Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 52: Chef in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Chef Colby Adams, the celebrated Chopped Canada finalist, joins us for an unforgettable episode filled with tales of culinary passion and fishing adventures. Discover how a city boy became an avid fisherman, reeling in impressive lake trout and northern pike at the beautiful Brabant Lodge on Great Slave Lake. Colby shares the experiences that led him to the Mackenzie River's mouth and reflects on the therapeutic joys of fishing. Listen as we recount our journey from the thrill of the catch to preparing exquisite dock-to-table dishes like ceviche, turning freshly caught fish into gourmet masterpieces.
Explore the relentless and exhilarating world of professional kitchens through Chef Colby's eyes. From his humble beginnings in Mississauga to the high-stakes environment of intense kitchen service, Colby opens up about the challenges and triumphs of his career. Hear about his early days making homemade chicken nuggets and home fries, his stint at Dairy Queen, and the unforgettable moment a colleague seared a thumb in dedication. Dive into the chef's participation in a high-pressure cooking competition, where creativity and quick thinking turned mystery ingredients into culinary gold.
Tight lines, everyone!
Chef Colby Adams, the celebrated Chopped Canada finalist, joins us for an unforgettable episode filled with tales of culinary passion and fishing adventures. Discover how a city boy became an avid fisherman, reeling in impressive lake trout and northern pike at the beautiful Brabant Lodge on Great Slave Lake. Colby shares the experiences that led him to the Mackenzie River's mouth and reflects on the therapeutic joys of fishing. Listen as we recount our journey from the thrill of the catch to preparing exquisite dock-to-table dishes like ceviche, turning freshly caught fish into gourmet masterpieces.
Explore the relentless and exhilarating world of professional kitchens through Chef Colby's eyes. From his humble beginnings in Mississauga to the high-stakes environment of intense kitchen service, Colby opens up about the challenges and triumphs of his career. Hear about his early days making homemade chicken nuggets and home fries, his stint at Dairy Queen, and the unforgettable moment a colleague seared a thumb in dedication. Dive into the chef's participation in a high-pressure cooking competition, where creativity and quick thinking turned mystery ingredients into culinary gold.
Tight lines, everyone!
This episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner is brought to you by Nordic Point Lodge A luxury outdoor experience with five-star service.
Speaker 2:But for me, you know I got into this because I loved hospitality and I stuck with it because there's something incredibly satisfying about, just like with fishing, I feel like with the whole process, start to finish.
Speaker 1:This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio podcast Networks Diaries of a Lodge Owner. I'm excited to introduce to you another fine chef. I met this young, outstanding gentleman while on the road with the boys shooting the 2025 season of the Fish and Canada television show. With close to two decades of training in the industry, this Chopped Canada finalist was at his finest when we were shooting at Brabant Lodge in the land of the midnight sun, and it is my pleasure to introduce Chef Colby Adams On this show. We enjoy some time together fishing out of one of the lodge's 18-foot Alaskan boats tied to Brabant's world-class dock, and after hearing this podcast, you will understand why Brabant's Doc is world class. We find out what motivated Colby's career choice and what brought this chef to the mouth of the Mackenzie River on Great Slave Lake. So if you love food and great stories, listen up, folks, because there may be a recipe or two tangled up in this one. Welcome to the show, folks.
Speaker 1:I am so excited to be here with Chef Colby and I'm sure it's going to be an amazing episode. But before we get to that and his recipes and all of that great stuff, I must admit I've been slacking on answering your questions and that's important to me and I must apologize. I'm going to do better and I'm going to do better starting right now. And, like I say, before we get into it with Chef Colby here, I have a question from let's see here Paul Rusin, and Paul's question is I was listening to the episode with Frank Angaro and Gary Thibault and I believe Frank Angaro made the comment about avoiding seed oils. Does that mean flax seed oil, hemp seed oil etc. Are bad for you? Well, I can't answer for Frank and what I will do is I'll reach out to Frank and see what his answer is. But this is my answer and I don't claim to be a herbal doctor, but I have done a lot of research in the area of natural health because I've struggled with health myself and I just I prefer to deal with things naturally.
Speaker 1:And as far as flax seed oil and hemp seed oil, and that especially those two, no, I believe that those oils are healthy for you. I think that Frank was talking about hydrogenated oils, oils like canola oil and vegetable oil, highly processed, terribly bad for you. Oils that at high heat go rancid and are overused, like at restaurants, where that oil sits in the fryer for far too long and doesn't get changed. When you start talking about flax seed oil and hemp seed oil in particular, I believe that they're probably two of the healthiest oils in the world. Flaxseed oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain function, heart health. It also contains lignans, which have been known to have anti-cancer properties. Hemp seed oil, on the other hand, is very high in gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA, which has been linked to reducing inflammation and improving your skin. It also contains a great balance of your omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which is important to your overall health. You can use them both topically, especially hemp seed oil. If you use it topically, it is great for your skin. As mentioned above, although we were talking about intaking it, it actually penetrates deeply into your skin and nurtures all of those skin cells that are below the surface, great sources of antioxidants which help prevent disease and helps the body against oxidative stress. They're just, they're wonderful, wonderful oils. They are both easy to number one incorporate into your diet.
Speaker 1:I use them along with olive oil in salads. I prefer to use one of those oils with apple cider, vinegar, salt and pepper, and that makes a great salad. That makes a great salad. I also draw on my grandmother's old recipe and use a little bit less of the apple cider vinegar, but I still use it and I also will add kefir. She used to add heavy cream right from the barn, from the cows. She'd add heavy cream with a little bit of vinegar, olive oil, hemp seed oil one of those three oils and then she called it cucumbers and cream, but she also added well, there was the cucumbers and onions chopped up onions, and I like to add tomato in it as well, and that makes a wonderful salad and the dressing to soak up with fresh bread, although fresh bread is.
Speaker 1:If you're extremely health conscious, it's one of those things that you may avoid a little. But you know what? Go for the sourdough and sop that stuff up, man, it is just delicious. But yeah, like I mean to answer your question and to finish it off, you can get those oils into smoothies and you can also buy capsules and do all of that stuff. The one caveat I will add into that is it's important that they are cold pressed and unrefined, because once you start heating up those seeds to extract the oil, it kills all of the positive effects. And also if you're looking for the truest and cleanest, most positive effects of these oils. It's always best to go to the source and go to the seeds themselves. So I would also be incorporating hemp seed and flax seed into your diet.
Speaker 1:Now, the flax seed, you're going to want to get it, um, um, uh, cracked and crushed, um, and then I put that right in smoothies. Actually, one thing that I do with that hemp seed, that's uh, that's cracked. I'll add it into um tuna. Uh, I like to, uh, I like to throw that right into tuna salad and and I don't use mayonnaise when I mix up my tuna fish for sandwiches I'll make wraps. I like eating it on a lettuce wrap. But take that hemp seed, throw it right, or, sorry, the flax seed, throw it right in with the tuna. It actually, once it soaks up, I use vinegar and a little bit of oil, salt and pepper same deal and it soaks that up and you can't even tell the difference. It almost has the same consistency as the tuna itself and it's wonderful. Just put everything in there. I'm one of those guys where, if it tastes pretty good, I'll just throw everything in there, because it all goes to the same spot anyway. But yeah, so there you have it.
Speaker 1:Hemp seed and flaxseed oils are definitely, in my opinion, healthy. They may have some adverse effect depending on who you are and what your body is like, but for the most part, in my opinion and again I'm not a doctor but they are very healthy, have very, um, uh, healthy, uh uses, uh and uh, yeah. So I'm pretty sure that Frank was talking about hydrogenated seed oils and yeah, so we'll go from there. And now we get into this with Chef Kobe. Kobe, welcome, welcome to you. I'll tell you what. I just want to paint a picture for everybody listening. Right now I am standing in a boat, correct, with my good friend tied to the dock at Brabant Lodge, and it's probably, I'm going to say, 9.30, maybe 10 o'clock at night, yeah, and the sun is up as if it was 7 o'clock in the evening.
Speaker 1:Oh, but maybe even more yeah 5 pm and Brabant is on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, in the land of the midnight sun, sure is. And because my voice sounds a little bit muffled, it's because I'm smoking a stogie and all you little fellas out there. Don't even start, don't even start.
Speaker 2:Terrible, delicious, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:But I, just before we get into your journey as a chef and all of that to your journey as a chef and all of that, let's talk about a world-class dock and I don't think there's anybody on staff that can talk about this dock the way that you can, because I see you out here fishing every moment that you can be out here Morning, night, night, morning.
Speaker 2:It's almost all daytime here, which is the nice part. There's not a lot of night fishing happening, you know.
Speaker 1:It's hard not to be on the water for 15 hours a day.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know I'm cooking a lot. I'm a city boy. Before I got here, I hadn't fished in probably 20 years and, uh, there's something incredibly meditative about this process you know no doubt the muscle memory, the repetition of it, um, and after yeah, after cooking, after sweating, after writing menus, doing all those things like taking like the mental, it's not even a mental break, it's just a mental recharge. Yeah, you know, out here on the water, um, it's therapeutic, it's incredibly therapeutic, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Therapeutic and like I mean. Just so people understand how many fish do you catch in a day?
Speaker 2:Um, realistically 10 to 12. Uh, a good day, you know, I think, like the biggest one so far was that. Was that really nice laker we had for?
Speaker 1:and really nice is 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was it was a really nice dock fish, for sure yeah, you know that's the kind of fish like my, my uncle and my cousin are our big fishermen and, uh, they are. I don. You know that's the kind of fish like my uncle and my cousin are big fishermen and they are. I don't know if it's jealousy or hatred for me, right now it's somewhere in the middle, I think.
Speaker 1:I know we used to go fishing on Lake Kippawa in Quebec when I was a kid and a 13, 14-pound lake trout was a fish that we fished all week for never mind off the dock. I caught a laker just I was straightening my line. This morning. I saw that and right in this position in this boat, I cast it out and got an 8-pound lake trout.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And the northern pike, like I mean, everybody calls northern pike hammer handles and snot rockets and everything else. But to me a hammer handle or a snot rocket is like a 12, 15-inch northern, you know, maybe up to 20. You guys are calling like 30-inch northern snot rockets.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. You got one on oh, you got one on oh, yeah, boy yeah, he's on there it's crazy sometimes, like earlier this afternoon, my friend, like one of the guides, logan and I it seemed like every three minutes one of us were pulling something up. Yeah, it was nuts.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's crazy, it's crazy let me see if I can help you with this guy. What do we got here? Oh, it's crazy. It's crazy. Let me see if I can help you with this guy. What do we got here? Oh, it's a northern.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's a good size. Yeah well, that's what you guys call a snot rocket. This is about a 29-inch northern right here. It's ridiculous, honestly. The old one he ate that. Yeah, come here, little feller, you a little nugget, oh yeah. And the nice thing about the fishing up here is it's legally all barbless Absolutely so. When you're doing surgery, it makes it a hell of a lot easier to get these hooks out. Sure does, although this young gentleman here, this one in particular maybe not, he ate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to get there. Oh, I thought I had it, but we're going to get it out. But yeah, like I mean, it is ridiculous the way that the fishing is Want spudders no, I got her, it's just he's got it. He's got it in there, right in there. Eh, oh, he'll be fine, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I know He'll be good. Yeah, that's the thing Like. Even I remember growing up fishing with my dad and stuff and like heck, probably half the fish we just mangled yeah you, it was all like perch and sunfish and garbage but that was a lot of dead perch and this fella in particular with that hook set.
Speaker 1:Oh there he goes in a splash he took off. Oh yeah, that fish would have been a dinner table fish, but not him. He's gone back to grow to 25, 30 pounds.
Speaker 2:We're going to wait until he's a little better off, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and on that note, let's talk like I mean, the fishing off the dock is ridiculous. But let's talk a little bit about field to table Absolutely, and I know that's something that you've mentioned a couple of times but we've not really talked about it. But I know that since we've been here and it's been about four days there have been a number of occasions where our apps and everything else is dock to table.
Speaker 2:Very much so. Within 24 hours often less than that between when it's in the water to on the table. Yeah, I think this week in particular I think it's been three Lakers I've done two eight-pounders and a 13-13. So we did ceviche. Actually, the boys brought back some walleye for that and it was outstanding, thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was phenomenal. That's the first time I've had ceviche-style walleye and I think that it's probably my favorite way to eat it. The texture is really, really nice, stunning, yeah, and we actually did a piece on on the for YouTube when you prepared it, yeah, that we did the shoot for that, absolutely so you can folks look for that it's. It's ridiculous, it's amazing, that's just it.
Speaker 2:When it comes down to like farm to table, field to table, sea to table in this case, river to table, it just requires, like I don't want to say, it makes my job easy, but it makes my job a hell of a lot easier.
Speaker 1:Oh, you know, and for me, as a lodge owner, I oh, there was a bump. Oh, I would have loved to have been able to do that. Yeah, I see do that yeah, I see him following.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's trailing you.
Speaker 1:That's okay. That's okay, yeah, and I'll be honest with you. I've fished lake trout for many years and I've eaten lake trout and it was my least favorite fish, to be honest, like I didn't like lake trout at all, fair, but the way that you did it, um, the lake trout might take a beating now, yeah, because it was excellent I appreciate that very much now the first time that you did late. It's twice that we've eaten it. Yeah, so the first time, what did you do with it? Oh, there's one there you go right up.
Speaker 1:thank you, that was a wonderful release right there that was easy peasy I love that I know Like I mean, we're looking at the fish and trying to pull the baits away from them because they're too small, you know.
Speaker 2:Um, so the first time we we made fish tacos a couple days ago. Oh, that's right. Yeah, we did those fish tacos, yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I did like a hard cast. Oh, that's a nice one. It was a nice one, but I should really set the hook on these guys.
Speaker 2:We'll get there, it's turning on you know, yeah, that was great. That was like a cast iron seared, super lightly cured. I did about like a 30 minute cure on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what do you cure it?
Speaker 2:with. I tend to do like a two to one salt to sugar. Yeah, I usually use brown sugar flavors is better.
Speaker 1:Is it a liquid, or do you just pot it down?
Speaker 2:just pot it, just pot it down with the salt and sugar so I'll do usually like I guess, say, for example, tonight, like we did that smoked trout tonight, yeah, um, which turned out awesome and I did a bit longer of a cure as a fatter fish, right, those fillets were about, uh, probably four pounds each. Yeah, they were big fillets and um, so I did uh two to one.
Speaker 1:Do that when it's still in one large fillet.
Speaker 2:It's easiest yeah, especially for smoking sake. Yeah, um, if I was doing portioned like seared fish, I would portion it first. Yeah, um, just to make sure the ed, like all every piece, is perfect, yeah, but when I'm smoking like a whole fish, like that, like I just want to make it as easy as possible for myself, to be honest, yeah, and then so then I also add in usually for this I did the juice and zest of one lemon, about half a bunch of dill, yeah, and probably a couple tablespoons of cracked pepper.
Speaker 1:Right on, and that's when you were cooking it.
Speaker 2:That was just for the cure.
Speaker 4:Oh, and that's all the cure and that's all the rub. Right, yeah, that's just a dry rub oh.
Speaker 1:So that's like a six-hour dry rub, okay.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:Oh, there's another one.
Speaker 2:That's a baby though. Six-hour dry rub and then I rinsed that in Mackenzie River lake water, yeah, and then did a pine and poplar smoke for about two hours Right on Like a medium heat smoke, yeah, and then just kept it wrapped, let it sit for about three hours and it was served just on a bit of a cracker with like a cilantro lime yogurt.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, it was outstanding. Now, the thing that I found with lake trout when I would cook it or buddies of mine would cook it it was very greasy and lardy, almost it left a lardy film on my mouth. Is there anything that you're doing? Are you cutting any of that red fat off the fillet that you're doing like? Are you cutting any of that red fat off the fillet, or or is it I? I I'm thinking that it could be just the that curing process, because we didn't cure at all yeah, that takes a lot of that it.
Speaker 2:It tends to break down a lot of the fats that are happening in there. Yeah, um, which is where that greasiness comes from. Yeah, uh, the other factor with lake trout is, a lot of times if you cook it with like I tend to just cook it with butter I find the oils if I use especially like vegetable oils, it tends to almost release more fats from the fish. Oh, really, I don't know why, I don't know if that's science, I don't know if that's just a me thing, but that's just like a process that I've found to be true. So, like, I find the curing process just staying away from adding any more fats altogether yeah Is a really great method to stop that greasiness from happening. Yeah, but again, we're also lucky. You know the fish was out of the water for 16 hours, right, so it didn't be, it wasn't sitting in a fridge, it wasn't sitting in somebody's cold storage, yeah, you know, and, yeah, you know, and in the Mackenzie River, which comes out of Great Slave Lake, like I mean, the third largest lake in the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's also still very cold. It's like about 44 degrees still right now, so it's not like the fish, oh.
Speaker 1:There, I set the hook on that fella.
Speaker 2:Nice, yeah, you know. So. It's like just the cold factor of the water is a big. Oh, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, another one. And when we say nice, we're talking like 25 to 35-inch northerns here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're a bit blessed.
Speaker 1:They're extremely nice and we're just letting them go beside the boat with these barbless hooks.
Speaker 2:It's awesome, it's beautiful Quick catch and release.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, we were so rudely interrupted by another, by another pike.
Speaker 2:How dare they, you know, yeah, be so plentiful around here. The audacity.
Speaker 1:I know, I know, yeah, I know, Because that, so it would be the curing process that it draws, it yeah. And then and then cooking it in. Now there, peter, the owners standing behind us, also hammering these northern, so I think he's got here. There you go. Yeah, so that's great to know Because, honestly, I would never have eaten lake trout unless I had been here and tasted yours.
Speaker 2:That means a lot. I'm very grateful for that. Wow, and I feel like, well, you know that process, that curing process, helps a lot of fishier proteins. Like, if I'm ever cooking scallops, I'm doing like a light cure on that. Yeah, draws out some of the moisture and just makes it, makes the mouth feel a lot better you know.
Speaker 1:And again, to recap, that's just salt, sugar, little zest of lemon, lemon or dill or whatever herbs.
Speaker 2:You got kicking around A couple of hours on that, but the main thing is two to one, salt to sugar and I go with brown. Like I said, it's just more flavor. Yeah, if you can use honey or you got something like a lot of times folks don't want to Maple syrup. You don't want to do like refined sugars, you want to stick to natural stuff. It's a great alternative for you.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
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Speaker 3:Hi everybody.
Speaker 1:I'm Angelo Viola.
Speaker 5:And I'm Pete Bowman.
Speaker 1:Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast that's right.
Speaker 5:Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal.
Speaker 1:Radio. Hmm, now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
Speaker 5:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 4:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing.
Speaker 5:Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists.
Speaker 4:Now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe. It's the perfect transmission environment for line to see.
Speaker 5:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it and whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are Outdoor.
Speaker 3:Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 5:Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1:So let's talk a little bit about how you got into the business. Certainly Because by the quality of the food. I know for sure that there's definitely been a lot of practice in some realm or field. How did you, what did you do to get yourself to this point?
Speaker 2:Certainly, it's been a heck of a journey. I'm in my mid-early 30s right now. I'm from Mississauga originally.
Speaker 1:That guy come right to the side of the boat. We have a fighter.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right at the side of the boat we have a fighter.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right at the side of the boat. Oh hell yeah, I didn't have a foot of line out.
Speaker 2:I was going to say I thought you were just picking a reel up there.
Speaker 1:No, I was. I was just lifting it out to make another cast, yeah, so yeah, so I'm from Mississauga.
Speaker 2:You know, growing up I just my folks, worked a lot, so I had, I was, I was making a lot of chicken nuggets and frozen home fries. Yep, like all of us, like all of us. And now you know, 20 years later, I'm not going to lie. I do, I love my chicken nuggets and my home fries. So, but it was I started cooking out of necessity, more than anything, you know. Yeah, just sick of the frozen stuff, sick of the same old. I've been in hospitality since my first job at Dairy Queen when I was 13. Yeah, so it's been basically 20 years in hospitality. At this point, I briefly left. I left for about six weeks and tried door-to-door sales.
Speaker 2:How'd that go. I begged for my job back about six weeks in Just hated it. It was like I was in my. I was like early 20s. I was getting my ass kicked in kitchens, you know, and like pans were being thrown and like words were being and I was like, let's talk about that because I'm pretty sure that part of the business is not just something that happened to you.
Speaker 1:No, that's a pretty universal truth and I'm going to be honest with you. A lot of them were a little on the crazy side.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that's a fair. That's a really nice way of putting it. I'm grateful that you put it that way, all great people. Of course.
Speaker 2:You know, passion and like it's not one of those jobs that you do because you know the hours are great or the money's great or it gives you a great chance to have a family. You know, like you know, spend all this time with your kids. That's not what it's been about, at least in my experience. You know there's a lot of opportunities for folks that do get to do that, but for me, you know, I got into this because I loved hospitality and I stuck with it because there's something incredibly satisfying about just like with fishing, I feel like with the whole process, start to finish. You know you get to. With fishing, you reel it up Like look at this, this is beautiful. Yeah, I know. Like look at this this is beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2:Like wild, but I mean, it's not for everyone. You know, like I said, there's cooking and there's chefing, right, yeah, and I love cooking more than I love chefing, for sure.
Speaker 1:So do you remember one crazy moment? That kind of stands out where you were like, oh my God, I don't know what's going on? Or did you ever have any reservations?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. I think there was a moment in one of my first kitchens I was working in and the guy who was on the the meat station we had a flat top and a grill and he was I was on a station called entremetier at the time so like, uh, side dishes and stuff, yeah. So, um, that's one of my favorite stations. It's just a busy. You're just getting smoked all day it's just side dishes for every entree in the place, right? So you have like 12 burner station and you just have 10 pans on the go.
Speaker 2:It's awesome. But this guy, he was slicing one of his steaks to serve and he cut off the tip of his thumb. This is a restaurant that did about 600, 700 covers a day. So we were just in the middle of a Saturday night dinner service. He turns around and sears his thumb on the flat top oh no. And then duct tapes and goes back to work.
Speaker 2:And I was standing there I was like 19. I was like I don't know if I can do that. I don't know if I have the willpower to not stop what I'm doing and deal with something like that. And, like you know, I've had a lot of opportunities since then, a lot of quite some significant injuries in kitchens and, at the end of the day, you know what injuries in kitchens and, um, at the end of the day, you know what, when, when the guests are the most important person in the room, and when that plate of food, you know what went into it. You know all the prep that went into it. You know all the money it costs. Yeah, I've I've figuratively turned around and seared my thumb on that flat top quite a few times.
Speaker 1:you know, yeah, I know exactly that's awesome.
Speaker 2:So it was a bit of a stressor off the bat but in hindsight that was a really great lesson in putting guests first realistically.
Speaker 1:And there's another one here, I'll give you a hand. Thanks, bro. Yeah, wow, that's it for sure. Like I mean, you know, there he goes Back home, back home. But I'd appreciate it if you tell Grandpa it's dinnertime.
Speaker 2:Yeah right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, and I know, in those situations, even in small kitchens, in the moment, it's high stress, absolutely Like it's high stress. In the moment it's high stress, absolutely Like it's high stress. And, um, it's. It's one of those things where, being a guy that I cooked for myself, for my family, for sure, and I had no idea when I bought the lodge what I was getting into, that's reasonable. And and seeing seeing the stress level that can occur in a kitchen was eye-opening, very much so. And to the point where and all the folks out there listening I've told this story before, I'll just give you an idea.
Speaker 1:But I had a couple of chefs and towards the end of the year, for whatever reason, I was down to my head chef and it was a lot of work. We were cooking for, you know, 30 to 40 people a night, yeah, breakfast, lunch, dinner, mm-hmm. And he come to me and said no, you know, I can't do it, it's too much. Yeah, and being on an island and with six weeks left, we had a conversation and he didn't leave me high and dry, but the solution was to find a breakfast chef, so he didn't get up in the morning, that's it. Right was to find a breakfast chef, so he didn't get up in the morning. That's it right.
Speaker 1:And being in that situation, trying to find somebody to work for six weeks, was next to impossible, no doubt. And he looked me in the eye and he said I have a solution for that. And I said what he said. I'm looking at the breakfast chef and it turned out to be me. You took the role. Eh, I did. And, long story short, I got cocky After. It was all we did. He said all we're going to do is buffet. Yeah, after about two and a half weeks of doing buffet every week, You're like I can step this up.
Speaker 1:I'm like this is easy. Yeah, I got this. So I told Jen, one of my servers. I said, hey, jen, you know I can do this. We're going to do plated. Oh yeah, yeah, why not, buddy? I got my ass kicked the next morning to the point where I had to go wake Dave up and say Dave, come and help me, please help, I'm dying. Immediate regret. Oh, yeah, buddy, but no, so it's one of those things where I know how stressful behind the scenes it can get. Yeah, and relationships are so important and I always talk to the chefs and servers because I used to run head chef, sous chef, assistant chef, yep, and four or five servers, assistant chef, yeah, and, uh, four or five servers. And before we got into situations where, you know, people were under stress, yelling, and yeah, you know, I told them.
Speaker 1:I understand that it's going to happen absolutely, and I want you to understand that what happens in the kitchen stays in the kitchen, that's always the case and also know that when you leave this building although you never left each other because you're living on an island oh yeah, you know, work stays in the kitchen.
Speaker 2:Absolutely At the end of service. Reset Like service is service.
Speaker 1:Because some people don't understand that and if you don't explain it it gets very difficult. But if you can keep that line of communication open between the front of the house and the back of the house, it's so key.
Speaker 2:Absolutely and just you know, just in general, being on the same page right, having the same expectations of service for, or quality of service, you know like Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Or quality of service, you know Absolutely, we were talking today about how like myself and our head server and the owners today, kat, we were talking about how much more valuable it is to have somebody in here that cares, right, yes, that notices the little things For sure, because it's really easy, especially, you know, going, know, going, like I'm used to a lot of fine dining and stuff, it's really easy for me to walk in here and and start stop looking at the little things because it's suddenly I'm, you know, I'm, it's, it's not, it's not three hundred dollars a plate anymore, you know. So, like it's, it's really easy to to kind of let that stuff slide.
Speaker 1:Well, and servers are a great resource for chefs. I would always tell the chefs because in the early days I kind of let things go yeah, I didn't know how to deal with shit. Of course I would run from it, yeah. And the servers they have to look the guests in the eye, yeah, but the chef, he's back in the kitchen. There's a wall there, yeah. And without getting the information from the front of the house to the chef, it makes things so much more difficult. And then you know, the last thing you want is there to be the server thinking that they're fighting for the guest and their needs yeah. And the chef thinking he's fighting for the guest yeah.
Speaker 1:And the quality of food, yeah, and then there's the clash in the middle and egos get involved and all of a sudden it erupts into something that I've seen some horrific fights. Oh yeah, you know, absolutely. And it's so important for that communication, you know.
Speaker 2:Oh, that looks like a good one that does feel like a good one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll get out of your way, but yeah, yeah, that was, that's all right. Oh yeah another hammer handle, a 28-inch hammer handle. But so listen, I'm here, we're shooting a show with Fish in Canada Doing our TV thing. Heck yeah, I heard a rumor that you also did a TV thing. I did do a TV thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 1:little bit about it. Certainly, I did a TV thing. Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 2:little bit about it. Certainly I did. I competed in Shop Canada. Yeah, about at this point. It would be about nine years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was very early on in my career. I was chefing at a place in PEI called the Inupiaq Fortune, which is a guy like Chef Michael Smith owns that restaurant. Yeah, so it was the first year of operation. It was a crazy and similar to what you said. Like I got my first head chef position out of what they call a battlefield promotion, you know where I was brought in as a junior sous and within the first six weeks the head chef was let go. Then the sous chef was moved up and then he was let go and it was like Colby, do you think you can do this? I was like I can try the battlefield promotion. Exactly, I like that and uh and so that tv experience was phenomenal. It was, um, it was uh, it's a one-day competition for chefs, uh, black box style competition. So what does that mean? So they'll give you in this case they give you four mystery ingredients per course, gotcha, and then you're on a very strict time limit. So appetizer's 20 minutes, yeah, entree's 30, dessert's 30 minutes Get out of here.
Speaker 1:It's wild dude. How do you do an app like an app or an entree in 30 minutes?
Speaker 2:Honestly, the app was the hardest because, like it was a new kitchen, it was like all, like I wasn't sure.
Speaker 1:You get one shot. It was just that's it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and like the way that show is represented in terms of how they show, like the process is very true life. Yeah, you know, like it was like once you open the basket, that real clock starts and there's a big clock that says 20 minutes, you know, and there's the stress factor dude.
Speaker 2:It's like it's one thing to be cooking, it's another to be cooking and have somebody six inches from your face going OK, kobe, just grab the rice vinegar. No, never mind the white wine vinegar. Ok, and now he's, he's seasoning, and so the whole time I'm cooking, there's somebody transcribing what I'm doing and I'm like every little bit and I'm making mistakes, I'm like don't, don't mention that part, you know like I don't want you.
Speaker 2:I don't want you to say that I forgot. I forgot how to use a robo coop for a second. Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, but it was. It was a ton of fun. First course was very challenging. They gave us us chicken hearts, chocolate, pie dough, sherry vinegar and toasted pumpkin seeds. That was a rough one. That was a rough course, my second two courses, but I knew. So what did you?
Speaker 1:do with the chicken hearts. Did you fry them? I should have fried them.
Speaker 2:I did like a chicken heart, chocolate pie dough pate.
Speaker 1:Pie okay.
Speaker 2:Which, flavor-wise, was fine, but the heart being such a working muscle, it didn't have enough time to break down. Yeah, so it was just a little tough. Yeah, but my goal for that show, and most of the time, is just to do something that other people wouldn't. Yeah, like, I knew I'm four people. I knew all three of those other people are deep frying those chicken hearts. Yeah, it's the easiest thing to do. Yeah, you know so. At the very least you know, be different, be different, like and I can be a little prideful about it you know, like I tried something different If I lost and lost.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know. So See, I love chicken hearts, I like chicken hearts too, you boil them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do, I love it, and I eat them with salt and pepper Just straight up, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love it. It probably wouldn't have been a winning thing.
Speaker 2:But like no, but the guy that it's like the guy that got kicked out the first round, did like he finished. It was just weird, man, it was just weird. But I knew the first couple rounds. You don't have to be the best, you just don't have to be the worst. Yeah, you know, just don't be the last person, yeah, and you'll go through. Yeah. So that was great. It worked out really. I survived. I would say I survived the appetizer. So you survived the appetizer. Yeah, it was these beautiful cod fillets.
Speaker 1:You know those you came from PEI.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I just come from PEI. And then you know those like maple cookies, yeah yeah. So maple cookies. I had a thing called ahi pepper paste, yeah, and what was the other thing? Something else.
Speaker 1:Now did you try the ingredients, Like taste them to try and get an idea how to put them together.
Speaker 2:Not even a little bit. Most honestly, most of my dishes composed, I didn't taste any of the of the components. Gotcha, I, just I, it was just tunnel vision. It was like I had the blinders on, yeah, and I never moved that fast in my life. Yeah, I don't remember most of it, like you just go into survival mode. Yeah and uh, and that was great. I did like a maple cookie, crusted cod with Sounds good. Oh, baby fennel was the other one. So I did some like braised baby fennel. And my other thing I wanted to do I wanted to showcase that I'm all about limited waste, so I used, I made fish broth, used fish broth to make a polenta, braised the fennel in fish broth as well. Nice With like roasted carrots and a little like ahi pan sauce thing. Yeah, and that was really good. Very happy with that course. And then desserts oh, there we go. Yeah, I'm a big dessert guy. I don't know if you noticed from the week you were here.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, your desserts have been outstanding. I love desserts.
Speaker 2:man, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1:That's a 34-incher right there yeah that's a nice fish dude, Absolutely, Absolutely. Oh yeah, and he's a Nice color to it too. Yeah, absolutely, I love fish like this. Yes, I noticed you were a dessert guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm a big sweets fan, so, like, realistically, you know, I like to cook what I like to eat, you know. Oh, yeah, I like to cook what I like to eat.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you did a couple of desserts this week and I was a good boy. I'm not supposed to be eating a lot of sugar, that's true, you were very good with that.
Speaker 2:I did God, yeah. Yeah, that is a nice fish, dude, that's a beautiful northern Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and actually Ange and Peter up on the deck, they're doing a podcast simultaneously. Yeah, they're where we call the peanut gallery right now.
Speaker 2:Yes, they are, but so. So, yeah, then dessert they gave. It was a weird one, but I knew I love ice cream, so I knew I wanted to make ice cream, yeah. So I didn't know what. But they gave us brie cheese, ginseng, these like apple fritter things, and something else, and so I made brie and ginseng ice cream.
Speaker 1:Oh my God it was wild dude.
Speaker 2:Wow, Absolutely wild.
Speaker 1:I would have loved to have tasted that you know what I would have too.
Speaker 2:I didn't even try it. And one of my guests, one of the judges, was suser lee. Yeah, and he said uh, best moment of my career up to that point was suser lee saying you should bottle this and take it to asia.
Speaker 2:and I was like oh my gosh, sir, like you legend, like you know that's awesome and uh. And then I came in. I came in second, so I didn't win, I lost in the. I didn't lose the dessert round, but I lost overall. You know, and they give you after a 16-hour day, they give you a $100 check and a glass of wine. Yeah, and Off, you went. Off, they went. Yeah, I said they were like all right, let's do our exit interview. And I said all right, I need three cigarettes and a beer please. I'm not doing anything until I figure out that that's right that's right.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it was a hell of a time, um long day. I would do it again, but with, uh, with just a different. You know, I, I, I'm more confident in my abilities now. Yeah, you know, I don't feel the need to judge stuff up as much anymore. Yeah, you know, I'm at a point where I know how to season stuff. I know how to use butter and wine properly.
Speaker 1:You know, like my foundation, and those are probably big things.
Speaker 2:They are for sure that a lot of like, a lot more like when I started cooking there was a I was. It was in the big like molecular gastronomy time, so people were making like pods of stuff and mousses and foams out of beets and shit.
Speaker 2:I'm like I don't like, that's like I tried it I tried it, but I I one of my first tattoos is a tattoo says saying keep it simple. Yeah, there's garlic and onions and a knife, and it just says keep it simple and it's a reminder to myself that like, the foundation of things is enough. Yes, you know like, and that's why I love comfort for people. Exactly, I call my like, my style, I call fine comfort food. Yeah, because it's like, it's comfort, it's approachable, it's recognizable.
Speaker 2:I'm not, I'm not turning stuff into what it isn't yeah you know, but it is, it's it's doing everything I can from scratch. Yeah, and you know, if I'm gonna catch a nice 13 pound lake trout, I'm gonna treat it well, with the respect it deserves. Yes.
Speaker 1:You know, I can tell you it tasted like it had all kinds of respect, and I know the most valuable and important ingredient that you use in every dish is love.
Speaker 2:Oh, buddy you do know that.
Speaker 1:I know and we've talked to, I've talked to a couple of chefs and oh, there's Peter up there. Yeah, and that comes through with the ones that are great. Yeah, and it's so important and I wish you all the best up here at Braebank. I really appreciate that. I really appreciate that my brother, it is just gorgeous here and you know it's tough working in a place that's so secluded, like it took us three plane flights to get here.
Speaker 2:Well, I was four, so you're lucky. There you go.
Speaker 1:I know and it's crazy. So I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy fishing day. Hey, this kept me away from dishes for an extra 40 minutes.
Speaker 2:Yeah cooking as a side. I'm very grateful that you took the time that y'all came up here. This is a heck of a week, you know for a first round of guests. Yeah, opening week, my first season up here, so to have folks like you that you know care about not just the fishing but the the whole experience. Yeah, you know, because it's like yeah yeah yeah, so it's uh, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you, by all means, my friend thank you, I appreciate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's hug it out, okay, folks. Thus concludes another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, and if you love it, like it, send some comments. Really appreciate it. Thanks very much for having me, my friend. Hey, it's my pleasure. I'm a good old boy Never meanin' no harm. I'll be all you ever saw, been railin' in the hog since the day I was born, Bendin' my rock stretchin' my line.
Speaker 5:Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how, working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:In every angler's heart lives a fishing paradise With stunning scenery and wildlife on a trophy, multi-species fishery, having outstanding accommodation and a food experience to die for. They treat you like royalty, tailor-making a package that works for you. Nestled in northwestern Ontario, nordic Point Lodge is that paradise, and Will and his team can't wait to show you a luxury outdoor experience with five-star service. So follow your heart.
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