eDining NL Blog

WOW! It has been a really long time since I had time to sit down and tell you about the wonderful things we have been up to at RANL. Time seems to be flying!

In a later post I will give you the updates on all of the activity but today I want to tell you about a fantastic program we have started with Daffodil Place.

First, for those who don’t know, Daffodil Place is a hotel really, built for people in Newfoundland Labrador who have to travel to St. John’s for cancer treatment. There are currently 24 rooms… not nearly enough really… housing up to 48 people, who are fed 3 times a day and taxied to and from the hospital. The whole operation focuses on whole-health, body and spirit. There are in-services held most days of the week, so residents have things to do and interests to foster. All of this is done by monies raised through charity. It is an amazing operation which Executive Director Matthew Piercey calls “home” to the staff, as well as the residents.

So… several months ago in a meeting about something else completely, Al Pelley (the man who keeps money coming into Daffodil Place) and I came up with this great idea… lets get some chefs to come in once a month and teach the residents  how to choose good food to help in their recovery, and how to cook this food to make it delicious, as well as nutritious.

It came together pretty quickly. I made a few phone calls to a bunch of chefs and they all said yes…without hesitation!

From left to right: Kris Gaudet of The Delta, Stephanie Chaulk and Jeremy Charles of Raymonds, Todd Perrin of  Chef’s Inn, Roary Macpherson of Sheraton Hotel NL, Andrea Maunder and Mike Barsky of Bacalao, Nick Jewczyk of Canvas Cove Bistro, Shaun Hussey of Chinched Bistro, Brian Piercy of Glenndenning Golf, Andrew Hodge of Holiday Inn, Steven Gugelmeier of The Delta, Gary Gosse of Harbour Breeze catering and Dennis Davis of Sophia’s Inn (Missing from the pic: Brian Piercy of Celtic Hearth/Bridie Molloy’s (congrats on the brand new baby girl Chloe), Chris Sheppard of Bonavista Institute, Roger Andrews of CNA and Relish Gourmet Burgers)

Matthew Piercey opened the launch with a welcome that showed the passion he and his entire team has for this place.

St. John’s West MHA Dan Crummel was there on behalf of the government.

Nancy Brace of RANL , Roary MacPherson of the Chef’s Association and Leo Gosse of TC Media (all partners in this project with Daffodil Place) told everyone about the program, and Al Pelley of The Cancer Society NL spoke of this partnership.

There was a great turnout of residents, other invited guests and the media who were told about the partnerships, about the garden that is underway at Daffodil Place and how this program will use the vegetables grown in the garden.

The food was fantastic and everyone was very excited about these partnerships and the Cooking for Life program.

Brad Power of Dept of Fisheries and Aquaculture, MHA Dan Crummell, and Al Pelley of Cancer Society chat during the launch of Cooking for Life.

Staff and residents rave about the food and the program!

As excited as we were to do From This Rock, we are just as excited that is is done, so we could tell you all about it and what a success it was.

First of all let me say none of this whole adventure would have been possible without the passion and hard work of Crystal Anderson-Baggs of the Department of Natural Resourses – Forestry and Agrifoods agency. Crystal – all five foot and 7 months pregnant of her -  with her co-worker Autumn Gale, traveled with the team and sourced all of the fresh local produce. They worked hard to gather and transport the produce and type and print menus on the day of each dinner, as chefs found the wonderful fresh food waiting for them and planned a menu on the spot.

Chef Roary MacPherson, of The Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, headed up a team of three ( Mike Barsky of Bacalao and Angie Ryan of The Sheraton) as they cooked from the west to the east, working with a local chef.

The team left St. John’s on October the 18th and traveled to the west coast and from there they traveled and prepped and then cooked every second day.

First stop was Stephenville, where the inaugural dinner fed about 60 people at the Holiday Inn dining room. Word started spreading like wild-fire ahead of the team and they were met with a sold out crowd of over 100 at the Greenwood Inn and Suites in Corner Brook. Next stop: Grand Falls – Windsor where a jam packed crowd enjoyed 6 courses at the Mount Peyton ballroom. On to Clarenville and St. Jude Hotel to another sold out crowd and the final stop on October 28th at the Harbour Breeze in Harbour Grace.

It was a fantastic trip across and the guests raved. What had started as a three-course meal became a 5 – 6 course feast as the chefs found such an abundance and diversity of local foods waiting for them at each stop.

From Harbour Grace the team’s trip culminated with the grand finale at The Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland on October 30th. Eight chefs served up eight courses to a filled room. The ninth course, the cheese course, was provided by Chef Steve Watson of Central Dairies.

The guests arrived and were greeted by a complimentary cocktail from Iceberg Vodka. After a short sociable everyone moved into the ballroom with anticipation as  Shaun Majumder was hosting the evening’s event.

Andrea Maunder, president of RANL, welcomed all and talked about the importance of supporting local foods and cuisine. Chef MacPherson and Crystal Anderson-Baggs also filled everyone in on the fun and the hard work of the week’s culinary tour. Shaun took to the stage and told everyone about his project in his hometown of Burlington and his culinary event this past summer called The Gathering.

With that the first course was served. Chef Hans Uebel of The Sheraton treated us to a delicious amuse bouche of Blueberry Cured Trout on Potato Salad.

Next was the Pumpkin Soup prepared by Chef Brian Piercy of Bridie Molloy’s and The Celtic Hearth.

Chef Robert Piercy of GlenDenning Golf offered the Wilted Kale and Spinach Salad and then…

Chinched Bistro owner Chef Shaun Hussey presented Charcuterrie  with Pork Shoulder Terrine.

Up next came two very important recognition awards presented by RANL to champions of Newfoundland Labrador’s culinary scene: food writer and critic Karl Wells and Chef Roary MacPherson.

The Agrifoods division of Department of Natural Resources presented their annual award to Raymonds, to honor a restaurant that promotes our province’s local produce.

And now…back to the food!

The fish course was prepared by Chef Roger Andrews of College of the North Atlantic and owner of Relish Gourmet Burgers.

Chef Mike Barskey of Bacalao offered the poultry course  and Chef Mark McCrowe of Aqua and The Club the beef course.

The Sheraton’s pastry chef Angie Ryan chose a trio of dessets featuring Newfoundland berries.

Host and comedian Shaun Maunder kept the night moving and the audience in stitches.

RANL presented the Hall of Fame awards after dessert. Frank Murphy of Big Eric’s and member of the RANL Board of Directors presented the awards to EW Harvey, Gordon “Marty” Martin (accepted by his daughters) and The Barbour Family.

The Newfoundland Chocolate Company is running neck and neck for first place with a large Nova Scotia corporation in the Eat Atlantic competition and your vote can help them win.

Vote before the August 28th deadline to help this Newfoundland company reach the top.

VOTE

FOR NEWFOUNDLAND CHOCOLATE COMPANY

VOTE

FOR NEWFOUNDLAND

The Newfoundland Chocolate Company is in second place in the Eat Atlantic competition.

The only Newfoundland Labrador company nominated, the Newfoundland Chocolate Company is running neck and neck with a large NS corporation for first place.

Show support for a RANL member

 and vote for the Newfoundland Chocolate Company

before the August 28 deadline

at http://www.eatatlantic.ca

We will keep you posted on the outcome but they can’t be the only Newfoundland company to win if you don’t vote!!

Food Day Canada founder Anita Stewart arrived in St. John’s a couple of days before the big day: Saturday August 4th, to help chefs and foodies ring in Food Day Canada on Signal Hill at 12 midnight.

On a beautiful warm night with the light of the waning full moon glistening on the water everyone gathered for an impromptu tailgate party of coffee, hot chocolate and sweets. With their matching red T-shirts and pots and pans in hand the whole crew gathered on the platform next to Cabot Tower to officially ring in the day.

At the stroke of midnight, Town Crier, Chef Steve Watson announced the proclamation that Food Day Canada had officially begun and with that the whole crew banged their pots and pans and ranted and roared like true Newfoundlanders.

Chef Steve Watson and event organizer Chef Roary MacPherson

The whole crew on Signal Hill.

Food Day Canada celebrations carried on later in the day, as the chefs were at it bright and early cooking for the big brunch to take place at 10 am at Lester’s Farm. The weather was picture perfect and the family-style brunch was set to go al fresco in the fields.

The boards groaned with the food and the menu of local foods was fantastic. Everyone had a great meal.

Thank you to all the chefs and farmers who work so hard to provide us with the delicious food we all enjoy.

This past Thursday was the first ever Regimental Rum Tasting presented at The Queen’s Battery Barracks on Signal Hill…. and it was a hit!

RANL and Parks Canada have partnered up to present this event every Thursday night at 6 pm until the end of August and is a fun learning experience, both for the guests and the presenters.

This year is the anniversary of the war of 1812 and soldiers from the fortress on Signal Hill were part of the fight. Since rum was a part of the rations for the military and Newfoundland has traded for rum for a long time…. we thought, “What better way to teach people a bit about our history, a bit about the rums we now make here, and about some of our local foods that can be paired with rum. Bathed in sun and shrouded in fog, Signal Hill was the perfect backdrop.

Andrea Maunder of Bacalao, the official bar wench for the event, supplied some tasting of her food from Bacalao, while Rock Spirits and Collingwood Wines and Spirits provided the rum.

After mustering at the Visitor’s Centre, guests were marched to the start of the path that leads up the hill and back in time.

Corporal McGrath of the Hill’s fortress told everyone about life at that time and set the scene for the trip they were about to take.

This latest installation of RANL’s blog is not a blog posting at all…. more of a public service announcement really.

August 4th is Food Day Canada and FDC founder Anita Stewart is coming to town to help us ring it in for all of Canada. So I am merely passing on the following info and encouraging you all to contact Chef Roary MacPherson so you can  help us celebrate all of those hard working people who produce our food, cook our food and show the passion our food deserves.

Food day Canada 2012!!!!!

It all starts

in Newfoundland Labrador

August 4^th is Food Day Canada, as we all celebrate everything local right across this great country… and it all starts here in Newfoundland Labrador… at 12:01 am Aug. 4^th on Signal Hill.

Chef’s and foodies, farmers and friends will unite to welcome this celebration Newfoundland-style  at midnight on the 3^rd of August on Signal Hill with fresh coffee and Newfoundland treats… and with pots and pans in hand to ring in Food Canada day led by Town Crier Chef Steve Watson!!

Food Day Canada founder Anita Stewart will be our special guest!!

Bring friends, family and other chefs to show Canada that we do it first and that we do it best!!

Contact Chef Roary MacPherson to confirm your attendance on the hill at rmacpherson@fortisproperties.com or leave a message at 758-8161

**********************

Continue the celebrations as we gather at 10 am at Lester’s Farm, 92 Pearltown Road, Mt. Pearl for a Canada Food Day Brunch. This family-style brunch will be hosted outside, weather permitting.

Guest chefs include Steve Watson and Roary MacPherson, with a line up to be announced.

To reserve your place contact Chef Roary MacPherson at rmacpherson@fortisproperties.com or leave a message at 758-8161. Tickets are $50 per person to be paid at the door.

Come on out and enjoy some fantastic food and fun and celebrate our food producers!!

Food Day Canada Brunch 2012

August 4^th

Newfoundland Kitchen Table

A communal table seating 100 people

Platters of food served family style

Surrounded by the fields of Lester’s Farms

** 

THE MENU

Crocks of Spyglass butter

Fresh baked brioche, savory rolls & Farmers Dairy cheddar biscuits 

Portugal Cove greens , Five Brothers’ goat cheese, pickled vegetables

New potato salad with Newfoundland duck eggs and peas

Blueberry-cured Bay d’Espoir trout with a spruce and lemon vinaigrette

 Crocks of Country Ribbon chicken liver pate, glazed with Lady of the Woods Birch Wine jelly

 Five Brothers’ mozzarella and tomato frittata

Pig Roast with apple and partridgeberry chutney

Pulled lamb with root vegetables mint and carrot relish

 Petty Harbor fish bake

 Rabbit Stew with scrunchions topped with pastry crust with braised turnip greens and roasted potatoes

 Blueberry grunt with chocolate sauce and whipped cream

Rhubarb crisp with Ragged Rock sauce anglaise

**

$50  per person 

Wow!!! Today was fantastic. This was the inaugural Sunday lunch served in the Cape Spear lighthouse… the first public use of the lighthouse since the lighthouse keepers left… and it was a huge success.

Parks Canada and RANL partnered up for this celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cape Spear’s designation as a National Heritage Site, and RANL members Chinched Bistro and Bacalao partnered to provide the food for every Sunday lunch until August 26th.

For this first day, Bacalao charmed the guests with Bakeapple Ice Tea, a hearty Moose Bourguignon with Savoury Herbed Scones and Salad, and delicious Partridgeberry Streusel Cake.  With coffee and tea to complete, the guests sat and chatted and enjoyed the Newfoundland music drifting down the staircase. Park employees Rebecca and Sarah played cello and keyboard upstairs during the meal.

After the main course was served, invited guest Gerry Cantwell regaled guests with the story of growing up in the lighthouse and being groomed to be the next… and the last… lighthouse keeper. Mr. Cantwell’s great, great, great grandfather was the first.

Today was the first, but not the last. Next week Chinched Bistro is serving to a sold out crowd. There are still some spots left for the remainder of the scheduled lunches… so call me at 765 8483 and book a lunch you will always remember!

Please forgive the quality of these pics…  blame the small rooms, bad lighting and a not-so-great phone camera… and perhaps the photographer!. Nevertheless, the rooms looked great, the guests were happy and the food was fantastic!

So where we?? Chinched has gone back to Newfoundand with the rest of the James Beard team and Bacalao and RANL have moved into Manahatten.

We stayed at Affinia 50 on 50th, a great neighbourhood with lots of small hotels and restaurants and easy access to subways to anywhere.http://www.affinia.com/New-York-City-Hotel.aspx?name=Affinia-50 Got a great deal on a junior suite complete with 2 queens, living room area and a kitchen.

After the dim sum adventure, Bacalao and RANL head off to explore Chinatown and its amazing markets and weird and wonderful food… buckets of live toads and some of the ugliest fish you will ever see. I am positive we saw sculpins for sale! Emerging market perhaps??!!

Fish, fish and more fish!

Those are black chickens folks!!

Full chickens and ducks and various animals hang behind the food to go counter in Chinatown market.

A sudden downpour sent us fleeing into a street market for cheap umbrellas and off we went. We found our way to the subway to get us back uptown. Now remember that up to this point we had been followers on the flipside of NY streets and now we were on our own! Took a couple of mistakes but we got there!

From Chinatown we went back to the area of the Twin Towers to shop at Century 21…. discount prices on labels. We found some awesome deals. A must visit for NYC shopping! http://www.c21stores.com/stores

Back at the hotel with new clothes to hang, we got ourselves settled into the room and made plans for the next couple days of rest, relaxation,sightseeing,  shopping, lots of eating and even more walking! Dinner that night would be just a couple of doors down the street at a neighbourhood diner and an early night. Monday would be a large day!

Tea and fresh fruit from yesterday’s market foraging in Chinatown is the breakfast of champions, due in part to the fact that this is the first time in over a week there has not been an early morning rush to be somewhere.

So, after a slow and leisurely start to the day we headed out to the Museum of Natural History.  http://www.amnh.org/  The raincoat I found at Century 21 the day before came in handy; slightly drizzly and cool…. just like home. By the time we got to the museum  it was close to lunch time so we detoured  a bit and found a great little neighbourhood Japanese restaurant where we had sake to take the chill off, fantastic sushi and teryaki and finished off with red bean and green tea ice creams.

With full bellies we headed back to the museum where we journeyed to the stars at the planetarium, http://www.amnh.org/rose/spaceshow/journey/?src=e_h , discovered strange creatures right here on earth http://ez-www.amnh.org/creatures-of-light and walked with the dinosaurs http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossils/. We even visited with North American mammals in their own habitat. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/mammals/north.html

Look familiar? Our own moose!

Our adventure at the museum was a little rushed and if I had to recommend anything, I would say…. take a full day and take it all in…. but we had dinner reservations for 5:30 at ABC kitchen. http://www.abckitchennyc.com/ Now …. neither Bacalao nor RANL are 5:30 diners, but we took what we could get! ABC kitchen is the newest of the family of restaurants of Chef Jean-Georges… of Jean-Georges fame http://www.jean-georges.com/and was named Best New Restaurant in 2011 by James Beard Foundation. It is  a very cool place. The old ABC Flooring and Lighting company is home to an eclectic mix of businesses that range from very cool furniture and home decor to bakeries, tapas restaurants and of course… ABC kitchen.

Dinner was fantastic… would highly recommend this place located in the Flatiron District. (Although… some of the weirdest wine service I have ever encountered. The waiters all present the wine, leave the table and come back with an opened bottle to pour. Very odd!)

Next trip back I would return to ABC, but would also try the tapas restaurant Pipa as well.

Tuesday was bright and early and we played tourist in earnest. We walked to Grand Central Station to get the subway and what a station it is!There are better pics here than I could take, but I have added one of my own as well. http://www.google.ca/search?q=grand+central+station&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JfroT_XTOce70AHpto

We headed back to the Flatiron District to visit Chef Mario Batali’s Eataly. http://eatalyny.com/That was a real treat…. a fantastic market with several restaurants and eating stations, including a white linen restaurant Manzo.http://eatalyny.com/eat/manz

We headed out to the 911 memorial. It was a very busy place to get into and security was strict. While I get the necessity of it, it really did take the emotion out of the whole experience.

Here’s the Survival Tree.

The badly damaged stump was taken from the grounds of the church next to ground zero and nursed back to health and replanted at the memorial.

And here is the memorial with the new buildings in the back ground.

From there we went to the water taxi and took a ride out to see Lady Liberty…..

and a little tour around New York harbour. Very cool!

After a full day of walking and touring and seeing as much as possible, we headed back to the hotel. Dinner that night involved walking out the front door, turning left and walking till we found something interesting… and we did…. Matisse. http://www.matissenyc.com/ Great little visit to France without leaving our neighbourhood.

Believe it or not, the trip is almost over. Wednesday morning was an early start; pack and leave bags at the hotel lock up and cram more New York in before leaving late afternoon. We hoofed it up 5th Avenue passing all the designer stores until we hit Central Park.http://www.centralparknyc.org/

It was a gorgeous day and the park was full of families and tourists and New Yorkers strolling in the sunshine.

We found the zoo but thought better of it, given time constraints, so we wandered straight up through the park until we found our goal… The Boathouse. http://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/ This beautiful room with its open veranda was again a throwback to another time, when time was slower.

It was the perfect way to end our New York adventure

Not since the lighthouse keeper and his family sat for meals in the kitchen, has anyone eaten in the cosy rooms of the Cape Spear Lighthouse…. but this summer you can!

 2012 is the 50th anniversary of Cape Spear’s designation as a National Historic Site and to celebrate Parks Canada http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/index.aspx has opened the doors to welcome you at 12:30 each Sunday for lunch.

Chinched Bistro http://www.chinchedbistro.com/ and Bacalao Nouvelle Newfoundland Cuisine http://bacalaocuisine.ca/ have joined forces to serve up lunch each Sunday from July 15 to August 26 for up to 26 people in the three rooms of the lighthouse.

If this goes well this summer, there is the possibility to make it an annual summer happening and what a great way to celebrate our food, our culture and our scenery.

Check out the details at http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/spear/activ/activ1.aspx and call Nancy at RANL to book your seats at 765 8483. Credit card payment will be required at the time of making the reservation.

So… where were we?

The last time we chatted we had just finished our great big night at James Beard House and what a night it was! Everyone was very impressed with the food, the menu and the chefs.

After a few drinks and a great night’s sleep we were all off again to Manhatten, to explore and have fun…. but not until we stopped in Hoboken to visit Carlos Bakery….. you know, Cake Boss!

I have to admit, that while one of the chef’s had visited this place before and was excited to take us all there…. it was a real disappointment.  In her previsous visits it was still an old-school neighbourhood bakery with attention to detail and quality, but their massive success on TV seems to have hurt the very thing that made them successful.  The cannoli were pre-filled and slightly soggy with a filling that was way too thick and devoid of flavour.Too bad because the shop was beautiful and the mainstreet and the town itself was very picturesque.

Back on the train and off to Manhatten and a visit to the construction site that will be the the new World Trade Centre. The Towers are getting nearer and nearer to completion.