FH0320

CHEF’S CORNER
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Chef Greg Laird’s culinary talent is as layered as his croissants
BY NICK LAWS
“
Rough, stupid and funny,” are three words chef
Greg Laird uses to describe his 19-year-old
self. From a kid who started at McDonald’s, to
becoming the owner and head chef of a popular
Toronto pâtisserie, Laird has a come a long way.
His culinary journey started after high school, when
he left McDonald’s with no plan for the future. “I was a
bit of a delinquent. I finished high school and didn’t have
much direction in my life,” says the 29-year-old chef.
Ultimately, he decided to go back to what he knew
— cooking. As a line cook at a Tilted Kilt location in
Toronto, he learned to make “real food, in a real kitchen,
working with a real chef,” and the experience triggered
something in Laird.
“When I started at the gastro pub, I stepped back
and thought maybe I could become a chef,” says the
Scarborough, Ont. native, who quickly climbed the restaurant
ladder, eventually ending up at The Tempered
Room with then owner, Bertrand Alépée.
The pâtisserie had been looking for a chef de cuisine
and, while Laird had been offered a job as head chef at
BITS & BITES
WHAT WOULD
YOUR LAST MEAL BE?
“My mother-in-law’s
dum kebab. It’s the
most delicious thing
I’ve ever had.”
FAVOURITE
COUNTRY TO EAT IN
Japan: Tokyo or Osaka.
“I love Japanese food
and culture; the
respect they put into
every dish is amazing.”
FAVOURITE
INGREDIENT
“I love using liqueurs
in my pastries;
they add a depth
to your food that many
ingredients can’t bring.”
FAVOURITE DISH
“Any sort of braise —
beef cheek, short ribs,
pork belly.”
another Toronto restaurant, he
wanted to broaden his horizons and
learn the pastry side of the kitchen.
The Tempered Room had gained
notoriety for its light, flaky and
perfectly layered croissants — which
are the result of a long and arduous
process. “The croissants are our figurative
and literal bread and butter,”
says Laird. “Bert started me on the
croissants and, to be honest, I [was
nervous] in the beginning.”
The croissant became the crux
of Laird’s learning and he wanted
to master it. Alépée also taught him
various French techniques on the
savoury side “and I learned through
osmosis.”
Under the tutelage of Alépée,
Laird began to grow as a chef.
“Bert’s been a true mentor, he took
me under his wing from the time I
got here,” he says. “He’s one of the
most impressive chefs I’ve ever worked with.”
Laird’s approach to cooking is clinical and methodical.
“There are two aspects to cooking — the art and the science.
The art is apparent in the final product and it’s what
attracts customers. The presentation is how it looks on
the menu, how it’s plated, but before you can get to that
step, you need to understand the science,” he explains.
“Everything from emulsifying an aioli, to the ratio of the
butter to the acid to the eggs. It may look great on the
plate, but when you start to eat it, if the science wasn’t
there, the taste won’t be either.”
Today, his culinary philosophy is a delicate balance
between the art, science and love of food.
“I want to create something approachable, yet elevated.
It comes down to caring — you want to put that attention
to detail in everything you do,” says Laird. “I feel
like a lot of the time people want to be mad scientists and
they lose that homey, lovely feeling of just sitting down to
a meal and enjoying it.”
So how does Laird describe himself now?
“Rough, a little less stupid and caring.” FH
THE TEMPERED ROOM
48 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY MARCH 2020 FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM