This morning on CKUT 90.3FM radio I spoke about two dinners I experienced at the Festival en Lumiere this past week. Both were presented by internationally-respected female chefs. Click here to download the audio segment.
At DNA Restaurant: Elizabeth Falkner of San Francisco’s Orson and Citizen Cake restaurants created a five-course dinner (plus mignardises of macarons, jellies, and chocolate to end…after the dessert) paired with BC and Ontario biodynamic wines from Ann Sperling
and at BU Wine Bar: Cinzia Mancini of Italy’s Bottega Culinaria Biologica an organic lab/restaurant specializing in local produce and Abruzzo wine paired with – you guessed it – Abruzzo wines, from Italian wine-maker Chiara Ciavolich
Both cook “local” when at home, but coming to Montreal changes seasonal availability of products, so it was interesting to see how they each adapted, with Faulkner using Iles de la Madeleine scallops in her cioppino flavoured with California dried and crushed chili peppers, and Mancini using Quebec lamb (the whole thing) for her breaded cutlets.
The question I address on CKUT is one that a listener got upset about a few weeks ago: why am I talking about expensive meals? I did talk a lot about free culinary events at the festival en lumiere, but in this segment I talk about liquefying pecorino sheep’s milk cheese, making raspberry jelly squares and raspberry dust, and try to explain why food is an experience, molecular gastronomy and food science can be successful, and why food can be a work of art worthy of saving up for as much as a show at the Bell Centre or Cirque du Soleil.
Leave a Reply