Chef at Large

Michael heads to Vancouver’s Downtown East Side to visit Chef James Kennedy at the Cooks Studio Café. Cooks Studio Café is a for-profit restaurant that goes out on a limb to train youth at risk, teaching life and entry level cooking skills, encouraging these young adults to believe in themselves and achieve success. After only six weeks in the kitchen, Chef Kennedy will test the limits of the students’ newfound culinary skills as they prepare a 4-course meal for their families and friends. Will they impress or fall to the pressure?

Michael goes to New York City’s trendy BED nightclub where a new breed of bartenders is pairing cocktails with food. Michael meets “Bar Chefs” Willy Shine and Aisha Sharpe. They have been charged with creating two exotic cocktails to pair with two new dishes to add to the menu. Mentored by bartending legend Dale DeGroff, Willy and Aisha show Michael that the history of the cocktail has always had strong ties to the kitchen. With all this newfound knowledge, Michael creates a cocktail of his own. But will BED’s Chef approve of these new concoctions?

Thirty-one year old culinary whiz kid Grant Achatz has wowed diners across the United States and garnered accolades worldwide, including the prestigious James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef in America Award. Michael visits Achatz in Chicago at his newly opened ALINEA restaurant to explore the world of molecular gastronomy. The restaurant features a 25 course-tasting menu that defies boundaries of the dining experience. Two new dishes are added to the menu as Michael asks, “Has fine dining become the culinary equivalent of walking through an art gallery?”

Dominique and Cindy Duby are Canada’s most notable pastry chefs and sought after "Sweet Ambassadors". They put it all on the line with a 7-course sweet and savoury “molecular gastronomy” meal. Each course features chocolate and the dinner is served at the famous Bel-Air Hotel in Hollywood. Michael travels with them as the Duby’s crusade in the name of science and their food is put to the test.

Michael visits with Chef Gamini Hemalal and his partner Pradeep Dharmawardana at GOLDEN CHEFS in Toronto as they prep for an extraordinarily busy Saturday with four weddings that feature 12 ice sculptures, 150 kilos of fruit carving and one elaborate sugar sculpture. Showpiece presentation is fast becoming a lost art but these Chefs passion shines through as they fuse old school techniques with new tools of the trade. But this summer weekend has other challenges because when you’re in the sugar and ice business heat and humidity can ruin the best laid plans.

The Edmonton Folk Festival is one of the largest and best music festivals in the world. One of the secrets of its success are the volunteers, all 1500 of them. They cook for the performers and for themselves, in what is the largest temporary outdoor kitchen in the country. Michael becomes another volunteer in a kitchen of 200 that have little or no cooking experience. Incredibly he discovers awesome cooking and the flavours of the world.

RIDEAU HALL is the home to Canada’s Governor General, who represents the Queen and is Canada’s de facto Head of State. Chef Oliver Bartsch and Chef Louis Charest take Michael, and honoured guests, on a culinary journey with a 5-course, all-Canadian menu. Everything for the Nation’s Table is made from scratch using Canadian ingredients – including the breads and condiments, right down to the chocolate truffles. Michael harvests fresh ingredients from the organic garden and explores the essence of Canadian cuisine.

Milan is ‘the’ Tomato Man. An organic farmer of passion and pride, Milan has a legion of followers that want his fresh picked tomatoes. Michael joins Milan on what Milan calls “The 36 Hour Tour”. Milan copes with the grueling job of growing, harvesting, driving and delivering his prized tomatoes twice a week to Vancouver’s finest restaurants. With the help of his elderly Mom and Dad, and any Vancouver Chef he can coerce, he snags RAIN CITY GRILL’s Chef Andrea Carlson to help harvest, especially if she wants tomatoes for her latest 5-course all tomato tasting menu.

The key to enjoying successful firehouse cooking is gathering around the table, and having a quiet moment to enjoy good home-style cooking. It’s about taking a moment away from the daily rigor of emergency calls, non-stop training and mundane chores that challenge preparing a meal for your colleagues. Michael joins the crew of Highfield Park Fire Station in Nova Scotia where they cook and celebrate Thanksgiving as a “family” and toast their first year in operation. Everyone chips in; including rookie cook Heather Richards, as she’s faced with cooking for the brigade for the first time.

Ace Bakery is a top-notch bakery that supplies artisan breads to Toronto’s top tables. But success has it’s own challenges. With 340 fresh deliveries daily including bread to hundreds of restaurants, hotels, caterers, grocery and gourmet food shops, how does Ace balance mass production while maintaining the integrity of their product? A new contract has them creating a six-foot baguette and Michael watches the development of a new bread. But will it be a hit with consumers?

Michael ventures into the secret world of foraging for wild mushrooms in the wilds of Oregon. Tyler Gray takes Michael into the world of hard-core professionals in pursuit of North America’s hidden harvests, mushrooms, such as canterelles, truffles, cauliflower and the highly-prized pine mushroom that command big dollars. The competition and secrecy to find the ultimate mushroom patch is high stakes for the hundreds that forage and for the buyers who supply the best restaurants in the world with the edible booty.

Ever wondered why the plate of food in front of you costs $27.99? How did they arrive at that price? What goes into the pricing of restaurant food? Earl’s Restaurant is a leading upscale casual dining chain and Michael goes with Earl’s Chef Michael Noble behind the scenes to see for himself what makes that Blackened California New York Striploin cost $27.99. From products and ingredients to staff to breakage and beyond, a menu item is broken down to show where that price comes from.

Join Chef Michael Smith as he tackles a real tough crowd: high school students mandated to eat in an unorthodox school lunch program. Chef Paul Finkelstein runs The Screaming Avocado café in Stratford, Ontario and his competition is the traditional cafeteria down the hall. Chef Paul and Michael take on the challenge as they collaborate on lunch service and a special fundraising dinner.