With the emergence of popular food shows like Iron Chef, Top Chef and countless others, it's becoming more and more alluring for people to want to pursue a career in the culinary arts. This coupled with the slowing economy is encouraging many people to trade in their desk jobs for what the perceive will be a great and glamorous life as a top notch chef. Now I am not going to discourage anybody who wants to either make this jump of careers or any younger people looking to pursue this career as they enter adulthood. I love my job, and apart from a six figure record deal and a world tour flying on jets and selling out stadiums, I wouldn't trade it for any job on the planet. I do however have some precautionary words.
The first and foremost thing I need to warn you about is that us cooks don't get paid a lot. Don't get me wrong, those executive chefs at hotels and top restaurants are well off, but in the culinary world it's a long road to get to that spot, and you don't make much along the way. My first line cooking job in a fine dining restaurant paid me $9.00 an hour, and if you have no experience at all you can expect the same. Really if you are just starting out and you don't get stuck washing dishes you should consider yourself lucky.
The most common story that i hear is a person decides they want to be a chef, they quit their job, enroll in a culinary school, get out in the workforce and they wind up making just over minimum wage. This is the reality of it folks. Even with a culinary diploma from a big name school, you will be making dick for money. There is a ladder in the restaurant industry that you need to climb, both with experience and the furthering of your education such as getting your Red Seal or equivalent certification wherever you are working.
So should you go get a culinary education upon entering this field? Honestly, not right away, especially for younger people. I really strongly recommend you find yourself a job as a dishwasher, prep cook or some other entry level position at any restaurant off the bat. Reason being is that you will find out if you really truly like this enough to drop a pile of cash on a culinary degree, because really that's minimum a few thousand dollars that you are never going to see again. Not only that, but when you enter culinary school, all of which operate at a very accelerated pace, you will have a basic skill set and some kitchen experience going in, which will give you a leg up on successfully completing the program.
With that in mind, I have to offer some precautionary words about choosing a culinary school. In this case, expensive does not always mean best. Now I'm not telling you to go enroll in the Hollywood Upstairs Community Culinary Academy that operates beside an animal hospital for $150, but I am also telling you that it's completely pointless to go drop 40 grand on a culinary education. You should look at culinary school as a place to learn skills and get some proper hands on training, not as a place where you will earn some prestigious degree that will provide you with a ticket to the top of the gastronomic universe, cause it won't. It's what you do AFTER school that will get you that ticket. Also bear in mind that even though you complete culinary school you STILL HAVE TO GET YOUR RED SEAL! The culinary school diploma is not a red seal equivalent, nor is it superior despite what the head of admissions told you in your interview.
Locally, if you are looking for a cooking school to attend, I would suggest Vancouver Community College. Not to say any of the other local schools aren't good, but VCC is significantly less expensive, and you will come out with pretty much the same skill set and be in the same spot career wise as those graduating from the more expensive schools. This is all coming from a graduate of The Pacific Institute Of Culinary Arts, and I really enjoyed my time there and learned a ton, so the recommendation of VCC is from a completely unbiased voice of experience here!
So if you're thinking of getting into this crazy racket, I encourage you to do so. But I also encourage you to do your homework first. Research, weight the options, crunch the numbers and do your finances. Make sure this is the life you want before you spend the better part of your year and your bank account trying to make it happen!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Having formed and maintained a band for the past 5 years that has gigged consistently, put out two and soon to be three albums and an EP, opened for several big name bands, I get asked frequently by people who are trying to either form a band or keep one together for advice. In particular advice on how to deal with a band mates and issues that arise from them or their levels of "commitment" which is a word that gets tossed around A LOT when it comes to bands and music. So that's the topic of this post. What is "commitment" and what does it take for a person to be a contributing functional member of a band.
Well in my opinion the first thing that is involved here is that you have to love to play for the sake of playing. Not for the love of playing shows, hanging out with other musicians, networking, or just sayin you're in a band....you have to love to actually PLAY MUSIC. If you don't love to play your instrument then you have no business being in a band at all. This is the simple root of what we call "commitment". If a person loves to play, they will practice and show up to jam. It's that simple. If you don't love to play enough to want to pick up your instrument and practice at home, work on your parts and advance your skills on a fairly regular basis then don't join a band. If the idea of going to jam with your band doesn't excite you, that is to say that you view jam as a chore or work that "needs to be done" rather than something that you want to do, then you shouldn't join a band.
Practice is the key to being good.....BIG SURPRISE THERE! If a musician doesn't practice on their own their skills will stagnate or even degrade. If a band doesn't get together to jam regularly then they will never get tight. Simple right? Yet bands consistently have issues in this area. People either consistently no show to jam or they don't learn their parts or practice on their own time.
This shines through in both live shows and recording. You can ALWAYS tell the bands that don't jam enough, it just comes across in the live show. There are more than a few bands around that could benefit huge from an extra jam or 2 a week. Furthermore if you don't practice at home and your band goes in the studio to record it will show because you won;t have your parts down. Not everybody nails everything on take 1, but if you are properly practiced up you won't be fighting it at every turn. I've been in the studio with musicians that aren't prepared. Not pretty.
Fact is, I think missing jam is bullshit for the most part. If somebody misses jam regularly, fire them. Simple as that. To me there are only a small handful of reasons not to be there.....work, health, family emergency, you are out of town.....that's about it. Stupid shit like "I'm really tired from work" or "there's a hockey game on tonight" doesn't cut it. If you don't want to jam above all else, and if jamming tunes doesn't motivate you enough to get your lazy ass off the couch post work then you don't have "commitment".
But there is a flip side to this. As a band mate or band leader, you have to have some understanding and patience for those in your band. If your drummer gets called into work and misses a practice, it's not worth crucifying him over. Work pays the bills and chances are your band doesn't, so you cannot expect him to either quit or get fired and risk his livelihood to make it to jam. Shit happens, and everybody's schedule fluctuates. In my band Entropia, 3 of us have really irregular schedules, including myself, but we make it happen. If that means jamming at 10am on a Sunday morning then that's what it means. We get together when we can and we maximize the use of that time. And we don't get super mad at each other when somebody can't be there, cause I trust these guys enough to know that if they can't make it, it's because of something very important or serious.
The other thing you have to do is address issues before they become problems and potentially explosive. I have learned this the hard way. If you have an issue with your band mate, playing or otherwise, you have to take it up with them, and for god sakes act like an adult when you do it. When there's an issue, propose a solution. For example rather than saying "Man that guitar melody over the pre chorus riff really fuckin sucks!" try saying something like "Hey that melody we got in the pre chorus, while it's a good piece I don't think it really fits with the riff and here's why....." then start discussing whether it fits or not and try to come up with a solution. Not only will your band benefit but the music will as well. Being stubborn and not treating people with respect is nothing but counterproductive, and doesn't really show any "commitment" to your band or bandmates. However if something is just that god awful there's nothing wrong with lettin out a good ol sarcastic comment like "that sounds like cats fucking" or something. No need to be a stodgy diplomat all the time.
So this is basically what I'm gonna say to everybody who is trying to find or start a band, and especially to all those who have been in craigslist purgatory for the past 5 or 6 years and can't find or stick to a project (this is what I call the people who canstantly have ads on craislist and/or answer every ad for musicians. I have placed ads on craisglsit for new musicians 4 years apart and gotten the same responses from the same people!). PRACTICE AND SHOW UP TO REHEARSAL! If you don't love to play for the sake of playing then don't. If you aren't willing to take the time to improve your own skills and be able to keep up then sell your gear to someone who will. If you are too lazy to get your ass to jam at least 2-3 times a week then stay the fuck home! And to everybody in bands, respect your brothers and sisters that you rock with, and keep crankin out tunes! The world needs em!
Well in my opinion the first thing that is involved here is that you have to love to play for the sake of playing. Not for the love of playing shows, hanging out with other musicians, networking, or just sayin you're in a band....you have to love to actually PLAY MUSIC. If you don't love to play your instrument then you have no business being in a band at all. This is the simple root of what we call "commitment". If a person loves to play, they will practice and show up to jam. It's that simple. If you don't love to play enough to want to pick up your instrument and practice at home, work on your parts and advance your skills on a fairly regular basis then don't join a band. If the idea of going to jam with your band doesn't excite you, that is to say that you view jam as a chore or work that "needs to be done" rather than something that you want to do, then you shouldn't join a band.
Practice is the key to being good.....BIG SURPRISE THERE! If a musician doesn't practice on their own their skills will stagnate or even degrade. If a band doesn't get together to jam regularly then they will never get tight. Simple right? Yet bands consistently have issues in this area. People either consistently no show to jam or they don't learn their parts or practice on their own time.
This shines through in both live shows and recording. You can ALWAYS tell the bands that don't jam enough, it just comes across in the live show. There are more than a few bands around that could benefit huge from an extra jam or 2 a week. Furthermore if you don't practice at home and your band goes in the studio to record it will show because you won;t have your parts down. Not everybody nails everything on take 1, but if you are properly practiced up you won't be fighting it at every turn. I've been in the studio with musicians that aren't prepared. Not pretty.
Fact is, I think missing jam is bullshit for the most part. If somebody misses jam regularly, fire them. Simple as that. To me there are only a small handful of reasons not to be there.....work, health, family emergency, you are out of town.....that's about it. Stupid shit like "I'm really tired from work" or "there's a hockey game on tonight" doesn't cut it. If you don't want to jam above all else, and if jamming tunes doesn't motivate you enough to get your lazy ass off the couch post work then you don't have "commitment".
But there is a flip side to this. As a band mate or band leader, you have to have some understanding and patience for those in your band. If your drummer gets called into work and misses a practice, it's not worth crucifying him over. Work pays the bills and chances are your band doesn't, so you cannot expect him to either quit or get fired and risk his livelihood to make it to jam. Shit happens, and everybody's schedule fluctuates. In my band Entropia, 3 of us have really irregular schedules, including myself, but we make it happen. If that means jamming at 10am on a Sunday morning then that's what it means. We get together when we can and we maximize the use of that time. And we don't get super mad at each other when somebody can't be there, cause I trust these guys enough to know that if they can't make it, it's because of something very important or serious.
The other thing you have to do is address issues before they become problems and potentially explosive. I have learned this the hard way. If you have an issue with your band mate, playing or otherwise, you have to take it up with them, and for god sakes act like an adult when you do it. When there's an issue, propose a solution. For example rather than saying "Man that guitar melody over the pre chorus riff really fuckin sucks!" try saying something like "Hey that melody we got in the pre chorus, while it's a good piece I don't think it really fits with the riff and here's why....." then start discussing whether it fits or not and try to come up with a solution. Not only will your band benefit but the music will as well. Being stubborn and not treating people with respect is nothing but counterproductive, and doesn't really show any "commitment" to your band or bandmates. However if something is just that god awful there's nothing wrong with lettin out a good ol sarcastic comment like "that sounds like cats fucking" or something. No need to be a stodgy diplomat all the time.
So this is basically what I'm gonna say to everybody who is trying to find or start a band, and especially to all those who have been in craigslist purgatory for the past 5 or 6 years and can't find or stick to a project (this is what I call the people who canstantly have ads on craislist and/or answer every ad for musicians. I have placed ads on craisglsit for new musicians 4 years apart and gotten the same responses from the same people!). PRACTICE AND SHOW UP TO REHEARSAL! If you don't love to play for the sake of playing then don't. If you aren't willing to take the time to improve your own skills and be able to keep up then sell your gear to someone who will. If you are too lazy to get your ass to jam at least 2-3 times a week then stay the fuck home! And to everybody in bands, respect your brothers and sisters that you rock with, and keep crankin out tunes! The world needs em!
Monday, August 01, 2011
Canadian BBQ Championships:
This year I was fortunate enough to be invited along with three of my closest friends to be a judge at the Canadian BBQ Championships in Whistler BC. I have been waiting with almost agonizing anticipation for this event over the last 5 months or so, and not only did it live up to the hype it actually exceeded my expectations in all aspects. What I tasted, learned, experienced, and the overall fun I had was way beyond what I could have hoped for.
We rolled outta the lower mainland early on the Friday so we would have plenty of time to settle in, check out the sights and get to our BBQ judges class we had to attend that day. The hostel we stayed at had a really great diner attached to it called the Southside Diner. They served up some great breakfast and classic diner fare, I highly recommend grabbin a bite there if you are in town or swingin by.
We rocked over to Dusty's Bar And BBQ where the whole event was taking place in Whistler Creekside, cracked a couple beers on the patio and then took the BBQ class, which was easy and pretty informative, but really really really long. Nevertheless we were all certified PNWBA (Pacific Northwest BBQ Association) BBQ Judges.
So needless to say after a 4 hour class we were more than ready to party it up a bit that night. The bar had a really killer Led Zeppelin tribute that night called "Whole Lotta Led", who tore the house down. They played all the hits and a few really obscure tracks. The lead singer was a big bearded viking lookin dude, who we said was like a hydroxycut Byron Stroud from Fear Factory, and he sang exactly like Robert Plant. Rest of this night is a bit of a blur, that involved many pitchers and pints, ridiculous air guitars and actual pro wrestling moves.
Thankfully after some proper precautionary measures and a good nights sleep non of us were feelin the previous evenings festivities too hard in the morning, so it was up and at em for the first series of events to be judged. First up we judged the Burger competition. There were many good burgers and a few disasters. The winning burger was judged at my table, and was done by Bad Ass BBQ headed up by Dave Mackay. He made a beautifully crafted and well thought out burger that was smoked, stuffed with 3 kinds of cheese, mushrooms and spinach, served on a ciabatta style bun with mayo, crispy prosciutto and frizzy onions. It was perfectly cooked and the best burger I have ever eaten in my entire life. As the winning burger it is going on the menu at Dusty's and I feel really sorry for the cooks that have to prepare that one as the words "labour intensive" don't even begin to do it justice. An example of a disastrous burger was one that my friend got which used an apple fritter as the bun. Bizarre to say the least!
(At this point I have to mention that I don't have any pictures of the judging or the winning products because photography wasn't allowed during the judging.)
Next up we judged the King Of The Grill competition. This was an open event where competitors created a BBQ platter for six. Any ingredient was allowed and there were no rules or restrictions. There were some real hilights in this category for me. One was Ron Shewchuck's cedar planked white salmon that had a bourbon maple glaze. This fish was perfectly cooked, and I would have been happy to pay $30 for a piece of that fish in any restaurant. I was amazed that it didn't win. The second place finish was a "Smoked Alaska". Yep, that's right a smoked version of a baked alaska cake, which had maple and smoked bacon ice cream inside of it. Don't ask me how they did it, but they did. The winner of this event was hometown buy BBQ Bob who did a beef tenderloin with lobster and some form of hollandaise. I didn't get to try this one so I can't really comment on it.
After the judging was over we were free to check out what was going on around the event. One thing we made sure we got a piece of was a whole suckling pig that had been smoked and cooked for over 24 hours. The meat was just unbelievable and the crispy skin was like an explosion of smoky flavour in your mouth. Something I want to try to cook for sure one day soon.
That night we had a few more beers (hey it's a BBQ competition, why wouldn't ya?) and turned in early because we had to be up at 8am the next day for the main events....Pulled Pork, Brisket, Chicken, and Rib competitions.
All of the pulled pork were delicious, making it a really hard category to judge. This was the same case with the chickens. We had to judge all categories on 3 criteria....appearance, texture and taste. And for me in the pork and chicken categories all my texture and taste scores were very high and similar, so it came down to small details like how it looked and how they presented it in the box. goes to show that in food it's the little things that seperate good from great and great from perfect.
The brisket competition had much more discrepancy. There were a couple that were outstanding, a lot that were a bit average and a couple that weren't so good. This is due to the higher degree of difficulty in brisket. It's one of the most difficult cuts of meat to cook properly, but when done correctly it's simply magic. The ribs competition had the same thing on a lesser scale. There were two ribs that I judged that were absolutely perfect, and they were actually the two best ribs I have ever had.
After that it was time to head home, which was bittersweet but the overall experience I had there was amazing. One thing I will say though is that I really can't stand Whistler as a town. I said to one of my friends "If there wasn't an awesome BBQ event going on in this town right now I'd be pulling my hair out." It doesn't even seem real, it's like some snobby yuppies fake paradise. Paved hiking trails, people riding mountain bikes around while drinking their nine dollar Starbucks caramel frappulattemochachinos. It's way too white for even me, and I'm white as hell! Why places like that exist and people starve is beyond my comprehension....
Anyways, before i get going on that too much I'll get back on topic. This experience for me as a chef and a lover of great food was really life changing, and I'm not exaggerating one bit. I had an experience I will never forget with great friends, I opened my mind to a type of cuisine I'm only somewhat familiar with, I got educated on many of the finer points of said cuisine, and I've come back extremely inspired and motivated to cook. Not all of the people in this competition are chefs or are trained....but they are extremely creative cooks and they love what they do. And in the end those are two traits that you cannot teach, and are arguably more important qualities in a cook. I highly recommend that you go next year...I know I will be!
This year I was fortunate enough to be invited along with three of my closest friends to be a judge at the Canadian BBQ Championships in Whistler BC. I have been waiting with almost agonizing anticipation for this event over the last 5 months or so, and not only did it live up to the hype it actually exceeded my expectations in all aspects. What I tasted, learned, experienced, and the overall fun I had was way beyond what I could have hoped for.
We rolled outta the lower mainland early on the Friday so we would have plenty of time to settle in, check out the sights and get to our BBQ judges class we had to attend that day. The hostel we stayed at had a really great diner attached to it called the Southside Diner. They served up some great breakfast and classic diner fare, I highly recommend grabbin a bite there if you are in town or swingin by.
We rocked over to Dusty's Bar And BBQ where the whole event was taking place in Whistler Creekside, cracked a couple beers on the patio and then took the BBQ class, which was easy and pretty informative, but really really really long. Nevertheless we were all certified PNWBA (Pacific Northwest BBQ Association) BBQ Judges.
So needless to say after a 4 hour class we were more than ready to party it up a bit that night. The bar had a really killer Led Zeppelin tribute that night called "Whole Lotta Led", who tore the house down. They played all the hits and a few really obscure tracks. The lead singer was a big bearded viking lookin dude, who we said was like a hydroxycut Byron Stroud from Fear Factory, and he sang exactly like Robert Plant. Rest of this night is a bit of a blur, that involved many pitchers and pints, ridiculous air guitars and actual pro wrestling moves.
Thankfully after some proper precautionary measures and a good nights sleep non of us were feelin the previous evenings festivities too hard in the morning, so it was up and at em for the first series of events to be judged. First up we judged the Burger competition. There were many good burgers and a few disasters. The winning burger was judged at my table, and was done by Bad Ass BBQ headed up by Dave Mackay. He made a beautifully crafted and well thought out burger that was smoked, stuffed with 3 kinds of cheese, mushrooms and spinach, served on a ciabatta style bun with mayo, crispy prosciutto and frizzy onions. It was perfectly cooked and the best burger I have ever eaten in my entire life. As the winning burger it is going on the menu at Dusty's and I feel really sorry for the cooks that have to prepare that one as the words "labour intensive" don't even begin to do it justice. An example of a disastrous burger was one that my friend got which used an apple fritter as the bun. Bizarre to say the least!
(At this point I have to mention that I don't have any pictures of the judging or the winning products because photography wasn't allowed during the judging.)
Next up we judged the King Of The Grill competition. This was an open event where competitors created a BBQ platter for six. Any ingredient was allowed and there were no rules or restrictions. There were some real hilights in this category for me. One was Ron Shewchuck's cedar planked white salmon that had a bourbon maple glaze. This fish was perfectly cooked, and I would have been happy to pay $30 for a piece of that fish in any restaurant. I was amazed that it didn't win. The second place finish was a "Smoked Alaska". Yep, that's right a smoked version of a baked alaska cake, which had maple and smoked bacon ice cream inside of it. Don't ask me how they did it, but they did. The winner of this event was hometown buy BBQ Bob who did a beef tenderloin with lobster and some form of hollandaise. I didn't get to try this one so I can't really comment on it.
After the judging was over we were free to check out what was going on around the event. One thing we made sure we got a piece of was a whole suckling pig that had been smoked and cooked for over 24 hours. The meat was just unbelievable and the crispy skin was like an explosion of smoky flavour in your mouth. Something I want to try to cook for sure one day soon.
That night we had a few more beers (hey it's a BBQ competition, why wouldn't ya?) and turned in early because we had to be up at 8am the next day for the main events....Pulled Pork, Brisket, Chicken, and Rib competitions.
All of the pulled pork were delicious, making it a really hard category to judge. This was the same case with the chickens. We had to judge all categories on 3 criteria....appearance, texture and taste. And for me in the pork and chicken categories all my texture and taste scores were very high and similar, so it came down to small details like how it looked and how they presented it in the box. goes to show that in food it's the little things that seperate good from great and great from perfect.
The brisket competition had much more discrepancy. There were a couple that were outstanding, a lot that were a bit average and a couple that weren't so good. This is due to the higher degree of difficulty in brisket. It's one of the most difficult cuts of meat to cook properly, but when done correctly it's simply magic. The ribs competition had the same thing on a lesser scale. There were two ribs that I judged that were absolutely perfect, and they were actually the two best ribs I have ever had.
After that it was time to head home, which was bittersweet but the overall experience I had there was amazing. One thing I will say though is that I really can't stand Whistler as a town. I said to one of my friends "If there wasn't an awesome BBQ event going on in this town right now I'd be pulling my hair out." It doesn't even seem real, it's like some snobby yuppies fake paradise. Paved hiking trails, people riding mountain bikes around while drinking their nine dollar Starbucks caramel frappulattemochachinos. It's way too white for even me, and I'm white as hell! Why places like that exist and people starve is beyond my comprehension....
Anyways, before i get going on that too much I'll get back on topic. This experience for me as a chef and a lover of great food was really life changing, and I'm not exaggerating one bit. I had an experience I will never forget with great friends, I opened my mind to a type of cuisine I'm only somewhat familiar with, I got educated on many of the finer points of said cuisine, and I've come back extremely inspired and motivated to cook. Not all of the people in this competition are chefs or are trained....but they are extremely creative cooks and they love what they do. And in the end those are two traits that you cannot teach, and are arguably more important qualities in a cook. I highly recommend that you go next year...I know I will be!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Cradle To Grave, Scythia, 13th Prophet at The Red Room July 27th 2011
Due to the nature of my culinary career, I work evenings. It's just what you have to do to make it in this business. A good busy lunch is of course integral to the success of any restaurant but dinner service is the show. That's where most restaurants make it or break it. So because of that, I don;t get out to shows enough, and even when I do i rarely catch the whole thing. But with Cradle To Grave hittin the stage for the first time in a few years...there was no way I was missin out.
After a frantic closing of my station and a good sprint from the restaurant to the bus, i managed to get to the Red Room for the last 2 or 3 of Scythia's songs, so really not much I can say about their set. I will catch one of their shows in the not too distant future, and obviously i missed 13th Prophet altogether. Next up was Cradle To Grave...
Cradle opened up with Broken God off their latest release "Texas Medicine", which is one of my favourite tracks from them, so I got fired up right off the bat. If you don't have that album I highly suggest you pick it up. It's laden with aggressive riffs, big grooves and well written songs. It's a staple workout soundtrack for me when I'm in the gym too.
Myself I am more familiar with this album than their earlier work, so it was cool for me that their set focused a lot on some of their older tunes, which I haven't heard as much. A big standout for me was "Burn It All". Really cool bass groove with a cool riff over top of it that reminded me a lot of Supernaut by Black Sabbath, and the song itself reminded me a lot of Tank, one of my all time favs, but with a modern twist. They also played an older version of one of my favourite tracks that I first heard on Texas Medicine, Beheaded In Paris, and I personally liked the version they played live better. As We Lay Dying was another killer, just really crushing riffs.
The sound started out a bit muddy during the set but got better really quickly. Denis Barthe has probably one of if not the best guitar tones in the city, and it sounded particularly crushing coming through the massive PA at the Red Room. I was partial to Glenn Chisolms bass tone as well, as a Fender bass through an Ampeg is just pure glory to my ears as a bassist. Vocalist Greg Cavanaugh is like a ramped up version of Oderus Urungus from Gwar with a bit of a Mike Muir swagger and an original voice, and he was on his game vocally this night. Easily one of the best frontmen in town.
All in all one of the better if not the best sets I have seen from a local band in a long long time. They focus on writing riffs and hard hitting grooves rather than trying to just impress with technical playing ability, which is something as an old school metal fan that I really appreciate. Good turnout as well especially for a Wednesday night, as this town is usually asleep by 930 on weekdays. Hope to see more shows from these dudes in 2011 and beyond!
Due to the nature of my culinary career, I work evenings. It's just what you have to do to make it in this business. A good busy lunch is of course integral to the success of any restaurant but dinner service is the show. That's where most restaurants make it or break it. So because of that, I don;t get out to shows enough, and even when I do i rarely catch the whole thing. But with Cradle To Grave hittin the stage for the first time in a few years...there was no way I was missin out.
After a frantic closing of my station and a good sprint from the restaurant to the bus, i managed to get to the Red Room for the last 2 or 3 of Scythia's songs, so really not much I can say about their set. I will catch one of their shows in the not too distant future, and obviously i missed 13th Prophet altogether. Next up was Cradle To Grave...
Cradle opened up with Broken God off their latest release "Texas Medicine", which is one of my favourite tracks from them, so I got fired up right off the bat. If you don't have that album I highly suggest you pick it up. It's laden with aggressive riffs, big grooves and well written songs. It's a staple workout soundtrack for me when I'm in the gym too.
Myself I am more familiar with this album than their earlier work, so it was cool for me that their set focused a lot on some of their older tunes, which I haven't heard as much. A big standout for me was "Burn It All". Really cool bass groove with a cool riff over top of it that reminded me a lot of Supernaut by Black Sabbath, and the song itself reminded me a lot of Tank, one of my all time favs, but with a modern twist. They also played an older version of one of my favourite tracks that I first heard on Texas Medicine, Beheaded In Paris, and I personally liked the version they played live better. As We Lay Dying was another killer, just really crushing riffs.
The sound started out a bit muddy during the set but got better really quickly. Denis Barthe has probably one of if not the best guitar tones in the city, and it sounded particularly crushing coming through the massive PA at the Red Room. I was partial to Glenn Chisolms bass tone as well, as a Fender bass through an Ampeg is just pure glory to my ears as a bassist. Vocalist Greg Cavanaugh is like a ramped up version of Oderus Urungus from Gwar with a bit of a Mike Muir swagger and an original voice, and he was on his game vocally this night. Easily one of the best frontmen in town.
All in all one of the better if not the best sets I have seen from a local band in a long long time. They focus on writing riffs and hard hitting grooves rather than trying to just impress with technical playing ability, which is something as an old school metal fan that I really appreciate. Good turnout as well especially for a Wednesday night, as this town is usually asleep by 930 on weekdays. Hope to see more shows from these dudes in 2011 and beyond!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
People ask me quite often who my favourite chefs are. "Do you like Gordon Ramsay? Jamie Oliver? Bobby Flay?" Inherently the questions are always about Food Network guys. Honestly yes I do like some of those guys. I'm not like most chefs who bash every single dude that appears on the Food Network and calls them a sellout. Really most of these guys have paid their dues for years sweatin on the line like I do on a nightly basis. I don't blame them for takin an easy job makin a TV show and cashing in. Who wouldn't? And yes it is an easy job. When I met Rob Rainford from License To Grill in Toronto a few years back, he told me it was the easiest gig you could imagine. Everything is prepped for him ahead of time, he shows up and wham bam TV magic! (That being said he does have input on his show, which has some bad ass recipes and he is an accomplished chef in his own right!)
But i digress, this post is about who my favourite chefs are. For some of my fellow chef buddies this will be old hat but some of you probably have never heard of these guys before. If you haven't I STRONGLY suggest you check them out. I'll start with my favourite chef on planet earth by a long shot....
Ferran Adria:
Chef at the famous El Bulli and regarded by many (including myself) as the best chef in the world, Ferran Adria created the movement which is changing the shape of the culinary world known as molecular gastronomy. He uses unique ingredients and new innovative techniques that he researches in his lab know as El Tallier to modify food on a molecular level and create something unique, incredible and sometimes downright mind bending. Before this guy, the fundamentals of cooking hadn't fully changed for about 100 years but Ferran is re writing everything. These are the first completely original techniques we have seen in recent time. In my mind he's the most influential chef since Escoffier (The grandfather of french cuisine). These techniques are quite a hot topic amongst chefs as many dismiss it as a pretentious gimmick or a flash in the pan. While I agree that these techniques will never replace good solid cooking and fresh ingredients, I think they can be a fantastic extension of them, as I have found out first hand in my own experimentation at home.
Thomas Keller:
Another one of the most innovative chefs of our time, Keller is the head chef of the very famous French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. He also runs Per Se in New York, Bouchon in its various locations and Ad Hoc in California. His famous book "The French Laundry Cookbook" was one of the most eye opening books I ever read as a young cook. The ideas, recipes, concepts and everything that were in that booked seemed like a whole new world to me, and really made me strive harder to increase my own level of culinary ability. Anything this man writes is essential reading for any chef. Nothing less than a genius.
David Chang:
This guy just makes bad ass food. He is the chef/owner of the Momofuku restaurants, there's many and I'm not gonna list em all, just go to google and look for yourself! He's a master of putting really creative and just downright good flavours together. When you read his menus or his cookbooks, it instantly makes you wanna eat or cook or both. Definitely one of the best of our time, and had my favourite quote in reference to the pretentiousness and faux creativity of a lot of chi chi fine dining chefs on the west coast...."They don’t manipulate food, they just put figs on a plate."
Wylie Dufresne:
Another culinary mad scientist with the best name for that occupation ever, Wylie is the chef/owner of WD-50 in New York, and one of the best practitioners of molecular gastronomy on the planet, even though he has stated he hates that term. A very innovative chef who takes a lot of what seem to be bizarre flavour parings and makes them work. Dishes such as
Martin Picard:
Gotta get at least one fellow Canadian in there! Martin Picard is the chef at Au Pied Do Cochon in Montreal, and the modern king of gluttonous food. Known for his mastery using entire pigs and foie gras, his dishes certainly aren't for the weak of heart, but they are most definitely beyond delicious. I love how he uses every part of the animal in his cooking which shows a mastery of numerous cooking techniques and he's said to be obsessed with local fresh ingredients.
Really I could go on for a really long time. Some others I recommend checking out are Eric Ripert, , Rene Redzepi, Huebert Keller, Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, to name a few. I also have to give props to the old school like Auguste Escoffier and Paul Bocuse, without whom none of this would exist for any of us. For all you food fans out there, there is a wonderful culinary world that exists outside of what you see on TV with the food network. Have a look and get in touch with these guys and all the others that are on the forefront of the culinary world.
And as far as my least favourite chef on earth goes to "Canada's Iron Chef"........PUUUUKEE!!!!!....
But i digress, this post is about who my favourite chefs are. For some of my fellow chef buddies this will be old hat but some of you probably have never heard of these guys before. If you haven't I STRONGLY suggest you check them out. I'll start with my favourite chef on planet earth by a long shot....
Ferran Adria:
Chef at the famous El Bulli and regarded by many (including myself) as the best chef in the world, Ferran Adria created the movement which is changing the shape of the culinary world known as molecular gastronomy. He uses unique ingredients and new innovative techniques that he researches in his lab know as El Tallier to modify food on a molecular level and create something unique, incredible and sometimes downright mind bending. Before this guy, the fundamentals of cooking hadn't fully changed for about 100 years but Ferran is re writing everything. These are the first completely original techniques we have seen in recent time. In my mind he's the most influential chef since Escoffier (The grandfather of french cuisine). These techniques are quite a hot topic amongst chefs as many dismiss it as a pretentious gimmick or a flash in the pan. While I agree that these techniques will never replace good solid cooking and fresh ingredients, I think they can be a fantastic extension of them, as I have found out first hand in my own experimentation at home.
Thomas Keller:
Another one of the most innovative chefs of our time, Keller is the head chef of the very famous French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. He also runs Per Se in New York, Bouchon in its various locations and Ad Hoc in California. His famous book "The French Laundry Cookbook" was one of the most eye opening books I ever read as a young cook. The ideas, recipes, concepts and everything that were in that booked seemed like a whole new world to me, and really made me strive harder to increase my own level of culinary ability. Anything this man writes is essential reading for any chef. Nothing less than a genius.
David Chang:
Wylie Dufresne:
Martin Picard:
Gotta get at least one fellow Canadian in there! Martin Picard is the chef at Au Pied Do Cochon in Montreal, and the modern king of gluttonous food. Known for his mastery using entire pigs and foie gras, his dishes certainly aren't for the weak of heart, but they are most definitely beyond delicious. I love how he uses every part of the animal in his cooking which shows a mastery of numerous cooking techniques and he's said to be obsessed with local fresh ingredients.
Really I could go on for a really long time. Some others I recommend checking out are Eric Ripert, , Rene Redzepi, Huebert Keller, Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, to name a few. I also have to give props to the old school like Auguste Escoffier and Paul Bocuse, without whom none of this would exist for any of us. For all you food fans out there, there is a wonderful culinary world that exists outside of what you see on TV with the food network. Have a look and get in touch with these guys and all the others that are on the forefront of the culinary world.
And as far as my least favourite chef on earth goes to "Canada's Iron Chef"........PUUUUKEE!!!!!....
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Being an avid and honestly sometimes obsessed fan of heavy metal music, there is one thing that really peaks my interest when I look back at the last decade of music. The complete lack of CLASSIC albums.
If you look back at the history of metal and/or hard rock dating back to the late 60's early 70's all the way up through the 90's, there were new bands coming along that were putting out albums that people will label "classic", meaning that they are genre defining, monumental slabs of molten glory that will forever stand the test of time and be revered by fans for years and years to come. Such albums that when they came out blew everybody's mind and changed the game altogether. In the 70's you had Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple. Then in the 80's Iron Maiden emerged (although they had started in the 70's), followed by Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and the countless other bands in the thrash movement, then in the 1990's there were trend setting bands like Pantera, Machine Head, White Zombie etc etc etc and the list goes on. Regardless of what you may or may not think of the music the bands I have listed put out you cannot deny the impact and influence that they had on their respective generations of listeners. When bands like this put out albums they set the bar, everybody was put on notice that this is what you have to live up to in order to run with the big dogs.
Take a look at what has emerged from the year 2000 onwards.....in my opinion nothing new that measures up. I'm not saying that there hasn't been any "good" albums put out since, there have been many. I still am a huge fan of metal to this day and I still pick up albums that I think are really good, but when I look back on my collection from the past decade I don't see any genre bending mind splitting albums that 10 years from now will be looked back on the same way we look back on those old Maiden or Priest albums.
So why is that? Why all of a sudden as a new millennium hits is there a lack of seminal releases and new genre bending bands? Is it just my perspective? Am I just getting old? They say that the first music you fall in love with is always gonna be the best music you ever hear, which I think that may account for some of my disenfranchisement with a lot of today's metal, but not all of it. I'm definitely too old to understand bands like All That Remains and shit like that, which is geared more towards a teenage audience. But go and take a look at any all ages metal show and see what band T shirts all the kids are wearing....Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Slayer, etc.....all the old bands! This generation of metalheads is paying more reverence to the bands of old than the bands of their own generation. When I was a teenager growing up in the mid to late 90's, we had a love for the classics, but THE bands for us were Pantera, Machine Head, Zombie, and some of the bands like Testament who were still churnin out relevant music, and of course Metallica were on top of the world even though they were putting out really bad albums. It seems like today, kids gravitate towards the old bands from the 70's/80's and the new bands that sound exactly like that (aka ripping them off).
So if it's not just me being an old curmudgeon, then what is it? I don't think there is one easy answer, nor do I claim to have every piece to the puzzle in place but I do think I know the root cause, and I know this is going to open a huge pandora's box and a can of worms but this is what I think is the main cause.....
Downloading.
Ah great, I know here we go again. This old debate. Before you roll your eyes or get angry, I'm not going to get up on my soapbox and preach about the moral rights and wrongs of downloading, because I don't care about them and that argument has been beaten to death and back to life and to death again. However I think it's the most relevant cause of this strange paradox I am talking about in this blog post.
To start, just look at the time line. Napster and free downloading started to get really big around 2000ish, the same time frame we start to see a decline in really big classic albums. Not a coincidence if you ask me. No matter what your opinion of free downloading is, whether you do it or not, you cannot deny the simple fact that if a band doesn't sell albums it doesn't make as much money. You can't debate that, it's a simple fact. Now I know that bands make their money elsewhere and record labels rip them off blah blah blah, but as a metal band coming up trying to tour and get signed, you starve. And when you can't sell albums, at the live show or at the record store, you starve more. That's the number one cause of bands breaking up....people get sick of being broke and you can't blame them for that! I know we are supposed to do this just for the love of it, and many of us do....but not making any money and in fact LOSING money some times on the road is really difficult. Fact is bands HAVE to tour to get themselves noticed (the whole notion of the internet making peoples music accessible all over so you don;t have to tour to sell albums is completely idiotic!), so couple increased gas prices which really add up when you are in a tour van hauling a trailer full of gear, with really low album sales and you got a situation that makes it difficult for bands to last and get good and reach their full potential. A prime example is my bands first album has had a couple thousand traced downloads from the source computer, and about 10 of them were from itunes where we charge $8.99 for the album. Had those couple thousand people bought our disc we could have easily gone on an extensive tour to support it.
This has created another interesting attitude in music these days which i find totally disgusting. Bands make more money off merchandise than they do off their music, so they are told to sell themselves as a "product". Make a cool t shirt, pins and various other crap that looks all pretty and use your music as the commercial vehicle to sell this stuff to the masses. This has always been there to a certain extent, but the level it has reached these days is complete nonsense. Basically every band has become KISS. Where's the incentive to spend time trying to write an immortal masterpiece that bends time and space if that's not puttin money in the bank? The focus is now on who can make the coolest t shirt that is gonna sell, which is style over substance. Personally i think that's crap and that kind of forced commercialism is no good for music at all.
The other thing which people falsely applaud is that all the big record labels are crumbling. Don't get me wrong, I think the industry has created this problem for itself by overcharging the public for music for the last 25 years or so, but if the labels are gone, who is gonna invest in these bands? Who is gonna put in the time and support these bands while they develop and get their music out there? Who's gonna finance the recording of their next album? DIY???? You know how much DIY pays you? Not enough to feed and house 5 dudes and their families and give them a comfortable living I'll tell you that much from first hand experience!
So what I'm getting at here is a sharp decline in album sales makes it harder for bands to survive, get really good, and make that album that is gonna put their stamp on world of music. Most bands if you look back put out many albums, EP's, demos and etc before they get that big break and put out that classic disc. Take away another portion of their very limited income and it makes it all the more difficult.
I'm not preaching to you whether or not to download music for free. I completely understand people's attitude from a consumer's standpoint as I too have overpaid for music for years. I also understand that money gets tight and sometimes it just is what it is. But I will say that if you never buy music, then you aren't supporting metal. I still buy music to this day, both in physical and digital forms from bands that I love. I strongly encourage you to do the same, and especially if you go to a show and see that independent touring band on their way up. That 10 bucks you drop at the table on their album means a ton to them and it really helps them out.
Another contributing factor to the current state of things in my opinion is recording technology. A lot of albums that come out these days sound exactly the same. It's all very formulaic and uninspired. Nobody seems to want to put any of their own signature sound or style in their recordings these days. Like when you hear any old Pantera album you know that's Dimes guitar instantly. When you hear any old Iron Maiden track it takes half a millisecond for it to register that it's f**kin Maiden comin out of the speakers. These days you could easily take 3 albums by 3 different bands and not be able to distinguish the guitar tone or the drum sound from any of them, because it's all digital, sampled and most of the humanity is squeezed out of it. There's not point to this, it just makes you feel like you've heard this a hundred times already.
This technology has also enabled every Dick and Jane to put out an album from the comfort of their own home, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are demos are easier, recording music to show your band mates is easier, plus more. But the main disadvantage is that a lot of troglodytes can put out a lot of really really bad music and just flood the market with it, so on the indy level you gotta weed through a galaxy of garbage to get to the really good stuff.
So this is just my 2 cents on where we are at in metal and music these days and why. Like I already stated I still love metal unconditionally and that will never change, it's as much of a part of my life as anything is, and has been one of the only constants since my teen years. But I do feel that there are major issues being faced by our beloved genre in this day and age, which hopefully won't be issues forever that bands and fans alike have to face. I'll be very interested to see where things go in this next decade, but one thing's for sure, I will be seeing you all down at the front of the stage!
If you look back at the history of metal and/or hard rock dating back to the late 60's early 70's all the way up through the 90's, there were new bands coming along that were putting out albums that people will label "classic", meaning that they are genre defining, monumental slabs of molten glory that will forever stand the test of time and be revered by fans for years and years to come. Such albums that when they came out blew everybody's mind and changed the game altogether. In the 70's you had Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple. Then in the 80's Iron Maiden emerged (although they had started in the 70's), followed by Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and the countless other bands in the thrash movement, then in the 1990's there were trend setting bands like Pantera, Machine Head, White Zombie etc etc etc and the list goes on. Regardless of what you may or may not think of the music the bands I have listed put out you cannot deny the impact and influence that they had on their respective generations of listeners. When bands like this put out albums they set the bar, everybody was put on notice that this is what you have to live up to in order to run with the big dogs.
Take a look at what has emerged from the year 2000 onwards.....in my opinion nothing new that measures up. I'm not saying that there hasn't been any "good" albums put out since, there have been many. I still am a huge fan of metal to this day and I still pick up albums that I think are really good, but when I look back on my collection from the past decade I don't see any genre bending mind splitting albums that 10 years from now will be looked back on the same way we look back on those old Maiden or Priest albums.
So why is that? Why all of a sudden as a new millennium hits is there a lack of seminal releases and new genre bending bands? Is it just my perspective? Am I just getting old? They say that the first music you fall in love with is always gonna be the best music you ever hear, which I think that may account for some of my disenfranchisement with a lot of today's metal, but not all of it. I'm definitely too old to understand bands like All That Remains and shit like that, which is geared more towards a teenage audience. But go and take a look at any all ages metal show and see what band T shirts all the kids are wearing....Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Slayer, etc.....all the old bands! This generation of metalheads is paying more reverence to the bands of old than the bands of their own generation. When I was a teenager growing up in the mid to late 90's, we had a love for the classics, but THE bands for us were Pantera, Machine Head, Zombie, and some of the bands like Testament who were still churnin out relevant music, and of course Metallica were on top of the world even though they were putting out really bad albums. It seems like today, kids gravitate towards the old bands from the 70's/80's and the new bands that sound exactly like that (aka ripping them off).
So if it's not just me being an old curmudgeon, then what is it? I don't think there is one easy answer, nor do I claim to have every piece to the puzzle in place but I do think I know the root cause, and I know this is going to open a huge pandora's box and a can of worms but this is what I think is the main cause.....
Downloading.
Ah great, I know here we go again. This old debate. Before you roll your eyes or get angry, I'm not going to get up on my soapbox and preach about the moral rights and wrongs of downloading, because I don't care about them and that argument has been beaten to death and back to life and to death again. However I think it's the most relevant cause of this strange paradox I am talking about in this blog post.
To start, just look at the time line. Napster and free downloading started to get really big around 2000ish, the same time frame we start to see a decline in really big classic albums. Not a coincidence if you ask me. No matter what your opinion of free downloading is, whether you do it or not, you cannot deny the simple fact that if a band doesn't sell albums it doesn't make as much money. You can't debate that, it's a simple fact. Now I know that bands make their money elsewhere and record labels rip them off blah blah blah, but as a metal band coming up trying to tour and get signed, you starve. And when you can't sell albums, at the live show or at the record store, you starve more. That's the number one cause of bands breaking up....people get sick of being broke and you can't blame them for that! I know we are supposed to do this just for the love of it, and many of us do....but not making any money and in fact LOSING money some times on the road is really difficult. Fact is bands HAVE to tour to get themselves noticed (the whole notion of the internet making peoples music accessible all over so you don;t have to tour to sell albums is completely idiotic!), so couple increased gas prices which really add up when you are in a tour van hauling a trailer full of gear, with really low album sales and you got a situation that makes it difficult for bands to last and get good and reach their full potential. A prime example is my bands first album has had a couple thousand traced downloads from the source computer, and about 10 of them were from itunes where we charge $8.99 for the album. Had those couple thousand people bought our disc we could have easily gone on an extensive tour to support it.
This has created another interesting attitude in music these days which i find totally disgusting. Bands make more money off merchandise than they do off their music, so they are told to sell themselves as a "product". Make a cool t shirt, pins and various other crap that looks all pretty and use your music as the commercial vehicle to sell this stuff to the masses. This has always been there to a certain extent, but the level it has reached these days is complete nonsense. Basically every band has become KISS. Where's the incentive to spend time trying to write an immortal masterpiece that bends time and space if that's not puttin money in the bank? The focus is now on who can make the coolest t shirt that is gonna sell, which is style over substance. Personally i think that's crap and that kind of forced commercialism is no good for music at all.
The other thing which people falsely applaud is that all the big record labels are crumbling. Don't get me wrong, I think the industry has created this problem for itself by overcharging the public for music for the last 25 years or so, but if the labels are gone, who is gonna invest in these bands? Who is gonna put in the time and support these bands while they develop and get their music out there? Who's gonna finance the recording of their next album? DIY???? You know how much DIY pays you? Not enough to feed and house 5 dudes and their families and give them a comfortable living I'll tell you that much from first hand experience!
So what I'm getting at here is a sharp decline in album sales makes it harder for bands to survive, get really good, and make that album that is gonna put their stamp on world of music. Most bands if you look back put out many albums, EP's, demos and etc before they get that big break and put out that classic disc. Take away another portion of their very limited income and it makes it all the more difficult.
I'm not preaching to you whether or not to download music for free. I completely understand people's attitude from a consumer's standpoint as I too have overpaid for music for years. I also understand that money gets tight and sometimes it just is what it is. But I will say that if you never buy music, then you aren't supporting metal. I still buy music to this day, both in physical and digital forms from bands that I love. I strongly encourage you to do the same, and especially if you go to a show and see that independent touring band on their way up. That 10 bucks you drop at the table on their album means a ton to them and it really helps them out.
Another contributing factor to the current state of things in my opinion is recording technology. A lot of albums that come out these days sound exactly the same. It's all very formulaic and uninspired. Nobody seems to want to put any of their own signature sound or style in their recordings these days. Like when you hear any old Pantera album you know that's Dimes guitar instantly. When you hear any old Iron Maiden track it takes half a millisecond for it to register that it's f**kin Maiden comin out of the speakers. These days you could easily take 3 albums by 3 different bands and not be able to distinguish the guitar tone or the drum sound from any of them, because it's all digital, sampled and most of the humanity is squeezed out of it. There's not point to this, it just makes you feel like you've heard this a hundred times already.
This technology has also enabled every Dick and Jane to put out an album from the comfort of their own home, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are demos are easier, recording music to show your band mates is easier, plus more. But the main disadvantage is that a lot of troglodytes can put out a lot of really really bad music and just flood the market with it, so on the indy level you gotta weed through a galaxy of garbage to get to the really good stuff.
So this is just my 2 cents on where we are at in metal and music these days and why. Like I already stated I still love metal unconditionally and that will never change, it's as much of a part of my life as anything is, and has been one of the only constants since my teen years. But I do feel that there are major issues being faced by our beloved genre in this day and age, which hopefully won't be issues forever that bands and fans alike have to face. I'll be very interested to see where things go in this next decade, but one thing's for sure, I will be seeing you all down at the front of the stage!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Critics:
In both my lines of work, food service and music, critics play a major role. Music and food critics can shape a product or a person's reputation for better or for worse. They analyze, they judge, and then they broadcast their opinions via website, newspaper, magazine or tv show to the general populace, and their opinions can play a large role in making or breaking someone.
But who are they? What gives them the right to be the authority on what is good or what is bad? Who died and made them the be all and end all of what people should and shouldn't buy or eat? In my opinion, for the most part....NOTHING!
Now before I go any further I am well aware of the irony that I write a blog and and running my mouth about other people who do the same or similar things. The major difference between me and them is that I actually work in both areas that I am talking about, and am fairly proficient and skilled n both cooking and music. So my opinion is more educated, and frankly i think most of my criticisms are more founded and thought out. Also I don't get paid for doing this.
I would like to also state before I get into full blown rant mode that there are a few shining stars out there in the critic world. A few people with actual experience in the industry they are writing about, and possibly an education as well. However for the most part we got a lot of substitute teachers out there spouting a lot of subjective misinformation to compensate for their feelings of inadequate intellect and really the fact that they suck at most things in life so they want to bring down those that don't suck.
My main problem with critics is that they state opinions as if they were facts. When writing about your personal experience eating a meal or listening to an album....it's entirely subjective, therefore facts are skewed by your own personal tastes and biases. You cannot say just because you didn't enjoy the prawn cocktail at said bistro that it's not any good. You just didn't like it . Some people may like it. You cannot say that just because you don't like the guitar tone on the new Anthrax album that it's not any good. What might not sound good to you might sound good to me (For the record I love what I've heard from the new Anthrax disc). As Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies once said "Just because you don't know what's goin on doesn't mean it ain't no good". Double negative aside.....that's bang on!
The other thing I hate is how critics all act like snotty little know it alls, cutting down people who are ten times as successful as they. Take this recent example from the Globe And Mail, Alexandra Gill reviews Ensemble restaurant in Vancouver. Which if you aren't aware is the new restaurant run by Chef Dale Mackay, the winner of Top Chef Canada. Here is the link if you want to check it out......
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-reviews/top-chef-winner-triumphs-in-his-own-restaurant/article2092160/print/
Overall she gives a positive review but that's not my point, it's the literary devices and overall spoiled brat attitude that comes across. Just look at this snobby twit trying to talk like she knows anything! She's talking to a guy who was on Gordon Ramsay's opening team, was one of Daniel Bolud's top guys, and now has won the biggest cooking show in Canada like she knows better than him how the dishes should be served!
"This extra note – the layer that separates a top chef from a great chef – is missing from your herb risotto, which is technically excellent – loose and creamy – but boring. Same with the roasted beet and fresh ricotta salad, which would be much creamier and delicious if served at room temperature."
Really? Is that so? Let me ask where did you do your schooling? Who did you apprentice under? What credentials do you have to tell a Top Chef winner how he should be serving his food?
Oh that's right you don't have any, you just write for a newspaper. Also how can a risotto that is technically excellent be boring?
"Now the pulled pork sandwich is one you probably should be doing differently in the restaurant. You won this challenge because you were able to use a pressure cooker to pull off a good braise under tight constraints that would be easy for home cooks to replicate. But you’re not cooking at home and you’re no longer pressed for time. Although the sauce is lovely and deeply smoky, your pork butt tastes like a dry sponge."
For one, you are missing the point of the dish. It's on there because it's a Top Chef winning dish for one, so it's something cool for casual diners and fans of the show to try, and at it's price point is an affordable option. Also have you ever slow cooked pork butt? Have you ever educated yourself in southern BBQ? I'm gonna take a wild shot in the dark and guess that you haven't. Do you know for a fact that he is not pressed for time? Do you understand how long it takes to properly slow cook pork butt? Do you understand how difficult it is to serve something like that hot and fresh in a fine dining setting? Have you ever attempted something like that? Obviously not. You just write for a newspaper.
That brings me to my next point. Who are these people anyways? Where did they train? Where did they go to school? The answer is....they are WRITERS. Their job is to sell newspapers. They don't present good unbiased professional opinions, they say what they think needs to be said for people to want to read it, sell papers and therefore keep their jobs. They may be qualified to write but they are certainly not qualified to offer professional opinions on food, music or really anything else they are not trained or experienced in.
If I ran the show, every food critic would have to be a chef or a waiter for at least a year before being allowed to write a column and get paid for it. Every music critic would have to be in a band. Write, record and release an album, then go sweat it out in the clubs and on tour in front of a real live audience for at least a year before gettin paid to spout off opinions about other peoples hard work.
So what's my point in all this? Two points. 1) I hate most critics, and have zero respect for about 98% of them in all fields. 2) Please for the love of all that is sacred and good in this world, don't read a critics review of a restaurant, an album, a movie or anything else and base your decision as to whether or not to buy or check out said product around the review. Use your own brain and senses and go see for yourself.
As Ernest Hemingway once said "Critics are the kind of people who watch a battle from a high place, then come down and shoot the survivors"
In both my lines of work, food service and music, critics play a major role. Music and food critics can shape a product or a person's reputation for better or for worse. They analyze, they judge, and then they broadcast their opinions via website, newspaper, magazine or tv show to the general populace, and their opinions can play a large role in making or breaking someone.
But who are they? What gives them the right to be the authority on what is good or what is bad? Who died and made them the be all and end all of what people should and shouldn't buy or eat? In my opinion, for the most part....NOTHING!
Now before I go any further I am well aware of the irony that I write a blog and and running my mouth about other people who do the same or similar things. The major difference between me and them is that I actually work in both areas that I am talking about, and am fairly proficient and skilled n both cooking and music. So my opinion is more educated, and frankly i think most of my criticisms are more founded and thought out. Also I don't get paid for doing this.
I would like to also state before I get into full blown rant mode that there are a few shining stars out there in the critic world. A few people with actual experience in the industry they are writing about, and possibly an education as well. However for the most part we got a lot of substitute teachers out there spouting a lot of subjective misinformation to compensate for their feelings of inadequate intellect and really the fact that they suck at most things in life so they want to bring down those that don't suck.
My main problem with critics is that they state opinions as if they were facts. When writing about your personal experience eating a meal or listening to an album....it's entirely subjective, therefore facts are skewed by your own personal tastes and biases. You cannot say just because you didn't enjoy the prawn cocktail at said bistro that it's not any good. You just didn't like it . Some people may like it. You cannot say that just because you don't like the guitar tone on the new Anthrax album that it's not any good. What might not sound good to you might sound good to me (For the record I love what I've heard from the new Anthrax disc). As Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies once said "Just because you don't know what's goin on doesn't mean it ain't no good". Double negative aside.....that's bang on!
The other thing I hate is how critics all act like snotty little know it alls, cutting down people who are ten times as successful as they. Take this recent example from the Globe And Mail, Alexandra Gill reviews Ensemble restaurant in Vancouver. Which if you aren't aware is the new restaurant run by Chef Dale Mackay, the winner of Top Chef Canada. Here is the link if you want to check it out......
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-reviews/top-chef-winner-triumphs-in-his-own-restaurant/article2092160/print/
Overall she gives a positive review but that's not my point, it's the literary devices and overall spoiled brat attitude that comes across. Just look at this snobby twit trying to talk like she knows anything! She's talking to a guy who was on Gordon Ramsay's opening team, was one of Daniel Bolud's top guys, and now has won the biggest cooking show in Canada like she knows better than him how the dishes should be served!
"This extra note – the layer that separates a top chef from a great chef – is missing from your herb risotto, which is technically excellent – loose and creamy – but boring. Same with the roasted beet and fresh ricotta salad, which would be much creamier and delicious if served at room temperature."
Really? Is that so? Let me ask where did you do your schooling? Who did you apprentice under? What credentials do you have to tell a Top Chef winner how he should be serving his food?
Oh that's right you don't have any, you just write for a newspaper. Also how can a risotto that is technically excellent be boring?
"Now the pulled pork sandwich is one you probably should be doing differently in the restaurant. You won this challenge because you were able to use a pressure cooker to pull off a good braise under tight constraints that would be easy for home cooks to replicate. But you’re not cooking at home and you’re no longer pressed for time. Although the sauce is lovely and deeply smoky, your pork butt tastes like a dry sponge."
For one, you are missing the point of the dish. It's on there because it's a Top Chef winning dish for one, so it's something cool for casual diners and fans of the show to try, and at it's price point is an affordable option. Also have you ever slow cooked pork butt? Have you ever educated yourself in southern BBQ? I'm gonna take a wild shot in the dark and guess that you haven't. Do you know for a fact that he is not pressed for time? Do you understand how long it takes to properly slow cook pork butt? Do you understand how difficult it is to serve something like that hot and fresh in a fine dining setting? Have you ever attempted something like that? Obviously not. You just write for a newspaper.
That brings me to my next point. Who are these people anyways? Where did they train? Where did they go to school? The answer is....they are WRITERS. Their job is to sell newspapers. They don't present good unbiased professional opinions, they say what they think needs to be said for people to want to read it, sell papers and therefore keep their jobs. They may be qualified to write but they are certainly not qualified to offer professional opinions on food, music or really anything else they are not trained or experienced in.
If I ran the show, every food critic would have to be a chef or a waiter for at least a year before being allowed to write a column and get paid for it. Every music critic would have to be in a band. Write, record and release an album, then go sweat it out in the clubs and on tour in front of a real live audience for at least a year before gettin paid to spout off opinions about other peoples hard work.
So what's my point in all this? Two points. 1) I hate most critics, and have zero respect for about 98% of them in all fields. 2) Please for the love of all that is sacred and good in this world, don't read a critics review of a restaurant, an album, a movie or anything else and base your decision as to whether or not to buy or check out said product around the review. Use your own brain and senses and go see for yourself.
As Ernest Hemingway once said "Critics are the kind of people who watch a battle from a high place, then come down and shoot the survivors"
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