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"Travel and Food"
Holly Chute, making the new and healthier Southern-style chicken
Holly Chute, personal Chef to the State of Georgia’s Governor, Nathan Deal and his wife Sandra, found herself cooking for some 400 Montrealers in the celebration of America’s Independence. On the fourth of July, she was catering in the hopes of sharing Georgian cuisine, bringing new ideas from one food place to another. You may find it odd to hear Georgia referred to as a food place, but incidentally, Atlanta has become one. A Taste of Atlanta, an event akin to Montréal Highlights is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Food is an integral part of the Georgian experience and always has been. Barbecue may be king, but agriculture is queen, accounting for one in six jobs and offering fresh fruit and vegetables not only to Georgians, but to surrounding states as well. Health and refinement have become new players in Georgian cuisine: the prince and princess of this cultural staple.
Fresh Georgia- Don't forget the peach in your salsa!
For the Governor of Georgia and his wife, health is a requirement of service to their state, so the cholesterol has to be low. For the gluten intolerant First Lady Sandra Deal, the biscuit and fried chicken have had to be modified. Sandra Deal confessed that she always felt better when she wasn’t eating bread, but she says, in that sugar-cane southern drawl of hers, that “[she,] like the other ladies, I knew that was the way to keep the pounds off.” Her father’s unbearable abdominal pain in winter when they ate flour biscuits, she now realizes may also have been due to celiac or gluten-intolerance. Cornmeal breaded fish or chicken and corn bread are succeeding wheat flour in the First House. Pan-searing and baking have replaced frying, and fresh salsa is putting pressure on the sweet preserves. All of Georgia’s treasures such as greens, okra, corn and peaches are finding their place in the spotlight under Chef Holly’s watchful eyes. Chute is also one of four Chefs chosen to promote and represent Georgian agriculture through a program called Georgia Grown and is looking for ways to help children eat more vegetables through the understanding of their cultivation.
Symbiosis of the Chef and the Farmer= Harmony in the State's plate
Who is Chef Holly really? Her promotion of terroir and her health sensibilities scream “imposter from the north”, but this Vermont/New York State woman is starting a revolution in the South and marrying two worlds in perfect harmony. Despite her Northern roots, Jeff Foxworthy said “You might be a redneck if you bring a doggy bag from the Governor’s mansion,” and proclaimed that Chef Holly’s fried chicken was the best he’d ever had.
Chef Holly checking-out Birri's wares at the Jean-Talon Market
Nathan Deal is the sixth Governor that Holly has cooked for since she began at the First House in 1981. She has more than earned her place. She has witnessed the need for meat and starch be replaced with a need for health, longevity and freshness. She has replaced the mammy cook (after first getting the biscuit recipe of course). She has also seen rigidity, formality and her place behind the scenes replaced by familiarity, casualness and an elevation in the status of “Chef.” She is among the increasing number of women that have stepped into the ranks of the cooking elite.
So fresh and so clean: Quebec produce meets New Georgian cuisine
I had the privilege of guiding Chef Holly through the open-air Jean-Talon Market so that she could become acquainted with some of Montreal’s local products. We happened upon Arik De Vienne at Olives et Épices and he showed us sapote – a fruit with a flavour of wild sweet almond. Sandra Deal reminisced about the days when sweet almonds were used to perfume drawers in the south and the almond kernel oil that made the best body creams. Smells have a way of awakening memories.
The crème de la crème of spices with Arik De Vienne
Marché des Saveurs spoiled us with La Rhubarbelle, a non-alcoholic rhubarb rosée, Neige ice cider and Pied de Vent apple washed cheese of the Madeleine Islands. Sublime! This time Holly reminisced about Vermont’s Terroir.
Québec cheeses: reminiscent of Holly's Vermont terroir roots
Conrad at Racine let us sample the three strawberry varieties of the moment and the ensuing discussion went as follows:
Holly: “They’re good”
Conrad: “I know”
“Modèste.” Holly replied with the sweetest French accent.
Quebec's berry treasures
We made our way to the beautiful Appetite for Books in Westmount where Holly cooked lunch in their gorgeous kitchen. She made flattened chicken breasts, lightly seasoned and pan-seared with a fresh peach salsa and a salad of greens from Birri with olive oil and lemon. The meal was finished with Quebec strawberries and wild blueberries, crème fraîche, mint and maple syrup. The food was light, refreshing, delicious, healthy and married well with the heat of the day and what was available locally. Isn’t that the way it should be? Holly Chute makes it happen from Montreal to Atlanta.
Aprons and Chef coats ready for duty at Appetite for Books
Two First Ladies: Sandra Deal and Suzanne Drouin of Le Marché des Saveurs du Quebec
Chef Holly Chute’s Watermelon Lemonade
8 cups of watermelon chunks
½ cup of sugar
1 cup of water
½ cup of fresh lemon juice
Dissolve the sugar in water over low heat. Set aside to cool.
In a blender, combine watermelon and lemon juice. Purée until smooth. Add cooled sugar mixture and pulse to combine.
Serve chilled with a sprig of rosemary or mint.
Recipes and Foodie Books Galore at Appetite for Books on Victoria in Westmount
Giving the low-down in Little Italy
I am overjoyed to announce the launch of Fitz & Follwell’s Flavours of the Main Tour. The tour leaves Chinatown and eats its way up the Main to Jean-Talon Market! It is 5 hours of following in the steps of Montreal’s various cultural communities along the Main and tasting their culinary emblems. The tour weaves history, cultural identity and experience with delicious flavours, aromas and the stories that have been cooked up over the last 100 years on the Main!
Our beautiful Jean-Talon Market
If you haven’t heard of Fitz & Follwell, it was originally called Montreal Cycling Tours and has been in operation for almost 4 years. It was founded by young and swinging entrepreneur Shea Mayer. His laid-back cycling tours are the foundation of the company, but the boon of his company has seen the birth of a slick shop at 115 Mount-Royal W., the sale of chic urban bikes, and more recent tours on foot- including Flavours of the Main. Shea also offers snowshoe tours in the winter.
What Shea has going on is great, and I have had the privilege of being aboard this forward-gliding yet un-conventional ship since last November. Shea had the idea of a food tour of the Main with a focus on the cultural communities. He enlisted the help of historian Leah Blythe and through the trick of fate and a little bird named Eric Hanson I was recommended for the gastronomic design.
Caffe Italia- historical metting place of lone Italian immigrants
Shea and I plugged through the legal stuff and I attacked a full-time 4 week collection of data, testimony, food-sample cataloguing… and tasting of course! I interviewed some 50 businesses to survey what was feasible, pertinent, and to get a bird’s eye view so we could craft the most delicious tour in terms of food and anecdotes. I taped many of the interviews, typed-out the results, profiled the businesses, collected food history, anecdotes, did research, and visited museum archives. I also spent hours and hours in Nathalie Cooke‘s old Mcgill Institute for the Study of Canada office reading her food history, food theory and gastronomy books to get more tools to use to analyze food and one’s experience of it. Nathalie is now Mc Gill’s associate Provost. I also had great help from Andrée Levesque, a feminist and worker historian who helped me to understand the realities of brothels until the 1930’s in the old Red Light. She also documented “Red on the Main” and introduced me to Eva Circé-Côté who has become an inspiration to me. (I recomend Andrée’s book Eva Circé-Côté: Libre penseuse 1871- 1949.) Velma Candyass and Ethel Bruneau also helped me to get an idea of what the Red Light looked like back in Montréal’s “Las Vegas days,” helping me to visualize the ambiance and different people hard at work there. Susan Semenak, who wrote The Market Chronicles even gave me her favourites and re-iterated the points it is essential to drive home about the street, the Jean-Talon Market and Montreal food.
Café Cleopatra's- Montreal's first modern strip club opened in 1976
I enjoyed the experience more than I can express in words. I met wonderful people that inspired me with their dedication, growth and unwavering passion for what they do. I learned so much, and this was the experience that seemed to be the missing link between my honours degree in Canadian Studies and my DEP in Professional Cooking. The experience also brought me down some emotional alleyways, like the interview with Mr. Chin that does dragon candy, as I’ve known his son Philippe for many years. George, the owner of Wing’s, toured me through Chinatown, describing it in the 1970’s, giving me the in-depth history of Wing’s and Chinatown. Angelo Perusko of Charcuterie Hongrois spent 2 hours telling me how he got from Communist Croatia to where he is now. Elena Faita from Quaincallerie Dante graced me with her philosophy of generosity, diligence and humility and reminded me that “Recessions are a push. You have to push on and innovate and define yourself and take risks. People get discouraged right away and want things to drop in their platter. It doesn’t come on a silver platter.” Sharon Wilensky from Wilensky’s wiped some tears as she spoke of a regular client who had died recently. Irwin Schlafman, owner of Fairmount Bagel let me in on the family history loops that have been repeating…and that he’s a vegan! Frank the general manager of Schwartz’s even took an hour out of his day to give me some juicy melt in your mouth tid-bits and history about Schwartz.
Angelo Perusko- volubile owner of Charcuterie Hongrois
The investigation also reminded me of working at Chinatown Bar during my university party years, working at El Centro Gallego and the Spanish hospitality I have received in the culinary world as well as my long history with the Portuguese, my love for their food, and the love of food of the Italians that I witnessed during my cooking internship in Italy, at St-Pius Culinary institute and in the Italian restaurants I worked in. These communities have directly affected my personal, professional and culinary life over the years.
Mr. Chin who makes Dragon's beard candy in Chinatown
I was able to contest to the tightness, simplicity and un-pretentiousness of the food products that have kept people coming back for decades in Montreal. There are so many special things to taste. We really struggled to keep it tight and there were shops that we had to axe.
Cannolis from Alati-Caserta
Leah did wonderful work on the history of the different cultural communities, helping to explain how settlement along the main took place and why people came to Montreal and settled where they did. She painted a great portrait of the lives of different communities at different periods. After blending our efforts, I am very proud to present the results. We have built a great working dynamic of hand feeding hand-picked story, history and food samples. Our styles are complimentary- hers more poised and dealing in larger trends, whereas I help people to get into the microcosm of each shop in an- eh hmmm- intense presentation-style. I am who I am….
Leo and the blooming tea at My Cup of Tea in Chinatown
Tours are offered 7 days a week. They are $99 and worth every penny. They are a great way for a visitor to see the best food places in Montreal and get a feel for how Montreal has evolved to where it is, but the tour is just as good for the Montrealer who wants to learn about the cultural landscape of their own city and about the people they have been buying food from since they can remember! Come and enjoy an extended lunch of learning, story and local gourmandise! The tour is 5 hours long or it is possible to do two and a half hour tours ($69) or or two two hour and 45 min tours with break in the middle ($119). (There is a discount for people 17 and under.) You will have Leah as a charming historical companion, me as a gastronomic and entrepreneurial companion, or both of us!
Come visit the main through a different angle: the backways and close-up. It's the Main like you've never seen it.
Plates of fruit garnish ready for service at Nuart
Breakfast At Nuart
I subbed in for Alex the omelette maker and egg scambler over the Labour Day Long Weekend and found myself cooking breakfast with Phillippe Groulx and Madeleine Tomic at Nuart Café in Verdun,. They have been doing breakfast on the weekends for the last nine years, and they recently added weekdays before 11:30am as well. Madeleine is the owner and takes care of the toast, chopping fruit, and the dishes during the rush. Phillippe is the breakfast Chef and the mastermind behind the cheeky theme menu each week. Example of a menu theme: “Les petits Déjeuners à l’international” with items like ‘Pakistanais pas assez bien, il est tombé” ou “Iran Fou”. Or better yet, “Les Petits Déjeuners du Nymphomane” with choices like “Les Toilettes son porno clients” ou “L’exhibitionist à la fenêtre”. Plates are usually elaborately done, with various combos of an omelette or garnished scrambles eggs (“broulli” comme on dit en français), a garnished bagel, with a sweet crêpe or French toast on the side, and always served with fruit and usually potatoes! There are also lighter continental breakfasts or basic bacon and eggs if you want it.
Phillipe writing the funny breakfast menu
Word play poetry menu at Nuart
Nuart is on Wellington Street in Verdun and has been open for ten years. The breakfasts are swinging, even to the point of having a pianist on Sundays, and they are the bread and butter of the restaurant. They have one of the few terraces in Verdun, and you can enjoy the sun outside or the coziness inside when it’s cold or rainy. The food, service and decor are warm and unapologetic- straight from the heart. There is filter coffee and one kind of juice- orange. Clients partake in the antics and discussions of the staff, and they also get served a bit of mood swing once in a while. But it’s all a part of the experience and…real-life.
Nuart sunny terrasse (3780 Rue Wellington, Montréal, QC, Canada) +1 514-762-1310
I was the evening cook from 2007 to 2009, and it was my second job in a restaurant. Since I left, I come back regularly to visit and sub-in, and Madeleine kindly lets me use the space for belly dance dinners, dinner club, and benefit dinners. I started working there in 2007 right after I had returned from Europe and was broke. And history repeats itself: I just got back from Europe and I was broke. I have only ever worked breakfast once before, and I was so hung-over that they never asked me to work breakfast again. (I’ve since cleaned-up my act.)
serving an omellete
Coming back to Nuart to work is always an experience that fills my heart cup up and gives me pangs of nostalgia. Nuart is a very human experience. Many young people have been helped out of their shells there, and the original block of four, Madeleine, Tania, Jacques and Phillippe, are still there. Jacques and Tania (Madeleine’s daughter) are in the dining room, and Madeleine and Phillippe are in the kitchen. The original four are like a tight family unit, and anyone that works there becomes woven into the fabric as well. As much as everyone loves each other, everyone is also able to drive the other up the wall. And, like any other family, there are certain tensions that aren’t spoken about openly, but as it is a re-constituted family, you can still get a lot looser than many people can with their real family. You can really be yourself at Nuart.
The staff has seen each other through battles with alcoholism, illness, depression, broken hearts, and confronting personal demons. No one is perfect, and at Nuart, no one is obliged to pretend to be. I’ve seen staff members do strip-teases and I’ve tried to recuperate on the deep-freezer after a night of heavy partying. There’s been screaming matches, pranks, drunken confessions, and some of the funniest jokes you’ll hear. There’s been some great food, some so-so food, things that worked and things that didn’t, but the Nuart stays the same even though the menu changes every service.
Madeleine doing her speciality at Nuart - making crepes
Jacques waiter at Nuart
There is always a band of alley cats partaking in Nuart’s re-insertion program on the back balcony- getting fed, some love from the staff, and sometimes even a home with a client. Eugene, the most infamous, was a a ratty washed-up playboy at the end of his 100 lives and at least 10 years of fathering dozens of other Verdun alley cats. He didn’t show-up at the door after the 2009 winter, but his picture is on the fridge.
Scan of the photo of Eugene, the don of alley 2009
The Nuart is a social experiment that allows people to live outside of the mold with ease or to choose to live in the mold with conviction after the experience. It must also be said that in the last few years, there have been few heterosexual men working there and the few that did were like gentlemanly roosters in the hen house. In kitchens with a feminine vibe, there tends to be a lot of helping each other out. Female/gay staff tend to be less showy and very willing to exchange ideas and tricks, while masculine kitchens are much more about the clashes of egos, strutting your stuff, under-cutting your colleagues, and ganging up on the weakest link. Feminine kitchens/staff on the shadow side can be a little moody, over-sensitive, and passive aggressive. Given the choice, I would prefer a majority of feminine staff and kitchen, hands-down.
The electric griddles that Philippe uses to perform breakfast miracles.
The Nuart doesn’t try to be anything. In fact, it is a restaurant without a concept. The art on the brick walls changes drastically from collection to collection, the food from cook to cook, and the mood from moment to moment. It’s a place where people come to work and say, “Let’s do this”, and customers come because the food and atmosphere puts people at ease and makes them feel like it’s “their” place.
Cooking breakfast that morning, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt as we were sweating away in the smouldering heat over the electronic stove and griddle, and Madeleine came up to me and said, “Tiens, 2 piaces, vas t’acheter de quoi moins chaud en face.” She was talking about the friperie across the street. I went with Tania and bought a pink nightie that could have easily been hospital wear. We had some laughs, and boy it felt nice having that breeze come under my garments. What really felt good was letting loose and being able to let go and laugh- and not the nervous forced laughs, but laughs that make you remember what life’s about!
Me working in my one dollar nightie from the second-hand store across the street
