Scratching the Surface at Lumiere

The first day I walked into Studio 31 at CBC Radio in Vancouver to watch The Early Edition live in action, I had no idea what was going on. The studio director Shiral was super energetic, which I couldn't understand because it was 5:30 in the morning when I got there. They kept throwing to items and Shiral was frenetically typing on a screen while counting down the host to every segment. Phones were ringing...people were running in and out of the studio...I just sat there and watched, dumbfounded.

Perhaps prophetically, that first day I got to sit in and watch an interview with a very intense and talented chef who had just taken over the landmark Vancouver restaurant Lumiere. It was probably his second day after being named head chef. That would be Dale Mackay.

He -- a year and a half later -- would be the chef who would lead me through my first full kitchen experience.

In a previous blog posting I wrote about how I won a day in the kitchen at Lumiere on New Year's Eve. It was part of a draw they did at db Bistro next door. I was thrilled to pieces because I'd been exploring ways to gain experience in the culinary world in my quest to become a food writer.

I finally cashed in my prize this Friday. And man...did I get an experience.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I walked in. My main goals were to absorb as much information as possible while trying like hell not to ruin everything.

Here's everything that I can remember in brief, in as consecutive an order as I can recall. Otherwise I might as well quit my day job to finish writing this:

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I step into the kitchen at 11 am. Everybody is working full steam ahead already. I'm change into uniform and am desperately trying to recall every piece of culinary information so I can better process what's going on.

Get introduced to everyone and each position. I pray there's no pop quiz or I'm toast.

First up: time at the saucier station. First question I get asked: "do you know how to hold a knife?" Good question...haven't really given much thought to it. Am able to simulate a good enough approximation. Set to work cutting 1 cm long diamonds of peppers to garnish the mussel soup. It's much, much harder than you'd think. Am shown how to clean mussels and how to prepare the soup. Am told this is the greatest soup ever. It is.

At the meat station I am shown how to break down a duck for the first time. My mother does it by hacking away with a giant meat cleaver. Apparently this is not the traditional way to do things. Also get to try veal tongue.

Then am taken to check out one of the supply trucks that comes by every week. Have never been around that much high end produce before. Have never been around people so enthused about their product. It's awesome.

Off to the veg station. I'm cutting out rounds of sweet potato and cabbage. Am shown the potato cooking away in duck fat and butter. Good thing I hate diets.

I watch Dale painstakingly create what proves to be a beautiful terrine. Elements required include foie gras that's soaked in milk for four days and intricately assembled with truffles. Layered with venison and gelatin infused stock. Note to anyone eating this: value every molecule contained in this dish. You have no idea the amount of work per square millimetre.

Am given a tasting spoon to try the various soups and sauces. Am encouraged to try everything. I do. Keep spoon in pocket. Really comes in handy throughout the day.

Get to assist the only two ladies in the kitchen with pastries. Find out all the detail work involved in creating pineapple chips. Will forever treasure every garnish I'm served.

Am repeatedly asked if I'm a new employee. It's awkward having to explain what I'm doing there. But everyone is super nice.

Am also repeatedly told to ask more questions. My question for everyone is just: what are you doing? Everyone is very accomodating...explains what they're doing, what they're working with and how they're doing it without my having to ask. Questions feel redundant. Prefer to revert to journalism mode and observe.

The calm before the storm: at about 5 pm prep ends and the staff meal is served. Everybody hunkers down in the db Bistro dining room. It's nice to see all the camaraderie.

Then back to the kitchen to the garde manger station. Realize the squares under one of the elements of the butternut squash amuse bouche are square for a reason as I set about squaring them. Apparently they warp after baking. Sounds tedious but I love detail work.

At 5:30 service begins. I find as quiet a corner as I can to stand in. Unfortunately it's right under one of the salamander ovens so I spend much time trying to keep my head from bursting into flames.

Service really starts to pick up after 6. Reminds me of a live radio show in that it's all about timing, teamwork and precision. Anyone who doesn't have their shit together would be screwed. Am surrounded by hardcore professionals so this doesn't happen. Only serious issue of service turns out to be an amuse bouche element wrapped in too many layers of cling film. Takes much time and effort to free it of its confines.

And no...Dale does not at any point explode into an expletive filled rage a la a certain British chef. At least -- not while I'm present.

At one point am brought over to the kitchen at db Bistro. Amazing how you can have a completely different animal just a few feet away. That kitchen never stops. While Lumiere serves on average between fifty to sixty patrons a night, db during a peak period will serve between 180 to 200 people. Different food and a totally different atmosphere.

Imagined that my complete lack of experience would've created a fair amount of hesitation in asking me to do anything. Within sixty seconds of meeting chef Stephane Istel, am asked "Would you like to sauce something?" Immediate internal reaction is "ohgodohgodohgodohgod I'm going to destroy their beautiful food". Actual response: "sure". Did not destroy anything.

Then I'm asked to dress a salad. ohgodohgodohgod. I ask how much vinagrette to add. "So it tastes good". Well, duh Joan.

Why the anxiety? Add in all the anticipation, desire to do a great job because perhaps may actually work with these people in the future, and general terrifying fear of screwing up everything. Dressing a salad becomes anxiety-ridden.

Watch the meat station churn out cut after cut of arctic char, with the occasional steak. End up memorizing all the movements but do not dare attempt any of it.

Stephane gives me several dishes to try. They're so good am cursing myself I'm too full to eat them all. Also feel strange eating at the pass while service is going on around me.

At 9 pm -- head back to Lumiere kitchen. One of the waiters has to correct an order. Everyone in the kitchen is pissed because they have to refire orders. I am sole winner in this situation...and get the butternut squash ravioli dish that is no longer going to be served.

At one point am handed half a giant black truffle to hold and smell. It feels dense, heavy and incredibly expensive. Briefly consider running out the door with it.

Am also given other dishes to try throughout course of evening...including hamachi, duck confit spring roll, truffle risotto, and molten chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream. Akin to some kind of fine dining buffet experience I will probably never have again. Am trying to eat as much as possible but human internal capacity is defeating me.

About 10:45 -- service winds down. Now the pastry chef is serving up her beautiful creations. There's a drawer where all the ice cream is stored. Would happily eat my way through that in no time.

Everything is put away and the kitchen gets a good scrub down. Everyone's so fast. Feel guilty about not cleaning my kitchen for weeks. To be fair: haven't been cooking much lately.

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After 11 pm people start to head off. I thank everyone for their help but feel like it's not really adequate. The experience has been more engaging and revelatory than I could have anticipated. I'm still rolling the day around in my head. It's taken me a couple days of thinking to even start writing it down.

I'm asked if this is going up on my blog (which has inexplicably started to be read by people other than my immediate circle of friends). Trevor, I told you I'd write about it. Hope you're keeping your end of the bargain by reading it.

This is all but a fraction of what I got to see and do. There is a lot more I still don't understand but I hope to one day. I managed to break the mystique of the radio world, so I know there's hope there.

Suffice it to say, spending at least a day in a kitchen is something I'd recommend for anyone who wants to know more about what goes on behind the scenes. Not everyone is going to be invited into such an accomodating kitchen. I was lucky because I got to be in one of the best. My sincere thanks to chef Mackay and everyone in the kitchen who guided me through what they do best. They are, indeed, among the best for very good reasons.

A foodie nerd wet dream

Who's got a blog and had the greatest dinner EVER last night? THIS GAL!

We finally got to eat at the brand spanking Lumiere redux. Now with Daniel Boulud and Dale Mackay at the helm.

Let's go right to the food. We had a three course dinner. First we were presented with an amuse bouche of broccoli done three ways. I know it sounds weird but it was fantastic. Among the items was an oyster with some kind of broccoli puree served on a bed of sea salt. Fantastic. Also a shot glass with a broccoli soup and a crouton wrapped in prosciutto.

Appetizer: venison with celeriac done two ways. It was so beautiful and detailed. Ever since I got to spend time with Canada's Bocuse Team I've been blown away by how much detail work goes into really great food.

Then my main course: arctic char with leeks. I think the char was done en souvide. It was topped with a cloud of crispy potato. Again, clean, beautiful, stunning. People say the way food looks doesn't matter...well...it REALLY REALLY makes a difference when you make this kind of effort. It's also an interesting juxtaposition between the formality of the way it's presented and the way it tastes, because to me the flavours always seem so warm and enveloping.

Dessert was chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream. Anytime you pair warm, gooey chocolate with ice cream is just fine by me.

Then came the REAL highlight of the evening. As if the meal wasn't amazing enough. The maitre d' came over and asked us if we'd been over to db Bistro. I said yes, we had just been there a couple days ago (see below). THEN he asked if we'd spoken with Daniel Boulud yet.

Then I think my brain exploded.

We were asked if we wanted him to come over to the table. I was like, "ABSOLUTELY!" Probably scaring the poor guy half to death. So we waited. And then he was there. The whole time in my brain I kept thinking, "do not make an ass of yourself" because sadly, I have a history of making an ass in front of people I admire, including Sarah McLachlan and Wendy Mesley.

Luckily, thanks to the wine I was totally coherent. I think. I told him what a thrill it was to meet him and he took it like a champ who's heard that a million times. He's excellent at self-promotion. He knows exactly how to make you feel like he's interested in you, whether or not he really is. He actually spent quite some time chatting with us (when Fernando was talking about his newspaper I thought to myself, my god, one of the world's most celebrated chefs is listening to my husband drone on about newspapers). He also talked about his displeasure with the service ("not so smooth yet" was his opinion although we could scarcely complain).

THEN........then he asked if we had met Dale yet. As in Dale Mackay, the head chef of Lumiere. My brain exploded again. He led us, oh so gracefully, to the kitchen where the entire staff seemed to stop and stare at us. Dale was totally open to all my prying questions about how he was finding the Vancouver market and how he was adjusting to the opening. I remember the first time I saw Dale in an interview. It was probably the day after he got the job at Lumiere and he arrived at The Early Edition. I was there for the first time watching them put the show on air. He was quite nervous and intense. Talking to him in the kitchen, he was a completely different person, able to laugh and talk freely about his experiences. I think it's a combination of intense media training and the fact that I didn't have a microphone in front of me.

AND THEN.............Daniel escorted us next door to db Bistro to meet THEIR head chef, Stephane Istel. We walked past BC's Attorney General Wally Oppal on the way. Love him.

db Bistro's kitchen was bustling, so we couldn't stay long. We did schmooze long enough for me to figure out that Stephane's charm was going to carry him a long way in this town.

All the while, Daniel was the most charming host. You'd think we were his family members and not some loser journalists barging in during dinner service.

That evening could NOT have gotten any better. I waited an appropriate amount of time after walking out the door before squealing and jumping up and down. Only in Vancouver do you have the chance to hob nob with the likes of Daniel Boulud and his homies. Only in Vancouver. I think I'm starting to like it here!