The Canucks Can Cook
by Ivy Knight

The average cook doesn't usually get to swan into the Platinum Club at the ACC in heels and makeup to sit down to an eight course dinner prepared by some of the top chefs in Canada. The average person doesn't usually get to do that either, especially when you consider a few of the names on the menu, among them, Anthony Walsh, Lynn Crawford, Normand Laprise and Michael Stadtländer, all hugely successful in different ways for their brilliance in the industry.

But, for one night only, if you had $350 it would have definitely been well spent. A few weeks ago, the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment hosted the Savour the Spirit Dinner featuring the 'All Canadian Chef Team'. This dinner was held to raise money for the Spirit of Hospitality scholarships which are presented each year to a few lucky and deserving high school students interested in pursuing careers in the hospitality industry.  Rudy Guo is the founder and driving force behind Spirit of Hospitality. He's a well known figure in the Toronto dining scene, and runs an innovative chinaware business, simply named 'Spirit'. Rudy seems to know absolutely everybody and he certainly knew how to put together a stellar lineup for his latest fundraiser.

"Spirit of Hospitality started as an event group (not-for-profit), we host events that bring food, wine and elite hospitality minds together. All proceeds goes to the Spirit Scholarship - started in 2005. We want to inspire future generations," he explained.

We know chefs are very busy, stressed out maniacs who slave from dawn to dusk to dawn again, so how do they find the time to squeeze in events like this?

"I love getting out of the house, to help raise money, and awareness for charities, and it is fun to be invited to be part of such an elite crew as this one was." oyster impressario Patrick McMurray tells me. TV Chef Brad Long, whose main gig is running the kitchens at the ACC, elaborates on the top toques who hobknobbed in his kitchen, "I believe I've participated in every Spirit year since Rudy started. I did not have any input as to who was coming, that was all Rudy's doing – he did a damn fine job, too, I must say."

Elizabeth Ede works with Rudy and helped to organize this year's dinner, "As far as the event, both Rudy and I were thrilled with the way things went. I believe it was our most successful gala dinner to date. Most of all we fell in love with our award winners. They were so enthusiastic, and fully embraced everything that the experience had to offer. The guest chefs went out of their way to talk to them and give them little bits of advice, especially Normand Laprise. They were really stunned, and I think truly appreciated that our scholarship fund is not just about giving out money, but experiences, and opening eyes to possibilities in our industry."

This scholarship is only in Ontario for now, but over the next three years, Spirit of Hospitality is hoping to gradually expand nationally.

After an aperitif, I am seated at a table with Kevin Brauch and his wife Liz, Rajani Kamath from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and one of Toronto's top food writers, Sasha Chapman. Good company made for a very entertaining evening that started before at Patrick McMurray's Raw Bar Showcase. With a glass of Louis Roederer, Brut Premier Champagne in hand, Patrick put a freshly shucked Galway oyster on the half-shell in my other hand. As I tipped the shell back to taste the briny beauty, Patrick described salt spray on cliffs and other Irish images that he says come to mind whenever he eats a Galway oyster. "The taste, even the scent of a Galway is of the west of Ireland. A fresh, cool, misty day at the Cliffs of Moher, the taste of an oyster can transport you to a location."

He's also got freshly shucked scallops on the half-shell from Chester, Nova Scotia that are tiny, sweet and perfectly fresh. His chef at Starfish, Kyle Deming, offered me a half- shell holding an amuse of naked sardine sashimi fanned over pickled watermelon radish that achieved a perfect balance between oily fish and slight acid heat. Next up was another little half-shell holding a tiny salad of pickled daikon topped with kona kampachi sashimi and a splash of soy. The kona kampachi is the latest hot fish on the scene and is reminiscent of a Playboy Playmate from the 70's, soft as butter flesh that's still firm and perky with a taste that's sweet but a little salty too. I had three.

When the first courses came out, there were two and they were alternated between guests. Sasha got Massimo Capra's (Mistura) black truffle raviolini with chestnut cream and porcini mushrooms while I got Michael Blackie's (Perspectives, Brookstreet Hotel, Ottawa) take on cassoulet. His dish was a walnut Brioche stuffed with white beans and speck, topped with lobster! The plate was sauced with white truffle and sage cream and a sprinkling of Citric-Black Olive Dust. This incredible dish was paired with a 2005 Crozes-Hermitage Blanc, Jean Luc Colombo.

The next course came from the brilliant Normand Laprise (Toque, Montreal) who served us a Palmex Farm foie gras terrine, with a dry salad of fruits and vegetable. The dry salad was a very new age preparation consisting of thin flakes of dehydrated mango and red pepper piled over the slab of a terrine that was done to perfection, a total classic. This was paired with a 2005 Riesling, Henry of Pelham, Boytritis Affect'd' (Niagara).

Lynn Crawford (Four Seasons Hotel, New York) and her former sous chef, Lora Kirk (Allen & Delancey, New York) teamed up once again to present a dish of smoked organic black cod with Marcona almonds and mascarpone sabayon. This fresh, vibrant dish was perfectly paired with a 2005 Chardonnay, Martin Ray, Russian River Valley. The sucession of dishes was working very nicely. The simple, clean flavours of the black cod were refreshing after the luscious fattiness of the terrine.

ACC Head Sommelier, Jennifer Huether-Vranjes and deputy Melissa Stunden worked with four guest sommeliers:  Sara d'Amato, Four Seasons Toronto, Bruce Wallner, Splendido and Rene Wallis from Brookstreet in Ottawa all made great pairing choices. Even my backwoods hillbilly of a palate could tell that. The night also included a silent auction where one of the items up for bidding was a collection of all the bottles of wine served at the dinner, it ended up going for $550. $400 got a sad Leafs fan Mats Sundin's jersey, with the auction raising over $3000 for the scholarship fund.

Back at the tables the next course came from Robert Clark and Quang Dang from C Restaurant in Vancouver). They did a twist on the old bacon-wrapped scallop by making "octopus bacon" and wrapping it around a big, beautiful Bayne Sound scallop. This was sided with a confit of Sloping Hill pork and sauced with a Pinot Noir and truffle gastrique. The wine was the 2004 Pinot Noir, Etude, Carneros.

The taste of that scallop with the amazing octopus totally said Vancouver to me. Having lived there for five years, I think the only thing the plate was missing was a little bong smoke.

Up next was Michael Stadtländer (Eigensinn Farm, Singhampton) and his son Jonas putting forth a course of caribou loin and gnocchi. They wrapped the caribou in slices of red beet and sunchokes, then wrapped that in caul fat to hold them in place and give it a nice brown crust. The gnocchi were made with blue potatoes and wild leeks and tasted like a spring day at Eigensinn Farm. The wine was the super-Tuscan 2004 Tignanello.

My personal culinary hero, Anthony Walsh (Canoe, Toronto) then took this dinner to the top with his gorgeous plate of Spring Creek crossrib and tenderloin of naturally raised beef with a cinnamon cap mushroom tatin, Thunder Oaks gouda and winter mustards. This was the most Canadian dish I've ever had, it was like getting a kiss from John Candy, Anne Murray, a beaver and Douglas Coupland all at the same time.

The final course came from our Air Canada Centre host Brad Long and his pastry chef Walter Arruda who took us over the top with their dessert. It was a rich cheesecake made with Upper Canada Comfort Cream cheese topped with a cloudberry marmalade. The subtly sweet 2007 Moscato d'Asti 'Nivole', Michele Chiarlo was one of my favourite pairings of the night.

During the evening, three 2007 scholarship recipients were in the kitchen with the chefs. Victoria Brosseau told me about the most memorable moments of the evening for her, "My favourite part was when Quang Dang brought sea urchins in to do a demo, as well as when Normand Laprise let us help with his plating."

She went on to tell me how the scholarship has helped, "This experience opened many doors that I didn't even know existed and I've met people who are totally different from what I am used to but we clicked over the common subject of food. I have learned not to be afraid to try new things…like gonads."

What did you just say?

"When Quang Dang brought the sea urchins in we cut one open and tried the gonads inside of it."

I've only ever heard the Japanese name for that, uni. I like gonads better.

Rudy tells me they gave out five scholarships for 2007 and will be giving out seven for 2008 thanks to this year's success, so far. Thanks to the amazing chefs, the generosity of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the scholarships' sponsor, Ace Bakery, Rudy tells me that the money they've raised is the highest of any previous year.

What do our lucky recipients receive Rudy?

"They will receive $500 to $1250 towards their tuition, work experience at an elite hospitality establishment of their choice and a gift package that includes cookbooks and a Global knife."

That dinner made me proud to be part of the Canadian restaurant scene, this country has so many amazing chefs and sommeliers. These scholarships are trying to ensure that we have people with a real passion for hospitality working in this industry rather than a bunch of out of work actors more interested in pitching their script idea than in helping you choose a great wine. Save your shekels in anticipation of next year's dinner.

Read more of Ivy Knight at gremolata.com/ivyknight.htm
or contact her directly at ladyslenderlegs@gmail.com

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