A Lovely Day in Louisville

After a long drive the previous day, we decided to stop in Louisville, KY for breakfast before hitting the road again. I had heard good things about Lynn's Paradise Cafe, but nothing could have prepared me for the magic that is Lynn's. Giant sparkly letters beckon you to come in from the road while an Elvis bear greets you at the front door. From the moment I sat down, I was in love. When I first saw Lynn's I felt that spark of creativity and pure childish joy that I often have to search for. There was a little bucket of toy animals on the table that I couldn't resist playing with. For me, the food was almost secondary to the atmosphere. Now, I did say almost... I can often be pretty easily wooed by fancy sounding breakfasts items like extravagant French toast options or the 'house's special hash' but amidst Lynn's spectacularly decadent menu I just kept on going back to two little words: homemade biscuits. I'm a bit of a sucker for great baked goods so I just went with my gut on this one and kept breakfast simple. Two eggs, biscuits and fresh fruit. Let me tell you folks, that's how it's done. To my absolute delight the biscuits were light and crumbly, but dense enough to hold together long enough to butter and get to your mouth. Oh, and did I mention that they were cooked in bacon grease? Cuz they were.

Words or even photographs can't accurately describe Lynn's. Next time you're planning a trip to Disney Land - forget it. Go to Lynn's. It's the happiest place on earth.

Road Trippin'

It's that time of year again! Zac and I are driving to Florida and along the way, we're searching out some really great food. This morning we packed up and headed for sunnier skies.

Today's plan was to get as far south as possible, and south we did get. All the way to Shelbyville, KY. Here's what we saw/learned along the way:

1. Detroit is rich with off the highway strip clubs. "The Landing Strip" wins for best name.

2. I came, I saw and I conquered Denny's.

3. Driving into Kentucky, I saw a sign for "buttermilk park." Unfortunately, we passed by in the dark and didn't get a chance to explore. I'm sure it's a wonderful place where pancakes do the backstroke in lakes of syrup and chickens dive head first into rich, luxurious pools of batter. I'm not sure if I'll ever visit buttermilk park but I'm positive that it's as good as, or even better than I could ever imagine.

Well, tomorrow will officially kick off the food fest part of our trip. Time for bed. May all your dreams be filled with BBQ.

Beans N' Toast

Recently, Maclean's sent me to shoot their Student's Guide to a Cheap and Delicious Meal. Two Toronto chefs and a Maclean's writer dressed up and re-imagined a cheap and cheerful classic. May I present to you: Beans N' Toast from the Maclean's 2011 University guide. Here are the shots that made it to print, along with a few more of my favorite portraits.

    Giovanna Alonzi - Terroni's Executive Chef

    Jessica Allen - Maclean's Resident Foodie

    Matty Matheson - Parts & Labour's Executive Chef

Oh Summer...

As the fall weather begins to overtake the summer's heat, I can't help but think about one of my favorite evenings in recent memory. On one of the stickiest nights this summer, Dana and Joel (of the famed Wellpreserved.ca) invited Zac and I to join them for a little al fresco dinner party. This was not your usual backyard BBQ. This was a feast catered by Massimo Bruno, a charming and incredibly talented chef who hosts an Italian Supper Club. Over the course of about four hours, he filled us full of luscious burrata, carmalized figs, zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta, multiple handmade pasta dishes, steak grilled over coals and homemade cannoli (just to list a few!). Uh oh, I think my food coma is setting in again just thinking about it...

Here are a few images from that evening:

Not Your Momma's Take-Out Menu

Recently, Dana Harrison (an uber talented designer and all 'round swell gal) and I collaborated on a take-out menu for Frida Restaurant. Our challenge was to create a menu that stood out from the piles of typical take-out menus that we so often find taking up space in our mailboxes. We needed to create something simple and eye-catching that would instantly have you running for the phone. 

I asked Dana about her inspiration for this project, and how she pulled all the elements together. This is what she had to say:

     "My inspiration for the menu came from Frida Kahlo's life and work. I decided to take the opportunity to watch the movie Frida (2002) again and found that the art, animation and colour in the film were amazing. The colourful culture and food of Mexico that Chef Jose and Steve have brought into Frida Restaurant, as well as one of the plates we sourced for the photography (shown in the guacamole shot) were also places I drew my inspiration from. Reena and I worked closely to style the images so that they would showcase the family-style nature of the items on the menu. I love Reena's 'deconstructed' way of styling food and wanted to feature one of these on the cover of the menu. The 'before and after' taco shot just makes you feel like running in and grabbing that last one before someone else does! The way she lights everything to create a really intimate, comforting, homey feel inspired the idea to shoot everything from above. That way the images would have the feeling of being laid out on a table, passed around and enjoyed. We wanted to create a menu that really communicated that this is restaurant quality food made with fresh ingredients, the same as you'd enjoy during a night out at Frida Restaurant."

Creatively, the biggest challenge I faced with this job was shooting a take-out menu for a fine-dining restaurant, without making it feel like an entirely different place. The most important elements we used to tie the two faces of Frida together, were colour and plating. We started with colour, which, for me, is essential in setting a tone and conveying mood through photography. We paired Frida's existing colour palette of vibrant oranges and punchy blues with a casual wood surface and mismatched dishware, creating images that felt warm, friendly and inviting without straying too far from the restaurant's fine-dining roots. Most importantly, we wanted the food plated in a more rustic manner but didn't want to lose Chef Jose's artful touch. 

As with most of my photography, I'm always itching to tell a story, no matter how simple it may be. I wanted these photographs to draw people in and make them feel like they could pull up a chair and be a part of the meal. For me, when food tells a story, it instantly becomes more inviting and more appetizing. The more inviting a photograph can be, the more people will want to be a part of what you have created. In this case... the more people that want to pull up a chair to these tables, the more take-out orders for Frida, right?
 
When I asked Dana what her favorite part of the project was she simply said "drawing the sketch of Frida for the cover...and eating the food at the shoot."

Thanks to Steve and Jose for trusting in our vision of your food and for letting us tell your take-out story.

An Epiphany in Burgers

It's moment's away from the weekend and I'm sure many of you are already psyching yourselves up for the drive to cottage country along good ol' highway 11. Well friends, that drive just got a little juicer and a little more burger-y.

As a child, Webers was always a sign that we were finally getting close to the lake. Webers Burgers is a staple and a tradition for the zillions of cottage goers that flock to the water every summer. With constant lineups, 50-100 people deep, I've never quite understood the draw. Admittedly a bit of a burger snob (but not in a foie gras kind of way.. just a home-made with love kind of way), I've never really understood the appeal of flavorless pre-frozen tasting patties.

Well my friends, I present to you my latest discovery: Burger Pit! Zac and I have been driving past this place for years. Every time we zoom past, we talk about stopping in for a burger. The giant mom-and-pop-vintage-American-style-burger-shoppe-sign advertising charbroiled burgers has been beckoning us to pull over. How come we never stopped before? The Burger Pit is just down the road from the cottage institution, Webers. Chalk it up to crowd-mentality, but we just figured that Webers was better. And sadly, Webers isn't really all that good. Last weekend, we decided to break free from the flock and let that awesome sign lead us. This was not a mistake. The Burger Pit serves up simple, juicy, homemade, perfectly charred patties. My drive to the cottage had been forever changed. Now instead of yelling out WEEEEEEBERS as we hit the three quarter mark to the cottage, I'll be yelling our BUUUUUUURGER PIIIIIIIIT!

 

The address is listed as 5 Booth Street, but it's right on Highway 11 between Oro-Medonte Line 10 and Line 11, just south of Orillia. Trust me, it's good. Go to there.

Charcutepalooza Challenge #6

Once again, this month's challenge was down to the wire, but James and I refused to be defeated by our busy schedules. We scrambled to make our Hot Dogs the day before the posting date and here's a quick roundup on how we felt about the challenge this month:

James: H-dogs 2.0. After our epic fail last time (when we weren't suppose to make hotdogs anyway) I was more than a bit nervous that this would all turn pear-shaped for a second time. It didn't! We made delicious, hotdog-tasting hotdogs. The thing about hotdogs is, well, they're just hotdogs. The best hotdog I've ever had? Nearly. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. While I do appreciate the process of making an emulsified sausage, the attention required to make it work and the premium ingredients - I don't think it's worth all the time and cost required to create a gourmet dog. Sure ours were juicier, more tender, had better flavour and weren't the least bit rubbery. Sure they rank right up there with the best. But c'mon, they're just f*cking hotdogs! The lesson is this: While it's nice to use costly beef ribs to make hotdogs, it's not worth it. The reason: With simple slow, low smoke you can turn a rack of beef ribs into something divine instead of a glorified kid's birthday party treat. I'd give ours an 8 out of 10. But what's a 10 out of 10 hotdog really worth? A 6 out of 10 rack of ribs? C'est la vie.

R: Oh, while we were rushing to get everything done, we did somehow manage to squeek in dessert. Giant soft pretzels, that turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to our hotdogs. The recipe we used called for pretzel salt, but we thought this treat would be far superior if we doused the pretzels in salted butter and cinnamon-sugar, and boy were we right!  I highly recommend giving these a try! For the recipe, click here.