A SPECIAL BRUNCH FOR MOM
RGE RD chef reveals a few secrets
There are certain times when it’s no fun being married to a chef. Evenings or weekends, say. Your birthday, if it falls on a weekend or evening. Most holidays.
But for one lucky new mom, Mother’s Day 2017 is looking pretty sweet. Not only does Caitlin Fulton have a bouncy bundle of joy named Rosalind, her life and business partner, chef Blair Lebsack of RGE RD, has Sunday off. The menu he has designed for Fulton’s first Mother’s Day perfectly reflects his skills in the kitchen and his admiration for Fulton’s new skill set as a mom.
“Women are pretty amazing and you appreciate it so much more once you have a baby,” says Lebsack.
The youngest in a farm family of four boys, Lebsack recalls thinking they were giving mom quite a treat by insisting they’d be happy to grab a hotdog after she dropped them off at baseball practice on Mother’s Day. When the boys became teenagers, they figured out flowers would be nice.
Now Lebsack will be adding brunch to his gifts to the mother of his own baby, born Jan. 14. Although the chef has been able to be home to help quite a bit during Fulton’s maternity leave from the restaurant, where she is both a partner and front-of-house manager, there is only so much he is able to do. Breastfeeding is out.
But Lebsack plans to contribute to the family’s nourishment on Sunday with a specially designed menu featuring some of Fulton’s favourites — a potato blini and sunnyside-up egg, served with RGE RD sausage, ramps and a lashing of Romesco sauce.
The couple says they are blessed with a baby who, while no fan of napping, is generally in excellent spirits. Plus she’s quite talented. Up early with dad most mornings, Rosalind has already learned how to make three different kinds of coffee available at the Lebsack/ Fulton coffee station, the pourover, the percolator and the Aeropress.
Fulton says her first few months as a mother have been surprisingly smooth.
“I feel much more relaxed than anticipated,” she says. “The small things don’t matter to me as much ... You don’t anticipate how much you’ll love the baby and I think you’re loving your partner more, too. I have a whole new appreciation for Blair. We’re in this together.”
Women are pretty amazing and you appreciate it so much more once you have a baby.