacement has not yet been made.

The Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) presented Newman Smith and John Schreiner with the 2015 Canadian Wine Industry Awards on July 16 in concert with the fifth annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. The second annual awards recognize “individuals, organizations and businesses that have gone above and beyond to support and enhance the wine industry in Canada, celebrating the success, leadership and outstanding commitment in Canada’s grape wine industry.”

Newman Smith, of Ontario’s Strewn Winery was presented with the Award of Distinction for outstanding leadership, commitment and passion for the advancement of the Canadian wine industry.

“Newman has helped build the Canadian wine industry from the ground up, working to establish the regulatory, financial and policy foundation which has helped pave the way for this industry’s 550 wineries,” Tony Stewart, CVA chair and president of Quails’ Gate Winery, said in a release.

Bill Tremblay joined Ishcom Publications in early July as assistant editor of Ontario Restaurant News, Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News, Atlantic Restaurant News and Canadian Lodging News.

Tremblay brings a decade of community news experience to his new position. Most recently, he was with The Orangeville Banner as a reporter and photographer.

Tremblay has received numerous awards for his writing and reporting including: North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce’s (NDACT) Tater Awards for best Foodstock coverage in 2011; best feature writing, Metroland Award, on the demise of the Mel-

The Wine Industry Champion Award was presented to Vancouver resident John Schreiner, who has written 15 books on Canadian wine over three decades including The Wines of Canada and Okanagan Wine Tour Guide, which is now in its fifth edition.

“John’s been a fan of Canadian wines long before they were considered cool and through his work, he’s educated and influenced consumers across the country and beyond our borders,” said Stewart.

In late June, Tobias MacDonald joined the ranks of Certified Master Chef, the highest culinary designation in Canada. After four years of hard work he completed his practical examinations at Toronto’s Humber College.

MacDonald is the second Canadian chef to complete the designation, following Judson Simpson two years ago.

Food industry research company Technomic Inc. announced the addition of Margot Swindall to its Canadian business development team on July 21.

Swindall will be responsible for the expansion of Technomic’s Canadian footprint and will focus on the company’s service portfolio including its Digital Resource Library, Consumer Trend Reports, MenuMonitor, Foodservice Planning Program and Consumer Brand Metrics.

ancton, Ont., quarry; and second place for breaking news from Local Media Association Awards for coverage of the 2013 ice storm.

“We’re delighted to have someone with Bill’s newspaper experience and know that he will be a valuable addition to our team,” said senior editor Colleen Isherwood.

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