CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

What was the first night like in a professional restaurant kitchen?

It was hell. Actually it was in New York at Nobu, and it was hell because the restaurant – still to this day – is continually packed and jammed. I just remember feeling I was so behind. It was the longest night of my life. Service itself was only maybe five hours, but it felt like five years. I would never catch up. I just remember the chits coming out of the computer, and I remember there was no room on her chit board any more. I would take a chit from the computer, put it up on the board in front of you, read the order and start going to it, and it got so full that there was no more room on the chit board. I was taking them and stuffing them in my pocket as a place to store them. I would get to them whenever, if there was a whenever. I didn’t even know.

Why’d you go back?

You would go home and it was stressful because it was that challenge. I would know tomorrow, I would do better. I would have to do better, and I’m going to get up earlier. I’m going to get there earlier. So this is the mountain I have to climb? It was – pardon my French – but it was a fuck you thing. It was always like, “Fuck you, tomorrow, I will get back there, and I will do better. And I can do this.”

What’s the name of your upcoming restaurant?

We haven’t decided yet. The address is 241 Spadina, so we’re thinking Strada – which is street in Italian – 241, and that’s it, really simple, But we’re not sure. We’ve got a bunch of names that we’re floating around, but it’s going to be very simple Italian food with a huge focus on a lot of baking and Italian breads and a lot of pastry that Robert, my pastry chef and partner in crime for the last 12 years, has been with me. We’re also going to be doing a lot of retail and takeout stuff as well. But yeah, really simple stuff.

What was the town again?

My parents, and family, are from Salerno, which is two hours south of Naples.

And the chef is from Salerno?

Yes, he’s coming from Salerno.

Is there one person that you’ve never cooked with before that you would really enjoy cooking with?

Yeah, there are many. Actually, there’s one that’s here for the event. He’s cooking on Friday night, and that’s Tetsuya, and he’s from Australia. I’m a huge fan of his.

Have you had his food before?

Yes. It was killer. He’s a god. Part of the reason I wanted to come here as well, there are a lot of chefs that are doing this event, they are people I used to study when I was a kid, and looked up to, and now having the opportunity to meet them and hang out with them, it’s kind of cool. It kind of blows your mind because I was just a kid when I first heard of these people, and now I’m meeting them.

Rebecca Tucker, National Post: Why go Italian now?

Because I am Italian. I did the Asia thing. That was a question that somebody asked me today, which was kind of cool. When my parents first came here, and I told them I didn’t want to go to university, because my brother and sister were going to university, they freaked out, so we decided that I would go to university for one year, and if I didn’t like it, they would move me on. I felt that I would like to write, so I went to Carleton for journalism, for one year, and I didn’t get in. The residency at Carleton is a lottery. It has nothing do with your marks. I didn’t get into their residency program, so I had to find a place to live, and I ended up living with two grad students. One was Japanese and the other was Chinese, and growing up in St. Catharines, there were no Japanese or Chinese. Because we were poor students, we would pool our money and buy groceries together. So we had 75 bucks a week to buy groceries for the whole week. So they were taking me to all the Asian markets. One night we would have Chinese food, the next night we would have Japanese food, and I would do the Italian stuff. That was my introduction. I was eating all this food and all these flavors were just blowing my mind. After one year at university, I was like, I have to go and do this, so I moved to New York and started working at a bunch of different places there. That’s basically been my love affair with food ever since. I think if I would have eaten it throughout my life, the fact that I discovered it as a young adult, I’ve always had this huge love affair right away. I’m still in love.

If you could only cook with one more protein?

Pork.

How come?

Because there are so many different parts of pork that you can utilize. Plus, I love the flavor. That’s pretty much the main reason why.

Do you feel like this trip will impact what you’re doing back in Toronto?

For sure. Every trip that we do and everything that we do, even the music has an impact on the food. It’s sort of like, the way I look at it, it’s like tearing apart a song. The lyrics are one thing and that could be the garlic. The guitar is one thing and that could be a spice. Then the drums kick in, and that could be the protein. Do you know what I mean? The trick is, how is it all going to work together? This is the same thing. The vocals kick in; it’s like food. It’s like everything coming together. If you work hard and think about it, you can swing all of it, and it’s like listening to music, I think. That’s why, even in the restaurant, I always make a point to make music a big part of the ambience of the dining room, because I think it’s important to have that kind of thing, because it hits the same senses. I’m actually reading a book right now that’s about that, and it talks about the similarities of how your brain works when you eat food and listen to music, and filter and you trigger different sides of your brain.

Rebecca Tucker, National Post: That’s right up my alley.

It’s called Music! Its Role and Importance in Our Lives.

Rebecca Tucker, National Post: It deals specifically with music and food?

It deals specifically with music, and it talks about the other senses and how they trigger, and how they’re similar, and how our brains actually don’t work harder at any particular point or time than when you eat food to music, at our maximum intake of triggering.

Rebecca Tucker, National Post: I know at restaurants like yours and restaurants like Origin, your brain must be working so hard.

We used to work together a long time ago. Yeah, it is important. Even when I get home from work, that’s usually when I make my own dinner. The first thing I do before I even pick up a knife, [I turn on music.]…It depends. Sometimes it’s really in your face, like Arctic Monkeys type of stuff, or it’s something a little softer, or something fun, like Cut Copy, or something like that. It doesn’t matter. It’s all over the place, or it’s something nostalgic.

The same music that plays in your dining room play in your kitchen too?

Pretty much. It pisses some people off, but I don’t care. Whatever. Get over it.