DOUBLE YOUR DINING PLEASURE
Foodies can reap the benefits as the city’s best chefs team up to make magic in the kitchen
A new dining series in Edmonton sees top local chefs carefully select from among their favourite elements to distil magic in the kitchen.
The series is called Culinary Lab, and it’s sponsored by the Downtown Vibrancy Team, part of the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. The first experiment happens on Sunday, April 9 when chefs David Leeder and Edgar Gutierrez collaborate at Rostizado (10349 104 St.) to create a fusion of Mexican and Nordic cuisine. Tickets cost $100, plus beverages, and are available on Eventbrite.
Those who follow the food scene will be familiar with Gutierrez, who is with the team that also brings you Tres Carnales, and has a well-developed Mexican repertoire. But less well-known is Leeder, a NAIT grad who spent about five years travelling around Europe, doing stages (volunteer stints) at various top eateries.
Since returning to Edmonton last fall to focus on his health (his hands and arms were inflamed in part due to repetitive strain associated with crazy amounts of kitchen work), Leeder has popped up at various local eateries including Prairie Noodle and Get Cooking. He’s keen to share what he has learned observing some of the hottest chefs in Europe, including Rene Redzeppi of Noma in Denmark, and Martin Berasategui in Spain.
Leeder will be the anchor for the Culinary Lab series and will take part in three other collaborations in 2017 with yet-to-beannounced chefs in Edmonton.
We sat down to chat as he chopped parsley into pieces as fine as sand for a delicious French stew known as civet. This interview has been condensed and edited.
Who are your culinary influences?
My nonna was a professional chef. Last year, when she was 89, I had her work with me on a cooking class and she taught everyone to roll pasta. She’s super organized and her habits are awesome to watch.
So at home, there was always a coming together as a family, and I have the best memories of gathering around the table. My dad, too, he’s British, and at Christmas he would always make a beef Wellington, or a short-rib pie, or pig ’s head pie. Old-school stuff.
But maybe my most influential experience was in Spain, under chef Berasategui. I lived in his basement, next to the wine cellar.
I couldn’t speak any Spanish, and it was a tough kitchen, but I learned a lot of solid basics, fundamental things. How to debone a rabbit, a pigeon. Things had to be diced almost with a ruler and you didn’t get away with anything. It changed my palate and the way I cooked forever.
Chef Christian Bauman at 108 (in Copenhagen) is the hardest worker I’ve ever seen and he’s completely unwavering. That makes him difficult to work for, but it makes you so much better.
You left Edmonton to travel and learn about cooking in 2012. What do you notice about the culinary scene now that you’re back?
The Edmonton scene has progressed a lot in the last three or four years.
It started with Daniel Costa and Corso 32. It’s a restaurant you could lift and put anywhere and it would work. And I’m really excited about Christine Sandford (chef at the yet-to-be-opened Biera in the Ritchie Market). Roger Letourneau at Clementine is doing some really interesting things. When a cook stays in Edmonton, they miss something. They aren’t putting together the whole puzzle. There are amazing restaurants in different cities, and if you don’t fill in the gaps, you’ll be left behind.
It makes the food scene better when you come back.
What’s your favourite kitchen accessory?
It’s a tamis, a fine-mesh drum sieve that’s used for straining sauces and pushing potatoes through to make them velvety. You can grill with it, too. It’s a tool of refinement. It’s a tool that shows you just aren’t willing to settle.
What’s your go-to meal when you’re tired?
A grilled cheese, with a good crispy bread and a good melty cheese like raclette, or Emmental. I like a classic Comté, too.