Eatdrink #78 July/August 2019

10 | July/August 2019
eatdrink.ca |@eatdrinkmag
Food Writer at Large
Stratford Next-Gen Chefs
Inspired, and Inspiring
By BRYAN LAVERY | Photos by TERRY MANZO
The modern gastro movement
began nearly twenty years ago in
some of the world’s top kitchens.
Groundbreaking
technical applications to
cuisine by boundary-pushing
visionaries Ferran Adria,
René Redzepi, Grant Achatz,
and Heston Blumenthal
revolutionized and scandalized
the culinary world. Enthusiasm
for a new Modernist Cuisine
was based on a philosophical
understanding of food science
and gastronomy. Success
came using non-traditional
ingredients and experimental
methods rooted in technical
innovations and multiple
scientific disciplines.
Restaurateur David
Chang of Momofuku Noodle
Bar was working on what
Redzepi, in The Noma Guide to
Fermentation, calls a “parallel
track,” introducing the concept
of microbial terroir, the hidden
world of mould, yeast and
bacteria for fermentation. And
of course there was chef, writer
and travel documentarian
Anthony Bourdain, with a laser
focus on global culture, cuisine
and the human condition. He
remains a powerful influence
for next generation chefs (nextgen
chefs.)
At the former Church
Restaurant in Stratford, a dozen
or so years ago, Chef Amédé
Lamarche introduced molecular gastronomy
on his tasting menus to both excitement
and collective head scratching. Lamarche,
Coordinator of Culinary Programs at Conestoga
College and an uncompromising trailblazer,
continues to be been instrumental in educating
the next generation of chef
visionaries.
Speaking of pioneering
innovators, I recently caught
up with Chef Danijel “Dacha”
Markovic at the Terroir 2019
Symposium in Toronto.
Markovic (a chef’s chef)
left London’s former iconic
Black George Restaurant
Ryan O’Donnell
Meaghan Evely
Jeremy Hayton
and went on to work as an
“extreme bush cook,” then
worked alongside Chef Jason
Bangerter at Langdon Hall.
Now entrenched at Fogo
Island Inn beside Executive
Chef Jonathan Gushue, he
utilizes ingredients dictated
by the Island’s “still-wild”
terrain to produce dishes
grounded and articulated in
the seasons and terroir.
Cutting-edge chefs
advancing the concept of
modernist cuisine in our
neck of the woods include
Stratford’s Arron Carley
of The Bruce Hotel. Carley
defines and interprets “New
Canadiana” on his terms
rather than emulating
mentors like René Redzepi of
Noma, where he once staged.
Chef Kris Schlotzhauer
burnished his name and
reputation at Toronto’s
Enoteca Sociale before
returning to Stratford a few years ago. As a
vocal champion for fair working hours and pay
he opened Stratford’s AO Pasta on Erie Street,