I have about 280 people working for me these days and since most of them toil in the restaurant division they do come and go. Some, though, have been with me for many years. And I have to admit that I sometimes get to feeling a little bit paternalist towards them – even though I have two great children of my own.
That’s why it can be difficult when some of them move on to do their own thing – even though it’s often time.
Now, I’ll be honest. I don’t much like it when, after years of working in my kitchen, some chef goes off to open his own place and does it with a bunch of my old recipes. Nobody likes that. However, when a chef I’ve trained moves on and takes with him some of the professionalism and dedication to quality that I try to impart — I really could not be any prouder.
That’s why I’m so pleased to see how well Rob Gentile has been received at Buca — by the critics, and most of all, the customers.
And it is part of the reason that I am a frequent customer, too. The other is that I like the food and the atmosphere. And after cooking as much I have over the years, and working on new dishes all day, very often the last thing I want to do when I get home at night is cook again for me and Roxanne.
So we often go to Buca. We like their salumi, the thin crust with tomato sauce and clams, the papardelle with shredded duck, the agnolotti with veal ragu, the whole grilled orata (sea bass) with olives and preserved lemon, and all those offal dishes and rustic Italian salads. It’s all very authentic in a way that Italian food hasn’t really been done here before – so it’s my first choice these days when I’m in the mood for eating Italian. And I guess it will continue to be – until July when my new Italian restaurant Fabbrica opens uptown across the street from McEwan.
Buca: 604 King Street West, (416) 865-1600
Celebrity chef Mark McEwan is the force behind some of Toronto’s finest restaurants, including Bymark, North 44 and One Restaurant. His latest venture, McEwan, is a gourmet food market at the Shops at Don Mills.
