The Group of 7 Chefs – Go Fish

I’m not sure how I failed to attend a dinner by the Group of 7 Chefs up until now. Timing, finances, their predilection for odd bits of the insides of animals… all may play a role. But when they announced they would be doing a fish and beer dinner, teaming up with Bellwoods Brewery and serving sustainable fish, Greg and I knew we had to go.

The Group of 7 Chefs is actually comprised of more than seven local chefs. Scott Vivian (Beast), Rob Gentile (Buca), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Kevin McKenna (Globe and Earth), Matty Matheson (Parts & Labour), Chris Brown (The Stop), Bertrand Alepee (The Tempered Chef), and Marc Dufour (Globe and Earth) are the main crew, but they have been joined occasionally by local chefs Nick Liu (GwaiLo), Guy Rawlings and others, depending on the specific dinner and individual availability.

The premise is that the chefs get together once a month, on a Monday, when they’re all off from their regular gigs, and work together to create a multi-course dinner. There are a few sous chefs helping out, but most of the work is done by the chefs themselves, with everyone helping to cook and plate each others’ dishes, and a grand sense of fun and camaraderie, despite the stress and hard work.

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Lucky Dip – Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

In Toronto:

We’re getting closer to the opening of Bellwoods Brewery (124 Ossington Avenue), with the news that chef Guy Rawlings has left Lucien to consult on the menu for the picnic-style offerings the brewery will have to go with their beer. This collaboration has been in the works since last summer, with Rawlings working at various places around town until the project was ready.

The Fairmont Royal York (100 Front Street West) welcomes Chef Collin Thornton as the new Executive Chef. Thornton comes from The Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii and takes over from Chef David Garcelon who is now at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

Catch, a sustainable seafood restaurant from the people behind the Rushton has opened on St. Clair West. Apparently they don’t want you to eat there, however, as they’ve not bothered to put the address on their website. (It’s 744 St. Clair Avenue West, by the way, but I shouldn’t have had to go searching for it…)

Ultra Supper Club (314 Queen Street West) has closed its doors and will be replaced by a nightclub called Cube.

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