AGO Art Matters

AGO Chefs to Participate in Recipe for Change

February 3rd, 2010

AGO executive chef Anne Yarymowich and executive sous chef Jeff Dueck will be participating in Foodshare Toronto’s Recipe for Change, an evening of fine food, beer and wine featuring top Toronto chefs on Thursday, February 25.

This fabulous night offers a great opportunity to mingle with local chefs and enjoy a meal composed of over a dozen tasting plates from Toronto's most progressive culinary lights, accompanied by fine local beer and wine. Participating chefs include David Garcelon of Fairmont Royal York, Luis Valenzuela of Torito, Donna Dooher of Mildred's Temple Kitchen, Fabio Bondi of Local Kitchen, and many others.

The event will be held on February 25, from 6 to 9 pm at Foodshare’s Centre of Innovation and Education, 90 Croatia Street.

Recipe for Change is a celebration of food with a purpose, supporting FoodShare’s innovative and multi-faceted work toward Good Healthy Food for All and specifically the Field to Table Schools program, which brings food literacy back to students from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12.

For information and tickets, visit Recipe for Change.

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Special Wedding at AGO a Huge Success

October 14th, 2009

By Heather Arnott and the Food and Beverage Events Team

Edit: This article was revised on October 23 out of consideration for the family

The AGO is host to many corporate and social events every week. While Baillie Court provides a panoramic southward view of the city skyline and the CN Tower, Walker Court also offers a spectacular space for intimate wedding ceremonies.

On Saturday, September 12, the AGO was host to 300 guests for one of the city’s most prestigious weddings. The bride’s family, a prominent figure in the food industry, chose the AGO not only because of its sentimental value to the family, but also due to its incredible reputation as an outstanding food and beverage operation.

Baillie Court located on the third floor of the Gallery, was transformed to fit with the couple’s theme “Under the Stars”. Hanging from the ceiling grid were 2,500 crystals to create a blanket of stars under which guests dined, and the space was complete with beautiful linens and hundreds of flowers to create a spectacular dining experience. The Italian-influenced menu prepared by Chef Anne featured a seafood antipasto, handmade squash ravioli, Manhattan veal tenderloin and a peach crostata. After the fabulous meal, guests danced into the very early morning “under the stars.”

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Yarymowich Goes Gold

May 1st, 2009

(Image: Anne Yarymowich and the Honourable J. Charles Grieco. Photo courtesy OHI.)

AGO executive chef Anne Yarymowich received the Chef of the Year award from the Ontario Hostelry Institute at its Gold Awards Dinner on April 16.

Focusing on Canada's premier culinary professionals, the Gold Awards celebrate excellence and success in the hostelry industry, from both industry leaders and rising-start members of the industry.

Executive chef Anne Yarymowich collaborates with chef de cuisine Martha Wright to create contemporary comfort cuisine that is honest and direct yet made lovingly and with gusto.

For more information on the awards, visit www.theohi.ca

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Vogue Wines

April 6th, 2009

On the heels of fashion week, it seems only appropriate to talk about fashionable trends in wine. I sat down with Courtney Henderson, restaurant manager and sommelier at the AGO’s FRANK restaurant, to discuss the hits and misses for spring.

“Heavy, full-bodied wines are out,” says Courtney, as she goes on to explain that we are looking at more floral “pretty” wines for spring, much like the floral prints we are seeing on the runway. “Another trend is single-grape wines,” Courtney adds, referring to wines made of one type of Riesling, Aligoté or another chic grape.

FRANK’s ever-changing wine list is made up of Ontario wines echoing the restaurant’s philosophy around slow, sustainable food. “When we can drink amazing wines from our own backyards, why would we look anywhere else?” Courtney points out. Instead of focusing on the foreign creators, she has chosen to focus on the local up and comers, which may even include some expansion to wineries in Eastern Canada, “They have some fabulous wines.”

If you’re looking for a fashionable night out, make sure you try a lively fresh white like the 2007 Chardonnay Musque from Cave Spring, Niagara or the 2007 Creekside Sauvignon Blanc which is described as a “Hi-styling Sauvignon”. I had to ask Courtney which one was her favourite, “The 2006 Chardonnay, Le Clos Jordanne, from the Niagara region…has great body and interesting flavour.” A perfect match for FRANK’s potato, squash and cheddar perogies, or even the pan fried rainbow trout. Yumm, being fashionable has never tasted so good!

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What’s happening at FRANK: February 23 – March 28

February 18th, 2009

Along with Cross Town Kitchens and 20 other Toronto restaurants, FRANK will be offering a prix fixe menu from February 23- March 28. Ten dollars of the $50 menu will go directly to The Stop Community Food Centre, a local organization that encourages and enables access to healthy food for the community.

Dine TO

Continue reading for the Menu

Entrée, choice of:
Braised Wellington County beef short ribs with horseradish jus, Yukon gold potato mash and roasted Cohlemeir Japanese turnips
Or
Pan seared whitefish fillet with sautéed Brussels sprouts, bacon lardoons, white bean and celeriac puree and veal jus reduction
Or
Hand rolled potato gnocchi with black trumpet and oyster mushrooms, truffled mushroom jus and shaved Monforte Dairy Toscano cheese

Dessert, choice of:
Milles crepes cake with layers of Ontario rye flour crepes, caramelized apples baked and served warm with Woolwich Dairy chevre ice cream
Or
Rice pudding brulee with Armagnac poached prunes and cardamom shortbread

Lunch Prix Fixe
February 23, to March 28, 2009
$35.00 per person, $5.00 of which is donated to The Stop

Appetizer, choice of
Jerusalem artichoke soup with toasted sunflower seeds and sunflower oil
Or
Mapledale 4 year old cheddar cheese and onion tart with heirloom beet ,fennel and apple slaw and apple cider reduction

Entrée, choice of:
Pork and beans: Maple cured roasted pork belly confit with Quebec style feves au lard.
Or
Bison Burger with melted Niagara gold cheese, quince ketchup and onion rings.

Dessert, choice of:
Milles crepes cake with layers of Ontario rye flour crepes, caramelized apples baked and served warm with Woolwich Dairy chevre ice cream
Or
Rice pudding brulee with Armagnac poached prune and cardamom shortbead

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Frank takes it slow

February 11th, 2009

By: Shawn Micallef

At first glance Frank is not the kind of restaurant you associate with Slow Food. Not “slow food” as in speed – it’s likely most people don’t want to be rushed out of a space like Frank – but rather the Slow Food Movement. This past Sunday the restaurant played host to “A Sweet & Savoury Taste Workshop on Eggs and Grains” presented by Slow Food Toronto.

The Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy in the 1980s as an activist response to fast food chains, specifically a McDonalds outlet that was set to open near the Spanish Steps in Rome. Since then the movement has spread around the world and expanded its mandate. Part of Slow Food Toronto’s mission is to build a community that includes producers, artisans, chefs and food activists as well as “supporting local, small-scale sustainable farm operations”.

The Slow Food event at Frank was indeed a workshop as it brought together an interesting collection of people. Certainly some of the diners (or “tasters” to be true to the event’s billing) were part of Slow Food Toronto, but there were others who were new to the scene, as my tasting partner and I were. As well, the farmer responsible for most of the food were eating was present. We don’t often get to see who’s responsible for our food, so this was a unique experience.

Stoddart products for sale.

Harry Stoddart, of the Stoddart Family Farm located in the Kwartha Lakes region, began the workshop by talking to us about his farm’s history (been in the family since 1819 when his ancestors emigrated from Ireland). The activist element of Slow Food was not ignored in Frank’s swank surroundings as Stoddart did discuss some of the regulatory difficulties he experiences being a niche producer, particularly with the Supply Managemangement system in Ontario.

Though Slow Food Toronto does have a political bent, they don’t sacrifice the dining experience. That seems to be part of the point of a workshop like this, to demonstrate that Slow Food is not about sacrificing the pleasure of food, but rather, enhancing it. In fact, the communal table we sat at was filled with confirmed foodies, most of whom worked for Loblaw’s President’s Choice, designing new food products for Canadian stores. This was not just part of their research, it’s something they enjoy doing.

Frank’s executive chef Anne Yarymowich began by welcoming everybody to her restaurant and gave us some background on the event: the other invited chefs were preparing new dishes with Stoddart’s products, and for some, it was as new an experience for them as it was for us as diners. The best part of the evening was when each dish was served the chef responsible came out and spoke about what he or she made and the challenges the organic product posed. We learnt that spelt flour is hard to work with when Chef Donna Dooher remarked that using spelt reminded her of how processed our food usually is, and though she “wasn’t very happy about working with spelt at 10AM yesterday,” she was pleased with the results. Not perfect, she said, but a successful experiment.

As a non-foodie, these details went unnoticed, as everything that came out of the Frank kitchen was exquisite looking and artfully presented. We noted the idea that we were actually eating tiny, ephemeral works of art that exist for only a few minutes before being destroyed (or devoured, depending on your perspective) while surrounded by a building that houses artworks that are, essentially, eternal. What’s the difference between consuming a painting and eating these lovely “quail eggs in nests?”

When we sheepishly told our Frank waitperson that we were vegetarians – always a moment of stress at foodie events – they returned a few moments later informing us the kitchen would accommodate by altering the few dishes with meat in them into vegetarian versions. The dexterity at which the restaurant industry can pivot for customer needs is always remarkable. The great irony of the night that with so many dishes to taste, we were only given 5 or 6 minutes to each each one, so slow food can indeed be fast sometimes.

Quail Eggs in Nests on Crispy Pancetta with Cranberry Hollandaise by Chef Donna Dooher of Mildred’s Temple Kitchen

Duck Egg en Cocotte with Duck Graisserons, served with Spelt Flour Buttermilk Biscuits by Chef de Cuisine, Martha Wright of Frank.

Ravioli filled with Duck Yolk and Celeriac Puree by Chef Leslie Steh of Far Niente

Spelt and Wheat Donut with a Hen Egg Sabayon by Chef Leslie Steh

Local Apple Tart with Spelt Flour Crust by Chef Donna Dooher.

Miles Crepes Cake: Rye Flour Crepes Layered with Caramelized Russet Apples, and Hen Egg Royale, Baked and served with Woolwich Dairy’s Chevre and Honey Ice Cream by Pasty Chef Christopher Measson of Frank.

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Grain Eggs and Anne

February 5th, 2009

This Sunday, February 8, a Slow Food workshop will be held at the AGO’s new restaurant FRANK. For those of you who are not familiar with Slow Food it is not what you think— and is definitely not what I thought it was. Slow Food does not allude to how long it takes to prepare food; it is actually an organization that supports the environment, animal welfare and health, fair compensation of producers and good tasting food.

Anne Yarymowich, the executive chef at FRANK, Donna Dooher of Mildred’s Temple Kitchen and Leslie Steh of Far Niente are all Slow Food members who have been challenged to showcase the eggs and grains of Stoddart Family Farm, a certified organic farm located in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario. This challenge includes the creation of two dishes—one savoury and one sweet—that contain eggs and grain as the main ingredients. Menu items include ravioli filled with duck yolk and a cauliflower puree finished with olive oil and maldon salt—a savoury dish—and rye flour crepes layered with caramelized russet apples, and egg royal, baked and served with chèvre and honey ice cream—a sweet dish. These and four more unique dishes will make up the tasting that demonstrates the versatility of eggs and grains.

This workshop provides an opportunity for the three celebrated chefs to support an organization they are actively involved in, and will be a reunion of two chefs that have not worked in the same kitchen since Anne left Donna Dooher’s Mildred Pierce in 1996. For you it’s an opportunity to learn more about Slow Food and to sample six delicious dishes paired with local wines.

Unlike Sam-I-am, its sounds like many people will like grain, eggs and Anne.

To be a part of it all, and taste the “ducky goodness” as Martha Wright, Chef de Cuisine at the AGO describes one of the dishes, call 416-978-8849 or go online to www.UofTtix.ca. The workshop takes place Sunday, February 8 from 4 to 6 pm and tickets cost $40 for Slow Food members and $50 for non-members.

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Celebrate Winter at FRANK

February 5th, 2009

If you haven’t already been introduced to FRANK, make sure you acquaint yourself over the next couple of weeks. The AGO’s popular new restaurant will be offering a limited-time prix-fixe menu in celebration of Canada’s winter season. Executive chef Anne Yarymowich along with chef de cuisine Martha Wright have crafted a warm and comforting menu featuring appetizers and entrées specifically created to showcase this fabulous season. The menu is complete with a selection of mouth-watering desserts created by pastry chef Christopher Measson. Soon you’ll know why everyone is talking about FRANK.

This winter prix-fixe menu will be offered at a price of $40 ($35 for AGO members) from January 30 to February 12. For menu information or to make a reservation at FRANK visit www.ago.net/frank
or call 416.979.6688

Photo courtesy of Christina Gapic, AGO Photographer © 2008 ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO.

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