KitchenManiac

The Toronto International Film Festival is on. 30 sec clip from my fav kitchen movie, The Hundred-Foot Journey. The omelette scene where Hassan teaches Madame Mallory a twist on the traditional omelette.

If you are into DIM SUM (like me), you gotta watch the attached short video. WARNING: Keep a napkin handy to wipe the drool off you keyboard.

Dim Sum with Raymond Moriyama. Great Architect, Philosopher and Inspiration. By the way... Raymond and I can both pack away the dim sum - especially the spicy deep fried tofu.

Our tour guide in Lyon had never heard of Julia Child. Their hero is Chef Paul Bocuse.

#5: Lyonaise call their city, The World Capital of Gastronomy they’re not kidding. #4: In Toronto we talk baseball & hockey. In Lyon, they talk sausages & cheeses. #3: Bresse are the French royalty of chickens. They’re sold with their heads to indicate freshness. #2: It’s one thing to chop an onion at home. It’s another thing to chop it in a cooking class in Lyon with everybody watching.... And the #1 thing I learned in Lyon was: I thought we could walk into Paul Bocuse (Michelin 3 star) Restaurant. Then I found out the waiting list is a year and half.

Thanks to Bennett McCardle for sharing. The video is really worth watching.

ONLY KIDDING! But this Fall I cooked like a Pilgrim at a Hardcore Hearth Cooking Class’ with Kathleen Wall, culinary historian at Plimoth Plantation, Massachusetts. Making dishes over the open fire like boiled duck, roasted quail and fried pumpkin was smokey, tedious labour. But the Pilgrims brought spices such as cinnamon, ginger, mace and butter with them, and to my surprise - the food was totally delicious. Being a Pilgrim was work, work, work, but at least the food was tasty. Happy U.S.Thanksgiving.

Corynne's Island of Joy. Corynne's island is not just the centre of her kitchen, it's the centre of her whole house. Great friend, Corynne Courpas, cook and entertainer extraordinaire, has a kitchen island that everybody loves to visit. Stretching across her open concept kitchen of stainless steel appliances and funky light fixtures, the two level island is the centrepiece of her house, where she lays out bountiful platters of beef tenderloin, roasted turkey breast and crispy green salads for her lively parties (and ...oh yes, copious amounts of free flowing wine). Voila! Functional kitchen island morphs into an ebullient food and wine bar and everybody digs in. Cleverly designed with enormous storage space and a gleaming black granite countertop, it's an island where she brings together friends, food and great joy.

Sensational '70's Kitchen at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Queens, New York City. Louis Armstrong, legendary trumpeter, singer, movie star and King of Jazz, was a multi-millionaire, but chose to live with his wife Lucille in a modest house in the working class neighbourhood of Queens. Although the house is fascinating, of course my fav room was the Blue Heaven Kitchen. Designed by wife Lucille in 1970, I was surrounded by banks of curvy turquoise cabinets, a custom-made... six burner double oven and futuristic built in appliances that the Jetsons would boast about (including a blender that's built right into the counter-top). I could almost picture Lucille over the stove, making Louis his favourite dish, red beans and rice. Amongst his friends, family, music and great food, Satchmo truly did have a Wonderful World. Kitchen photos by Lisa Kahane and are published with the authorization of the Louis Armstrong House Museum. See more

The Butler's Pantry is Back. What would Carson say? At the end of the 19th century, the kitchen moved up from the basement (a la Downton Abbey) to the ground floor of the house for better health, sunlight and ventilation. As a result, the Butler's Pantry was designed as an intermediary space between the dining room and the kitchen where the Lady of the House would meet with the Butler and Cook to discuss dining plans. (She never stepped into the kitchen). Today, the Butler's Pantry is Back in new builds and renovations as walk-in kitchen storage, home offices, powder rooms and cook book libraries. Carson might say... We'll just have to make do, My Lord....

Kitchen of the Future: Bye Bye to Limp Lettuce. Growing your own sprouts, microgreens, herbs and lettuce is coming to a kitchen near you. With the intense demand for fresh vegetables and better health, contemporary kitchens are being designed with special lighting, temperature control and watering techniques to grow micro-greens right in the kitchen counter. Urban Cultivator has a unit that slides into kitchen cabinets or a central island that controls everything for growing right down to relative humidity. Bring on the crunch.

Kitchen in Paradise. Deep Cove, British Columbia. My lovely cousins, Joyce and Paul Pearlstone and Grace Kamitakahara live in Paradise - and they know it. Surrounded by rustling bamboo, towering cedars and overlooking the spectacular waters of the Pacific Ocean, the post and beam home, designed by Joyce, is rooted in simplicity and in tune with the rhythms of nature. The kitchen is the centre of the open concept house and is graced with custom cabinetry crafted by Paul himself. With freshly caught salmon and succulent shrimp plucked out of the water right off their wharf, it's hard to think that life could be any more idyllic than this.