Tom Firth
Tom Firth is a writer, wine consultant, judge and a member of the Wine Access National Tasting Panel. He loves to chat about all things wine and blogs for wineaccess.ca, tweets as @cowtownwine and is a general nuisance.
Interview with Paul Rogalski
Co-owner of Calgary's Rouge restaurant discusses the Cayman Cookout and Canada's culinary clout
Co-owner, Rouge Restaurant, Calgary
Age: 45
Hails from: Calgary, Alberta
Claim to Fame
Being one of Calgary's top chefs and the co-owner of Rouge Restaurant, which placed on the San Pellegrino World's 100 Best Restaurants list in 2010. He battled Iron Chef Bobby Flay on the hit reality show Iron Chef America, and he was one of the managing chefs at the Athletes' Village in Whistler during the 2010 Olympic Games.
How He Earned His Stripes
Working as a chef at top restaurants around the world, including Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Kuala Lumpur.
On being the only Canadian chef to participate at Cayman Cookout
I’m super honoured and really excited,” Rogalski says. "I'm just going to go with the flow. One thing I've always enjoyed doing is being impromptu. I like preparing a meal based on what I have. My focus will be doing my part to ensure the guests have a fabulous time."
Cayman Cookout will be held Jan. 12 to 15 2012. Rogalski will appear alongside some of the world's finest chefs, including Eric Ripert, April Bloomfield, Gail Simmons and Anthony Bourdain:
What he’ll be doing at the Cayman Cookout
Participating in a culinary demonstration, hosting a Paul Rogalski dinner at Abacus, a local restaurant, and contributing to the gala, which is themed The Best Thing I Ever Ate. “The first day, I’ll be meeting and greeting the guests alongside Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain. The next day, I’m on stage, first up, doing some sort of impromptu surprise black box dish,” he says. “Then I’ll be contributing one course, a soup course to the gala. “I think I’m going to make my foie gras mulligatawny. I’ve had such great success with that soup. It took me to the Canadian Culinary Championships.”
What He's Bringing to Cayman Cookout
“Crabapple gastrique,” he says, referring to a popular in-house sauce at Rouge, made from the restaurant’s own crabapple trees. “I’ll bring a taste of Canada down to the Caribbean."
On Canada’s Culinary Clout
“It’s been great for a very long time. We’re so lucky; we have phenomenal chefs across the country. Canada’s growing up and we’re starting to get a bit more attention.”
For more information on the Cayman Cookout, click here.
Photo: Jared Sych
Domaine Pinnacle, Serious Cider
A quick look at some of the Domaine Pinnacle Iced Ciders from Quebec avaialable on the market. Enjoyed over lunch at Calgary's Rouge restaurant with Charles Crawford.
I had a fantastic experience last week on the 23rd here in Calgary. Charles Crawford of Quebec's Domaine Pinnacle was in town to do some meeting and greeting promoting his Iced Ciders that are available in the market here. "Iced Ciders!!!???" you must be thinking, "what the heck?
