Avocado is Brown’s matcha match
No leaf unturned in Cha Le Tea consulting chef’s search for new flavour combinations
From revamping Trader Vic’s in Beverly Hills to being personal chef for Wheel of Fortune creator Merv Griffin, chef Darren Brown has a wide range of international restaurant experience. Brown has worked as a consultant for the Gansevoort Hotel in New York and the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Alain Ducasse’s Mix Ultra Lounge and Michael Mina’s Strip Steak in Las Vegas.
His most recent consulting project is with Cha Le Tea Merchant Cafe & Shop.
Q What motivates and inspires you as a chef?
A What motivates me as a chef is first searching out the best producers and premium ingredients and then trying to represent them in a dish to (the) best of their ability.
How would you describe the type of food you like to cook?
I really enjoy cooking dishes that are light, clean and playful, all at the same time.
What might diners not know about you?
A little unknown fact about me is that my grandfather was a trapper who lived amongst the Indigenous tribes in northern Manitoba before ultimately settling down here in Maillardville where he set up a farm to raise angora rabbits, geese for … foie gras. I also talk a lot.
Describe a couple of your most recent creations.
Lots of cool things happening with Cha Le’s tea and toast program at the moment. Lately I’ve been working with lots of matcha and avocado — I find they work really well together, especially with seafood as it comes off as a nori/seaweed element. I’ve also been using oolong teas and black truffle together to infuse honey for our sweet toast recipes. Beyond that, I’m using fermented pu-erh tea to braise beef short rib, which adds a funky twist.
What’s your favourite local product and how do you use it?
I use a lot of humpback shrimp — usually nearly raw or ceviched. I find that it works very well on my Shrimp Toast with Matcha Avocado.
If there’s one important piece of advice you might have for cooks, what might that be?
Write down everything, especially Darren Brown of Cha Le Tea Merchant Cafe & Shop says he loves making “light, clean and playful,” dishes. Brown says matcha powder and avocado make for an inspired pairing, such as in this toast dish with humpback shrimp. if you want to make the exact same dish again. When I was 18, an older chef told me to write down everything I created and cooked. I figured I knew better and probably didn’t start writing stuff down until my late 20s. I’m pretty sure I lost some great stuff there.