Why "From the Hidden Kitchen"?

24 years ago, on a snowy Sunday morning, a somewhat timid fourteen year old boy walked up to the staff entrance of a pancake house in Southern Ontario, Canada. As he reached out to knock on the door, it was thrown open, knocking the boy on his backside into a rather significant snowdrift. An angry young man in a chef’s coat stormed out, leaving a trail of four-letter words and insults in his wake. A second head popped out a moment later. A burly man in a filthy chef’s coat took in the sight of the snow-covered boy and demanded to know what he wanted. “I’m the new dishwasher,” was the reply. After a moment’s consideration, he looked the boy in the face and asked, ”Can you cook?”

In that instant, I made the decision that was to set the rest of my life in motion.

Without even the slightest hesitation, I said, “Yes.” “Can you cook bacon? Sausage? Ham? Eggs? Burgers?” “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” A hand was extended and as I was helped out of the snowbank, I heard the fateful words that were to begin my culinary adventure. “You’re our new meat cook.”

Truth be told, I did resist for one brief second. “But I’m the new dishwasher.” “Meat cook pays $3 more an hour than dishwasher.” There was a pregnant pause. I stood a little straighter, brushed off the snow, and announced, “I’m your new meat cook.”

Since that morning, I have lived the greatest part of my life in kitchens. Basement kitchens. Back rooms. Closets with a stove and a deep fryer. Galleys with 3 microwaves and 2 hotplates. Grand hotel kitchens with more square footage than my last house. But always kitchens. And always hidden. Forever that magical place behind the swinging doors where the food comes from.

That hidden world has made me into the man I am today. I have had the privilege to work with incredible people. I have seen the impossible, achieved simply through the refusal to accept that it couldn’t be done. I have learned a great deal about food, people and life.

The time has come for the tales and secrets from the hidden kitchen to see the light of day…