Plus ça change …

The very first post on Ye Olde Order Up blog was about the Gordon Ramsay “takeover” of iconic Montreal restaurant the Laurier BBQ.  It was announced last week that that partnership has flown the coop (so to speak) with the removal of Ramsay’s name from the restaurant signage and its re-rebranding as Laurier 1936.

Earlier this month, David Sax, author of Save the Deli (warning: link goes to a website containing impassioned, somewhat salty language) raised a “cri de coeur” for another Montreal institution, Schwartz’s deli.  Writing in the Globe and Mail, Sax delivered a mouth-watering description of its famed smoked meat sandwiches and the deli’s rich history and offered up this advice to the restaurant’s new owners:
 

Now, there are other places that have opened up recently in Montreal making smoked meat that is as good or even better. But the value of Schwartz’s lies in the fact that it is unchanged; it’s one of the last of its kind. Tamper with that, Mr. Nakis, try to improve it and you’ll diminish its value, perhaps even ruin it forever. Stay the course, and you’ll not only earn back your investment, you’ll do your part in preserving this country’s most beloved culinary icon.

Beloved though it may be, it’s not the only destination on the dining map, as evidenced by this neat article: One Question, Five Chefs: Favorite Montreal restaurants.  The chefs in question are from Burlington, Vermont, and they offer an interesting perpsective on the city’s best restaurants — equal parts industry insider and voracious vacationer.

From the Order Up vault: They’re always after me lucky shake!

It’s déjà vu all over again.

If you’re thinking this post looks (reads, sounds) familiar, that’s because it’s a reposting of a popular (and timely) article from last year.   One interesting update: in the U.S., the shamrock shake is now available nationwide for the first time.  Not sure if that’s also the case in Canada, but shamrockshake.com is a good, if curiously non-chronological, place to track local “sightings.”

 

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About 20 web pages deep into research about a mint milkshake it hits you: those folks over at McDonald’s are a real clever bunch.  Newspaper articles, blog posts, online forums, videos, websites — all dedicated to the fast food giant’s elusive seasonal confection, the Shamrock Shake.  But why?

The author of this article could have just stated the obvious — because it is DEE-LISH-ISS — and left it at that, but after that much research I suppose a more in-depth analysis is called for.  And on that front, The Daily Meal‘s For the love of the Shamrock Shake does not disappoint!

Celebrating its 40th birthday this year, the Shamrock Shake is one of the oldest seasonal offerings from QSRs.   What’s the secret to its mint-o-licious success?  According to The Daily Meal, there are five reasons why this Hulkified beverage remains so popular:

1. Limited supply. “Because nothing pushes a product better than an expiration date.”
2. Location, location, location. “Headlines for the first Shamrock Shake sightings of the season read like eyewitness accounts of seeing the Loch Ness Monster or the Abominable Snowman … fortunately, dedicated sites like shamrockshake.com make the quest a whole lot easier.”
3. Fans love the familiar. “Don’t mess with a sentimental food memory, man.”
4. Taste of tomorrow … er, yesterday. “Just about anything with retro appeal does well these days and the Shamrock Shake is no exception.”
5. Often imitated. “When McDonald’s is a source of recipe inspiration, well, that’s just badass.”

The Daily Meal describes this early-1980s TV ad for the Shamrock Shake as “oh-so-not PC” — I’m not sure whether I find it hilarious or horrifying.  Judge for yourself!

 
 

The sincerest form of flattery

Update on the “what my friends think I do” meme: Astonishingly, still no foodservice version other than the barista image we shared earlier this week! If our own blog traffic stats are anything to go by, though, there are hundreds of people who are hungry for a back-of-house iteration. If you’re a chef or a restaurateur with a website, build it! They will come!

Chain menu offerings are often dismissed by foodie-types as being “derivative,” meaning that food trends take hold in more avant-garde independents then filter down to the hungry masses.  This is likely less true in an age of social media spread, where one wacky recipe, once “pinned,” can spread like wildfire — but this belief persists.

Personally, I’ve always felt that this theory of mass popularity underestimated the incredible innovation involved in chain operations.  Like an entire meal you can eat with one hand.

In fact, when it comes to breakfast sandwiches, it’s the humble McMuffin that is being “reimagined” by top chefs.  From Toronto Life, Flavour of the Month: eight sublimely sloppy breakfast sandwiches.

There isn’t one of the eight that doesn’t look like it shouldn’t be eaten slowly, communally, accompanied by strong coffee and good conversation (or, failing that, strong coffee and the Globe and Mail’s weekend crossword).

Here’s one worth savouring, from Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, accompanied by Toronto Life’s description:

A Thuet croissant cradles two perfectly poached free-range eggs, smoked coho salmon and silky Béarnaise flecked with chervil, tarragon and dill.

Related Stories:

• Bacon and breakfast starches boost breakfast menus
• Poultry has room for growth on breakfast menus
• Breakfast a top trend for 2012
• Recipe: Carmelized onion, egg and bacon breakfast pita
• Recipe: Bacon, arugula, Tabasco-Chipotle breakfast sandwich

And then there were ten

The tenth semi-finalist in the Discovered Culinary Competition was named this week, leaving only two spots open on the sizzling path to pro chef glory.

Chef Michael Bashford, catering manager at Beretta Farms in Etobicoke, won Monday night’s showdown with a menu that included a gorgonzola-drizzled prosciutto, pistachio and apple app; a main that paired grilled beef bavette with a chorizo and fingerling potato hash, served with grilled asparagus with a smoked paprika and mustard hollandaise; and a ginger shortbread cookie topped with blackberry puree and a buttermilk and icing sugar glaze for dessert.

The Discovered Culinary Competition is a four-month search for the best of Canada’s up-and-coming culinary stars. The winning chef will get the opportunity of a lifetime:  an all-expenses-paid trip to spend a week cooking at a Michelin-star restaurant in northern Spain.  Chef Bashford will join the winners of the first nine rounds to compete in the semi-finals at the CRFA Show, March 4 – 6, 2012 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto.

And now the most important part … you still have an opportunity to join these top-notch chefs because the competition continues through February and applications are still being accepted:

Winners to date:
Round 1 – Chef Arron Carley of Volos restaurant, Toronto
Round 2 – Chef Trish Gill of Beast restaurant, Toronto
Round 3 – Chef William Tolentino of Celestin restaurant, Toronto
Round 4 – Chef John Koplimae of the Drake Hotel, Toronto
Round 5 – Chef Alejandro Winzer of Ristorante Verdicchio, Sudbury
Round 6 – Chef Glenn Sheridan of Le Bon Marché, North Bay
Round 7 – Chef George Tyminski of Annona restaurant, Park Hyatt Hotel, Toronto
Round 8 – Chef Mitchell Lamb: Stone House, Burlington; Lake House, Vineland
Round 9 – Chef Bruno Elsier of the Toronto French School
Round 10 – Chef Michael Bashford of Beretta Farms, Etobicoke

For more information and to apply, go to the Discovered Culinary Competition page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/discoveredchefs.

What *does* your mother think you do?

I decided to take a pass on the first great meme of 2012 — due to inappropriate language, and the fact that the chef versions were as unfunny as the foodie versions, both pale imitations of the somewhat humorous original — but I’m a-dyin’ for a restaurant-based iteration of the latest craze, How people view my profession.

As of today (Feb. 14) I can’t find a chef version and I don’t have in-kitchen experience, so I’m not about to attempt to make one.  But if you come across one, be a dear and let me know?

In the meantime, here is the only food industry version I could find (click image for larger version):

(image via Portola Coffee Lab)