July 10, 2024 • 51 mins
Chef Colby Adams, the celebrated Chopped Canada finalist, joins us for an unforgettable episode filled with tales of culinary passion and fishing adventures. Discover how a city boy became an avid fisherman, reeling in impressive lake trout and northern pike at the beautiful Brabant Lodge on Great Slave Lake. Colby shares the experiences that led him to the Mackenzie River's mouth and reflects on the therapeutic joys of fishing. Listen as we recount our journey from the thrill of the catch to preparing exquisite dock-to-table dishes like ceviche, turning freshly caught fish into gourmet masterpieces.
Explore the relentless and exhilarating world of professional kitchens through Chef Colby's eyes. From his humble beginnings in Mississauga to the high-stakes environment of intense kitchen service, Colby opens up about the challenges and triumphs of his career. Hear about his early days making homemade chicken nuggets and home fries, his stint at Dairy Queen, and the unforgettable moment a colleague seared a thumb in dedication. Dive into the chef's participation in a high-pressure cooking competition, where creativity and quick thinking turned mystery ingredients into culinary gold.
Tight lines, everyone!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner is
brought to you by Nordic PointLodge A luxury outdoor
experience with five-starservice.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
But for me, you know I got into this because I loved
hospitality and I stuck with itbecause there's something
incredibly satisfying about,just like with fishing, I feel
like with the whole process,start to finish.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
Networks Diaries of a LodgeOwner.
I'm excited to introduce to youanother fine chef.
I met this young, outstandinggentleman while on the road with
the boys shooting the 2025season of the Fish and Canada
television show.
(00:51):
With close to two decades oftraining in the industry, this
Chopped Canada finalist was athis finest when we were shooting
at Brabant Lodge in the land ofthe midnight sun, and it is my
pleasure to introduce Chef ColbyAdams On this show.
(01:13):
We enjoy some time togetherfishing out of one of the
lodge's 18-foot Alaskan boatstied to Brabant's world-class
dock, and after hearing thispodcast, you will understand why
Brabant's Doc is world class.
We find out what motivatedColby's career choice and what
(01:37):
brought this chef to the mouthof the Mackenzie River on Great
Slave Lake.
So if you love food and greatstories, listen up, folks,
because there may be a recipe ortwo tangled up in this one.
Welcome to the show, folks.
(01:58):
I am so excited to be here withChef Colby and I'm sure it's
going to be an amazing episode.
But before we get to that andhis recipes and all of that
great stuff, I must admit I'vebeen slacking on answering your
questions and that's importantto me and I must apologize.
(02:22):
I'm going to do better and I'mgoing to do better starting
right now.
And, like I say, before we getinto it with Chef Colby here, I
have a question from let's seehere Paul Rusin, and Paul's
question is I was listening tothe episode with Frank Angaro
(02:47):
and Gary Thibault and I believeFrank Angaro made the comment
about avoiding seed oils.
Does that mean flax seed oil,hemp seed oil etc.
Are bad for you?
Well, I can't answer for Frankand what I will do is I'll reach
(03:09):
out to Frank and see what hisanswer is.
But this is my answer and Idon't claim to be a herbal
doctor, but I have done a lot ofresearch in the area of natural
health because I've struggledwith health myself and I just I
(03:31):
prefer to deal with thingsnaturally.
And as far as flax seed oil andhemp seed oil, and that
especially those two, no, Ibelieve that those oils are
healthy for you.
I think that Frank was talkingabout hydrogenated oils, oils
(03:53):
like canola oil and vegetableoil, highly processed, terribly
bad for you.
Oils that at high heat gorancid and are overused, like at
restaurants, where that oilsits in the fryer for far too
(04:16):
long and doesn't get changed.
When you start talking aboutflax seed oil and hemp seed oil
in particular, I believe thatthey're probably two of the
healthiest oils in the world.
Flaxseed oil is rich in omega-3fatty acids, which are
essential for brain function,heart health.
(04:38):
It also contains lignans, whichhave been known to have
anti-cancer properties.
Hemp seed oil, on the otherhand, is very high in
gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA,which has been linked to
reducing inflammation andimproving your skin.
(05:02):
It also contains a greatbalance of your omega-3 and
omega-6 fatty acids, which isimportant to your overall health
.
You can use them both topically, especially hemp seed oil.
If you use it topically, it isgreat for your skin.
(05:24):
As mentioned above, although wewere talking about intaking it,
it actually penetrates deeplyinto your skin and nurtures all
of those skin cells that arebelow the surface, great sources
(05:50):
of antioxidants which helpprevent disease and helps the
body against oxidative stress.
They're just, they're wonderful, wonderful oils.
They are both easy to numberone incorporate into your diet.
I use them along with olive oilin salads.
(06:11):
I prefer to use one of thoseoils with apple cider, vinegar,
salt and pepper, and that makesa great salad.
That makes a great salad.
I also draw on my grandmother'sold recipe and use a little bit
(06:32):
less of the apple cider vinegar, but I still use it and I also
will add kefir.
She used to add heavy creamright from the barn, from the
cows.
She'd add heavy cream with alittle bit of vinegar, olive oil
, hemp seed oil one of thosethree oils and then she called
(06:54):
it cucumbers and cream, but shealso added well, there was the
cucumbers and onions chopped uponions, and I like to add tomato
in it as well, and that makes awonderful salad and the
dressing to soak up with freshbread, although fresh bread is.
(07:20):
If you're extremely healthconscious, it's one of those
things that you may avoid alittle.
But you know what?
Go for the sourdough and sopthat stuff up, man, it is just
delicious.
But yeah, like I mean to answeryour question and to finish it
(07:42):
off, you can get those oils intosmoothies and you can also buy
capsules and do all of thatstuff.
The one caveat I will add intothat is it's important that they
are cold pressed and unrefined,because once you start heating
(08:04):
up those seeds to extract theoil, it kills all of the
positive effects.
And also if you're looking forthe truest and cleanest, most
(08:24):
positive effects of these oils.
It's always best to go to thesource and go to the seeds
themselves.
So I would also beincorporating hemp seed and flax
seed into your diet.
Now, the flax seed, you're goingto want to get it, um, um, uh,
(08:47):
cracked and crushed, um, andthen I put that right in
smoothies.
Actually, one thing that I dowith that hemp seed, that's uh,
that's cracked.
I'll add it into um tuna.
Uh, I like to, uh, I like tothrow that right into tuna salad
and and I don't use mayonnaisewhen I mix up my tuna fish for
(09:07):
sandwiches I'll make wraps.
I like eating it on a lettucewrap.
But take that hemp seed, throwit right, or, sorry, the flax
seed, throw it right in with thetuna.
It actually, once it soaks up,I use vinegar and a little bit
of oil, salt and pepper samedeal and it soaks that up and
(09:30):
you can't even tell thedifference.
It almost has the sameconsistency as the tuna itself
and it's wonderful.
Just put everything in there.
I'm one of those guys where, ifit tastes pretty good, I'll
just throw everything in there,because it all goes to the same
spot anyway.
But yeah, so there you have it.
(09:52):
Hemp seed and flaxseed oils aredefinitely, in my opinion,
healthy.
They may have some adverseeffect depending on who you are
and what your body is like, butfor the most part, in my opinion
and again I'm not a doctor butthey are very healthy, have very
(10:15):
, um, uh, healthy, uh uses, uhand uh, yeah.
So I'm pretty sure that Frankwas talking about hydrogenated
seed oils and yeah, so we'll gofrom there.
And now we get into this withChef Kobe.
(10:36):
Kobe, welcome, welcome to you.
I'll tell you what.
I just want to paint a picturefor everybody listening.
Right now I am standing in aboat, correct, with my good
friend tied to the dock atBrabant Lodge, and it's probably
(11:01):
, I'm going to say, 9.30, maybe10 o'clock at night, yeah, and
the sun is up as if it was 7o'clock in the evening.
Oh, but maybe even more yeah 5pm and Brabant is on the
Mackenzie River in the NorthwestTerritories, in the land of the
midnight sun, sure is.
(11:21):
And because my voice sounds alittle bit muffled, it's because
I'm smoking a stogie and allyou little fellas out there.
Don't even start, don't evenstart.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Terrible, delicious, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
But I, just before we get into your journey as a chef
and all of that to your journeyas a chef and all of that,
let's talk about a world-classdock and I don't think there's
anybody on staff that can talkabout this dock the way that you
can, because I see you out herefishing every moment that you
(12:01):
can be out here Morning, night,night, morning.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's almost all daytime here, which is the nice
part.
There's not a lot of nightfishing happening, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It's hard not to be on the water for 15 hours a day.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I mean, you know I'm cooking a lot.
I'm a city boy.
Before I got here, I hadn'tfished in probably 20 years and,
uh, there's somethingincredibly meditative about this
process you know no doubt themuscle memory, the repetition of
it, um, and after yeah, aftercooking, after sweating, after
(12:39):
writing menus, doing all thosethings like taking like the
mental, it's not even a mentalbreak, it's just a mental
recharge.
Yeah, you know, out here on thewater, um, it's therapeutic,
it's incredibly therapeutic,yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Therapeutic and like I mean.
Just so people understand howmany fish do you catch in a day?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Um, realistically 10 to 12.
Uh, a good day, you know, Ithink, like the biggest one so
far was that.
Was that really nice laker wehad for?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
and really nice is 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it was it was a really nice dock fish, for sure
yeah, you know that's the kindof fish like my, my uncle and my
cousin are our big fishermenand, uh, they are.
I don.
You know that's the kind offish like my uncle and my cousin
are big fishermen and they are.
I don't know if it's jealousyor hatred for me, right now it's
somewhere in the middle, Ithink.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I know we used to go fishing on Lake Kippawa in
Quebec when I was a kid and a 13, 14-pound lake trout was a fish
that we fished all week fornever mind off the dock.
I caught a laker just I wasstraightening my line.
This morning.
I saw that and right in thisposition in this boat, I cast it
(13:58):
out and got an 8-pound laketrout.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And the northern pike , like I mean, everybody calls
northern pike hammer handles andsnot rockets and everything
else.
But to me a hammer handle or asnot rocket is like a 12,
15-inch northern, you know,maybe up to 20.
You guys are calling like30-inch northern snot rockets.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Oh yeah.
You got one on oh, you got oneon oh, yeah, boy yeah, he's on
there it's crazy sometimes, likeearlier this afternoon, my
friend, like one of the guides,logan and I it seemed like every
three minutes one of us werepulling something up.
Yeah, it was nuts.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh, it's crazy, it's crazy let me see if I can help
you with this guy.
What do we got here?
Oh, it's crazy.
It's crazy.
Let me see if I can help youwith this guy.
What do we got here?
Oh, it's a northern.
Yeah it's a good size.
Yeah well, that's what you guyscall a snot rocket.
This is about a 29-inchnorthern right here.
It's ridiculous, honestly.
The old one he ate that.
(15:00):
Yeah, come here, little feller,you a little nugget, oh yeah.
And the nice thing about thefishing up here is it's legally
all barbless Absolutely so.
When you're doing surgery, itmakes it a hell of a lot easier
(15:23):
to get these hooks out.
Sure does, although this younggentleman here, this one in
particular maybe not, he ate it.
Yeah, we're going to get there.
Oh, I thought I had it, butwe're going to get it out.
But yeah, like I mean, it isridiculous the way that the
fishing is Want spudders no, Igot her, it's just he's got it.
(15:45):
He's got it in there, right inthere.
Eh, oh, he'll be fine, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
I know He'll be good.
Yeah, that's the thing Like.
Even I remember growing upfishing with my dad and stuff
and like heck, probably half thefish we just mangled yeah you,
it was all like perch andsunfish and garbage but that was
a lot of dead perch and thisfella in particular with that
hook set.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Oh there he goes in a splash he took off.
Oh yeah, that fish would havebeen a dinner table fish, but
not him.
He's gone back to grow to 25,30 pounds.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
We're going to wait until he's a little better off,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, and on that note, let's talk like I mean,
the fishing off the dock isridiculous.
But let's talk a little bitabout field to table Absolutely,
and I know that's somethingthat you've mentioned a couple
of times but we've not reallytalked about it.
But I know that since we'vebeen here and it's been about
(16:43):
four days there have been anumber of occasions where our
apps and everything else is dockto table.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Very much so.
Within 24 hours often less thanthat between when it's in the
water to on the table.
Yeah, I think this week inparticular I think it's been
three Lakers I've done twoeight-pounders and a 13-13.
So we did ceviche.
Actually, the boys brought backsome walleye for that and it
(17:13):
was outstanding, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah, that was phenomenal.
That's the first time I've hadceviche-style walleye and I
think that it's probably myfavorite way to eat it.
The texture is really, reallynice, stunning, yeah, and we
actually did a piece on on thefor YouTube when you prepared it
, yeah, that we did the shootfor that, absolutely so you can
(17:35):
folks look for that it's.
It's ridiculous, it's amazing,that's just it.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
When it comes down to like farm to table, field to
table, sea to table in this case, river to table, it just
requires, like I don't want tosay, it makes my job easy, but
it makes my job a hell of a loteasier.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Oh, you know, and for me, as a lodge owner, I oh,
there was a bump.
Oh, I would have loved to havebeen able to do that.
Yeah, I see do that yeah, I seehim following.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yeah, he's trailing you.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's okay.
That's okay, yeah, and I'll behonest with you.
I've fished lake trout for manyyears and I've eaten lake trout
and it was my least favoritefish, to be honest, like I
didn't like lake trout at all,fair, but the way that you did
(18:28):
it, um, the lake trout mighttake a beating now, yeah,
because it was excellent Iappreciate that very much now
the first time that you did late.
It's twice that we've eaten it.
Yeah, so the first time, whatdid you do with it?
Oh, there's one there you goright up.
thank you, that was a wonderfulrelease right there that was
easy peasy I love that I knowLike I mean, we're looking at
(18:49):
the fish and trying to pull thebaits away from them because
they're too small, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Um, so the first time we we made fish tacos a couple
days ago.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, we did those fish tacos,yes.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yes, so I did like a hard cast.
Oh, that's a nice one.
It was a nice one, but I shouldreally set the hook on these
guys.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We'll get there, it's turning on you know, yeah, that
was great.
That was like a cast ironseared, super lightly cured.
I did about like a 30 minutecure on it.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yeah, what do you cure it?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
with.
I tend to do like a two to onesalt to sugar.
Yeah, I usually use brown sugarflavors is better.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Is it a liquid, or do you just pot it down?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
just pot it, just pot it down with the salt and sugar
so I'll do usually like I guess, say, for example, tonight,
like we did that smoked trouttonight, yeah, um, which turned
out awesome and I did a bitlonger of a cure as a fatter
fish, right, those fillets wereabout, uh, probably four pounds
each.
Yeah, they were big fillets andum, so I did uh two to one.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Do that when it's still in one large fillet.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It's easiest yeah, especially for smoking sake.
Yeah, um, if I was doingportioned like seared fish, I
would portion it first.
Yeah, um, just to make sure theed, like all every piece, is
perfect, yeah, but when I'msmoking like a whole fish, like
that, like I just want to makeit as easy as possible for
myself, to be honest, yeah, andthen so then I also add in
(20:15):
usually for this I did the juiceand zest of one lemon, about
half a bunch of dill, yeah, andprobably a couple tablespoons of
cracked pepper.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Right on, and that's when you were cooking it.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
That was just for the cure.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Oh, and that's all the cure and that's all the rub.
Right, yeah, that's just a dryrub oh.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
So that's like a six-hour dry rub, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Oh, there's another one.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That's a baby though.
Six-hour dry rub and then Irinsed that in Mackenzie River
lake water, yeah, and then did apine and poplar smoke for about
two hours Right on Like amedium heat smoke, yeah, and
then just kept it wrapped, letit sit for about three hours and
it was served just on a bit ofa cracker with like a cilantro
(21:00):
lime yogurt.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Oh, yeah, it was outstanding.
Now, the thing that I foundwith lake trout when I would
cook it or buddies of mine wouldcook it it was very greasy and
lardy, almost it left a lardyfilm on my mouth.
Is there anything that you'redoing?
Are you cutting any of that redfat off the fillet that you're
(21:26):
doing like?
Are you cutting any of that redfat off the fillet, or or is it
I?
I I'm thinking that it could bejust the that curing process,
because we didn't cure at allyeah, that takes a lot of that
it.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It tends to break down a lot of the fats that are
happening in there.
Yeah, um, which is where thatgreasiness comes from.
Yeah, uh, the other factor withlake trout is, a lot of times
if you cook it with like I tendto just cook it with butter I
find the oils if I useespecially like vegetable oils,
it tends to almost release morefats from the fish.
(21:56):
Oh, really, I don't know why, Idon't know if that's science, I
don't know if that's just a mething, but that's just like a
process that I've found to betrue.
So, like, I find the curingprocess just staying away from
adding any more fats altogetheryeah Is a really great method to
stop that greasiness fromhappening.
Yeah, but again, we're alsolucky.
You know the fish was out ofthe water for 16 hours, right,
so it didn't be, it wasn'tsitting in a fridge, it wasn't
(22:18):
sitting in somebody's coldstorage, yeah, you know, and,
yeah, you know, and in theMackenzie River, which comes out
of Great Slave Lake, like Imean, the third largest lake in
the world.
Yeah, it's also still very cold.
It's like about 44 degreesstill right now, so it's not
like the fish, oh.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
There, I set the hook on that fella.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Nice, yeah, you know.
So.
It's like just the cold factorof the water is a big.
Oh, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, yeah, another one.
And when we say nice, we'retalking like 25 to 35-inch
northerns here.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, we're a bit blessed.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
They're extremely nice and we're just letting them
go beside the boat with thesebarbless hooks.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
It's awesome, it's beautiful Quick catch and
release.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So, yeah, yeah, we were so rudely interrupted by
another, by another pike.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
How dare they, you know, yeah, be so plentiful
around here.
The audacity.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I know, I know, yeah, I know, Because that, so it
would be the curing process thatit draws, it yeah.
And then and then cooking it in.
Now there, peter, the ownersstanding behind us, also
hammering these northern, so Ithink he's got here.
There you go.
Yeah, so that's great to knowBecause, honestly, I would never
(23:52):
have eaten lake trout unless Ihad been here and tasted yours.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
That means a lot.
I'm very grateful for that.
Wow, and I feel like, well, youknow that process, that curing
process, helps a lot of fishierproteins.
Like, if I'm ever cookingscallops, I'm doing like a light
cure on that.
Yeah, draws out some of themoisture and just makes it,
makes the mouth feel a lotbetter you know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And again, to recap, that's just salt, sugar, little
zest of lemon, lemon or dill orwhatever herbs.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
You got kicking around A couple of hours on that
, but the main thing is two toone, salt to sugar and I go with
brown.
Like I said, it's just moreflavor.
Yeah, if you can use honey oryou got something like a lot of
times folks don't want to Maplesyrup.
You don't want to do likerefined sugars, you want to
stick to natural stuff.
It's a great alternative foryou.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
In yeah, yeah, in every angler's heart lives a
fishing paradise With stunningscenery and wildlife, on a
trophy, multi-species fishery,having outstanding accommodation
and a food experience to diefor.
They treat you like royalty,tailor-making a package that
works for you.
Nestled in northwestern Ontario, nordic Point Lodge is that
(25:08):
paradise, and Will and his teamcan't wait to show you a luxury
outdoor experience and five-starservice.
So follow your heart.
Book now.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Hi everybody.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
I'm Angelo Viola.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's
favorite fishing show, but nowwe're hosting a podcast that's
right.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your
ears, bringing you a brand newepisode of Outdoor Journal.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Radio.
Hmm, now, what are we going totalk about for two hours every
week?
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Well, you know there's going to be a lot of
fishing.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors, from athletes, All theother guys would go golfing.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go
fishing To scientists.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
Now that we're reforesting and letting things
breathe.
It's the perfect transmissionenvironment for line to see.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated
, you will taste it and whoeverelse will pick up the phone
Wherever you are Outdoor.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell
the stories of all those whoenjoy being outside.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
So let's talk a little bit about how you got
into the business.
Certainly Because by thequality of the food.
I know for sure that there'sdefinitely been a lot of
practice in some realm or field.
How did you, what did you do toget yourself to this point?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Certainly, it's been a heck of a journey.
I'm in my mid-early 30s rightnow.
I'm from Mississauga originally.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That guy come right to the side of the boat.
We have a fighter.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right
at the side of the boat we havea fighter.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right
at the side of the boat.
Oh hell yeah, I didn't have afoot of line out.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I was going to say I thought you were just picking a
reel up there.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
No, I was.
I was just lifting it out tomake another cast, yeah, so yeah
, so I'm from Mississauga.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
You know, growing up I just my folks, worked a lot,
so I had, I was, I was making alot of chicken nuggets and
frozen home fries.
Yep, like all of us, like allof us.
And now you know, 20 yearslater, I'm not going to lie.
I do, I love my chicken nuggetsand my home fries.
So, but it was I startedcooking out of necessity, more
(27:44):
than anything, you know.
Yeah, just sick of the frozenstuff, sick of the same old.
I've been in hospitality sincemy first job at Dairy Queen when
I was 13.
Yeah, so it's been basically 20years in hospitality.
At this point, I briefly left.
I left for about six weeks andtried door-to-door sales.
How'd that go.
I begged for my job back aboutsix weeks in Just hated it.
(28:08):
It was like I was in my.
I was like early 20s.
I was getting my ass kicked inkitchens, you know, and like
pans were being thrown and likewords were being and I was like,
let's talk about that becauseI'm pretty sure that part of the
business is not just somethingthat happened to you.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
No, that's a pretty universal truth and I'm going to
be honest with you.
A lot of them were a little onthe crazy side.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, I mean that's a fair.
That's a really nice way ofputting it.
I'm grateful that you put itthat way, all great people.
Of course.
You know, passion and like it'snot one of those jobs that you
do because you know the hoursare great or the money's great
or it gives you a great chanceto have a family.
(28:52):
You know, like you know, spendall this time with your kids.
That's not what it's been about, at least in my experience.
You know there's a lot ofopportunities for folks that do
get to do that, but for me, youknow, I got into this because I
loved hospitality and I stuckwith it because there's
something incredibly satisfyingabout just like with fishing, I
(29:15):
feel like with the whole process, start to finish.
You know you get to.
With fishing, you reel it upLike look at this, this is
beautiful.
Yeah, I know.
Like look at this this isbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Like wild, but I mean , it's not for everyone.
You know, like I said, there'scooking and there's chefing,
right, yeah, and I love cookingmore than I love chefing, for
sure.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So do you remember one crazy moment?
That kind of stands out whereyou were like, oh my God, I
don't know what's going on?
Or did you ever have anyreservations?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Oh, absolutely.
I think there was a moment inone of my first kitchens I was
working in and the guy who wason the the meat station we had a
flat top and a grill and he wasI was on a station called
entremetier at the time so like,uh, side dishes and stuff, yeah
.
So, um, that's one of myfavorite stations.
(30:16):
It's just a busy.
You're just getting smoked allday it's just side dishes for
every entree in the place, right?
So you have like 12 burnerstation and you just have 10
pans on the go.
It's awesome.
But this guy, he was slicingone of his steaks to serve and
he cut off the tip of his thumb.
This is a restaurant that didabout 600, 700 covers a day.
So we were just in the middleof a Saturday night dinner
service.
He turns around and sears histhumb on the flat top oh no.
(30:39):
And then duct tapes and goesback to work.
And I was standing there I waslike 19.
I was like I don't know if Ican do that.
I don't know if I have thewillpower to not stop what I'm
doing and deal with somethinglike that.
And, like you know, I've had alot of opportunities since then,
a lot of quite some significantinjuries in kitchens and, at
(31:03):
the end of the day, you knowwhat injuries in kitchens and,
um, at the end of the day, youknow what, when, when the guests
are the most important personin the room, and when that plate
of food, you know what wentinto it.
You know all the prep that wentinto it.
You know all the money it costs.
Yeah, I've I've figurativelyturned around and seared my
thumb on that flat top quite afew times.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
you know, yeah, I know exactly that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So it was a bit of a stressor off the bat but in
hindsight that was a reallygreat lesson in putting guests
first realistically.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
And there's another one here, I'll give you a hand.
Thanks, bro.
Yeah, wow, that's it for sure.
Like I mean, you know, there hegoes Back home, back home.
But I'd appreciate it if youtell Grandpa it's dinnertime.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, no, and I know, in those situations, even in
small kitchens, in the moment,it's high stress, absolutely
Like it's high stress.
In the moment it's high stress,absolutely Like it's high
stress.
And, um, it's.
It's one of those things where,being a guy that I cooked for
myself, for my family, for sure,and I had no idea when I bought
(32:17):
the lodge what I was gettinginto, that's reasonable.
And and seeing seeing thestress level that can occur in a
kitchen was eye-opening, verymuch so.
And to the point where and allthe folks out there listening
I've told this story before,I'll just give you an idea.
(32:39):
But I had a couple of chefs andtowards the end of the year, for
whatever reason, I was down tomy head chef and it was a lot of
work.
We were cooking for, you know,30 to 40 people a night, yeah,
breakfast, lunch, dinner, mm-hmm.
(32:59):
And he come to me and said no,you know, I can't do it, it's
too much.
Yeah, and being on an islandand with six weeks left, we had
a conversation and he didn'tleave me high and dry, but the
solution was to find a breakfastchef, so he didn't get up in
(33:23):
the morning, that's it.
Right was to find a breakfastchef, so he didn't get up in the
morning.
That's it right.
And being in that situation,trying to find somebody to work
for six weeks, was next toimpossible, no doubt.
And he looked me in the eye andhe said I have a solution for
that.
And I said what he said.
I'm looking at the breakfastchef and it turned out to be me.
You took the role.
Eh, I did.
(33:43):
And, long story short, I gotcocky After.
It was all we did.
He said all we're going to dois buffet.
Yeah, after about two and ahalf weeks of doing buffet every
week, You're like I can stepthis up.
I'm like this is easy.
Yeah, I got this.
So I told Jen, one of myservers.
I said, hey, jen, you know Ican do this.
(34:06):
We're going to do plated.
Oh yeah, yeah, why not, buddy?
I got my ass kicked the nextmorning to the point where I had
to go wake Dave up and say Dave, come and help me, please help,
I'm dying.
Immediate regret.
Oh, yeah, buddy, but no, soit's one of those things where I
know how stressful behind thescenes it can get.
(34:28):
Yeah, and relationships are soimportant and I always talk to
the chefs and servers because Iused to run head chef, sous chef
, assistant chef, yep, and fouror five servers, assistant chef,
(34:49):
yeah, and, uh, four or fiveservers.
And before we got intosituations where, you know,
people were under stress,yelling, and yeah, you know, I
told them.
I understand that it's going tohappen absolutely, and I want
you to understand that whathappens in the kitchen stays in
the kitchen, that's always thecase and also know that when you
leave this building althoughyou never left each other
(35:11):
because you're living on anisland oh yeah, you know, work
stays in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Absolutely At the end of service.
Reset Like service is service.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Because some people don't understand that and if you
don't explain it it gets verydifficult.
But if you can keep that lineof communication open between
the front of the house and theback of the house, it's so key.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Absolutely and just you know, just in general, being
on the same page right, havingthe same expectations of service
for, or quality of service, youknow like Absolutely.
Or quality of service, you knowAbsolutely, we were talking
today about how like myself andour head server and the owners
today, kat, we were talkingabout how much more valuable it
(35:55):
is to have somebody in here thatcares, right, yes, that notices
the little things For sure,because it's really easy,
especially, you know, going,know, going, like I'm used to a
lot of fine dining and stuff,it's really easy for me to walk
in here and and start stoplooking at the little things
because it's suddenly I'm, youknow, I'm, it's, it's not, it's
not three hundred dollars aplate anymore, you know.
(36:16):
So, like it's, it's really easyto to kind of let that stuff
slide.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Well, and servers are a great resource for chefs.
I would always tell the chefsbecause in the early days I kind
of let things go yeah, I didn'tknow how to deal with shit.
Of course I would run from it,yeah.
(36:42):
And the servers they have tolook the guests in the eye, yeah
, but the chef, he's back in thekitchen.
There's a wall there, yeah.
And without getting theinformation from the front of
the house to the chef, it makesthings so much more difficult.
(37:03):
And then you know, the lastthing you want is there to be
the server thinking that they'refighting for the guest and
their needs yeah.
And the chef thinking he'sfighting for the guest yeah.
And the quality of food, yeah,and then there's the clash in
the middle and egos get involvedand all of a sudden it erupts
into something that I've seensome horrific fights.
(37:25):
Oh yeah, you know, absolutely.
And it's so important for thatcommunication, you know.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Oh, that looks like a good one that does feel like a
good one.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, I'll get out of your way, but yeah, yeah, that
was, that's all right.
Oh yeah another hammer handle,a 28-inch hammer handle.
But so listen, I'm here, we'reshooting a show with Fish in
Canada Doing our TV thing.
Heck yeah, I heard a rumor thatyou also did a TV thing.
(38:01):
I did do a TV thing.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 1 (38:03):
little bit about it.
Certainly, I did a TV thing.
Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
little bit about it.
Certainly I did.
I competed in Shop Canada.
Yeah, about at this point.
It would be about nine yearsago.
Yeah, I was very early on in mycareer.
I was chefing at a place in PEIcalled the Inupiaq Fortune,
which is a guy like Chef MichaelSmith owns that restaurant.
(38:26):
Yeah, so it was the first yearof operation.
It was a crazy and similar towhat you said.
Like I got my first head chefposition out of what they call a
battlefield promotion, you knowwhere I was brought in as a
junior sous and within the firstsix weeks the head chef was let
go.
Then the sous chef was moved upand then he was let go and it
was like Colby, do you think youcan do this?
I was like I can try thebattlefield promotion.
(38:50):
Exactly, I like that and uh andso that tv experience was
phenomenal.
It was, um, it was uh, it's aone-day competition for chefs,
uh, black box style competition.
So what does that mean?
So they'll give you in thiscase they give you four mystery
ingredients per course, gotcha,and then you're on a very strict
(39:12):
time limit.
So appetizer's 20 minutes, yeah, entree's 30, dessert's 30
minutes Get out of here.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
It's wild dude.
How do you do an app like anapp or an entree in 30 minutes?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Honestly, the app was the hardest because, like it
was a new kitchen, it was likeall, like I wasn't sure.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
You get one shot.
It was just that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Absolutely, and like the way that show is represented
in terms of how they show, likethe process is very true life.
Yeah, you know, like it waslike once you open the basket,
that real clock starts andthere's a big clock that says 20
minutes, you know, and there'sthe stress factor dude.
It's like it's one thing to becooking, it's another to be
(39:53):
cooking and have somebody sixinches from your face going OK,
kobe, just grab the rice vinegar.
No, never mind the white winevinegar.
Ok, and now he's, he'sseasoning, and so the whole time
I'm cooking, there's somebodytranscribing what I'm doing and
I'm like every little bit andI'm making mistakes, I'm like
don't, don't mention that part,you know like I don't want you.
I don't want you to say that Iforgot.
(40:14):
I forgot how to use a robo coopfor a second.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, but itwas.
It was a ton of fun.
First course was verychallenging.
They gave us us chicken hearts,chocolate, pie dough, sherry
vinegar and toasted pumpkinseeds.
That was a rough one.
That was a rough course, mysecond two courses, but I knew.
(40:35):
So what did you?
Speaker 1 (40:36):
do with the chicken hearts.
Did you fry them?
I should have fried them.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
I did like a chicken heart, chocolate pie dough pate.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Pie okay.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Which, flavor-wise, was fine, but the heart being
such a working muscle, it didn'thave enough time to break down.
Yeah, so it was just a littletough.
Yeah, but my goal for that show, and most of the time, is just
to do something that otherpeople wouldn't.
Yeah, like, I knew I'm fourpeople.
I knew all three of those otherpeople are deep frying those
chicken hearts.
Yeah, it's the easiest thing todo.
Yeah, you know so.
(41:08):
At the very least you know, bedifferent, be different, like
and I can be a little pridefulabout it you know, like I tried
something different If I lostand lost.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
You know.
So See, I love chicken hearts,I like chicken hearts too, you
boil them.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, I do, I love it , and I eat them with salt and
pepper Just straight up, right.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, and I love it.
It probably wouldn't have beena winning thing.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
But like no, but the guy that it's like the guy that
got kicked out the first round,did like he finished.
It was just weird, man, it wasjust weird.
But I knew the first couplerounds.
You don't have to be the best,you just don't have to be the
worst.
Yeah, you know, just don't bethe last person, yeah, and
you'll go through.
Yeah.
So that was great.
It worked out really.
(41:51):
I survived.
I would say I survived theappetizer.
So you survived the appetizer.
Yeah, it was these beautifulcod fillets.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
You know those you came from PEI.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Exactly, I just come from PEI.
And then you know those likemaple cookies, yeah yeah.
So maple cookies.
I had a thing called ahi pepperpaste, yeah, and what was the
other thing?
Something else.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Now did you try the ingredients, Like taste them to
try and get an idea how to putthem together.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Not even a little bit .
Most honestly, most of mydishes composed, I didn't taste
any of the of the components.
Gotcha, I, just I, it was justtunnel vision.
It was like I had the blinderson, yeah, and I never moved that
fast in my life.
Yeah, I don't remember most ofit, like you just go into
survival mode.
Yeah and uh, and that was great.
I did like a maple cookie,crusted cod with Sounds good.
(42:46):
Oh, baby fennel was the otherone.
So I did some like braised babyfennel.
And my other thing I wanted todo I wanted to showcase that I'm
all about limited waste, so Iused, I made fish broth, used
fish broth to make a polenta,braised the fennel in fish broth
as well.
Nice With like roasted carrotsand a little like ahi pan sauce
thing.
Yeah, and that was really good.
(43:06):
Very happy with that course.
And then desserts oh, there wego.
Yeah, I'm a big dessert guy.
I don't know if you noticedfrom the week you were here.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Oh, my God, your desserts have been outstanding.
I love desserts.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
man, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
That's a 34-incher right there yeah that's a nice
fish dude, Absolutely,Absolutely.
Oh yeah, and he's a Nice colorto it too.
Yeah, absolutely, I love fishlike this.
Yes, I noticed you were adessert guy.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah, I'm a big sweets fan, so, like,
realistically, you know, I liketo cook what I like to eat, you
know.
Oh, yeah, I like to cook what Ilike to eat.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Oh yeah, you did a couple of desserts this week and
I was a good boy.
I'm not supposed to be eating alot of sugar, that's true, you
were very good with that.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I did God, yeah.
Yeah, that is a nice fish, dude, that's a beautiful northern
Right.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Yeah, and actually Ange and Peter up on the deck,
they're doing a podcastsimultaneously.
Yeah, they're where we call thepeanut gallery right now.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Yes, they are, but so .
So, yeah, then dessert theygave.
It was a weird one, but I knewI love ice cream, so I knew I
wanted to make ice cream, yeah.
So I didn't know what.
But they gave us brie cheese,ginseng, these like apple
fritter things, and somethingelse, and so I made brie and
(44:34):
ginseng ice cream.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
Oh my God it was wild dude.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Wow, Absolutely wild.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I would have loved to have tasted that you know what
I would have too.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
I didn't even try it.
And one of my guests, one ofthe judges, was suser lee.
Yeah, and he said uh, bestmoment of my career up to that
point was suser lee saying youshould bottle this and take it
to asia.
and I was like oh my gosh, sir,like you legend, like you know
that's awesome and uh.
And then I came in.
I came in second, so I didn'twin, I lost in the.
(45:06):
I didn't lose the dessert round, but I lost overall.
You know, and they give youafter a 16-hour day, they give
you a $100 check and a glass ofwine.
Yeah, and Off, you went.
Off, they went.
Yeah, I said they were like allright, let's do our exit
interview.
And I said all right, I needthree cigarettes and a beer
please.
I'm not doing anything until Ifigure out that that's right
(45:28):
that's right.
So yeah, it was a hell of a time, um long day.
I would do it again, but with,uh, with just a different.
You know, I, I, I'm moreconfident in my abilities now.
Yeah, you know, I don't feelthe need to judge stuff up as
much anymore.
Yeah, you know, I'm at a pointwhere I know how to season stuff
(45:49):
.
I know how to use butter andwine properly.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
You know, like my foundation, and those are
probably big things.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
They are for sure that a lot of like, a lot more
like when I started cookingthere was a I was.
It was in the big likemolecular gastronomy time, so
people were making like pods ofstuff and mousses and foams out
of beets and shit.
I'm like I don't like, that'slike I tried it I tried it, but
I I one of my first tattoos is atattoo says saying keep it
(46:15):
simple.
Yeah, there's garlic and onionsand a knife, and it just says
keep it simple and it's areminder to myself that like,
the foundation of things isenough.
Yes, you know like, and that'swhy I love comfort for people.
Exactly, I call my like, mystyle, I call fine comfort food.
Yeah, because it's like, it'scomfort, it's approachable, it's
recognizable.
I'm not, I'm not turning stuffinto what it isn't yeah you know
, but it is, it's it's doingeverything I can from scratch.
(46:38):
Yeah, and you know, if I'mgonna catch a nice 13 pound lake
trout, I'm gonna treat it well,with the respect it deserves.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
You know, I can tell you it tasted like it had all
kinds of respect, and I know themost valuable and important
ingredient that you use in everydish is love.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
Oh, buddy you do know that.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
I know and we've talked to, I've talked to a
couple of chefs and oh, there'sPeter up there.
Yeah, and that comes throughwith the ones that are great.
Yeah, and it's so important andI wish you all the best up here
(47:25):
at Braebank.
I really appreciate that.
I really appreciate that mybrother, it is just gorgeous
here and you know it's toughworking in a place that's so
secluded, like it took us threeplane flights to get here.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Well, I was four, so you're lucky.
There you go.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
I know and it's crazy .
So I appreciate you taking thetime out of your busy fishing
day.
Hey, this kept me away fromdishes for an extra 40 minutes.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Yeah cooking as a side.
I'm very grateful that you tookthe time that y'all came up
here.
This is a heck of a week, youknow for a first round of guests
.
Yeah, opening week, my firstseason up here, so to have folks
like you that you know careabout not just the fishing but
the the whole experience.
Yeah, you know, because it'slike yeah yeah yeah, so it's uh,
(48:16):
it's been an absolute pleasureto have you, by all means, my
friend thank you, I appreciate.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
Yeah, let's hug it out, okay, folks.
Thus concludes another episodeof Diaries of a Lodge Owner, and
if you love it, like it, sendsome comments.
Really appreciate it.
Thanks very much for having me,my friend.
Hey, it's my pleasure.
I'm a good old boy Nevermeanin' no harm.
(48:44):
I'll be all you ever saw, beenrailin' in the hog since the day
I was born, Bendin' my rockstretchin' my line.
Speaker 5 (48:59):
Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
Someday I might own a lodge,and that'd be fine.
I'll be making my way the onlyway I know how, working hard and
sharing the north with all ofmy pals.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Well, I'm a good old boy.
I bought a lodge and lived mydream.
And now I'm here talking abouthow life can be as good as it
seems.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
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Nestled in northwestern Ontario, nordic Point Lodge is that
(50:00):
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Speaker 4 (50:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
But for me, you know I got into this because I loved
hospitality and I stuck with itbecause there's something
incredibly satisfying about,just like with fishing, I feel
like with the whole process,start to finish.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
Networks Diaries of a LodgeOwner.
I'm excited to introduce to youanother fine chef.
I met this young, outstandinggentleman while on the road with
the boys shooting the 2025season of the Fish and Canada
television show.
(00:51):
With close to two decades oftraining in the industry, this
Chopped Canada finalist was athis finest when we were shooting
at Brabant Lodge in the land ofthe midnight sun, and it is my
pleasure to introduce Chef ColbyAdams On this show.
(01:13):
We enjoy some time togetherfishing out of one of the
lodge's 18-foot Alaskan boatstied to Brabant's world-class
dock, and after hearing thispodcast, you will understand why
Brabant's Doc is world class.
We find out what motivatedColby's career choice and what
(01:37):
brought this chef to the mouthof the Mackenzie River on Great
Slave Lake.
So if you love food and greatstories, listen up, folks,
because there may be a recipe ortwo tangled up in this one.
Welcome to the show, folks.
(01:58):
I am so excited to be here withChef Colby and I'm sure it's
going to be an amazing episode.
But before we get to that andhis recipes and all of that
great stuff, I must admit I'vebeen slacking on answering your
questions and that's importantto me and I must apologize.
(02:22):
I'm going to do better and I'mgoing to do better starting
right now.
And, like I say, before we getinto it with Chef Colby here, I
have a question from let's seehere Paul Rusin, and Paul's
question is I was listening tothe episode with Frank Angaro
(02:47):
and Gary Thibault and I believeFrank Angaro made the comment
about avoiding seed oils.
Does that mean flax seed oil,hemp seed oil etc.
Are bad for you?
Well, I can't answer for Frankand what I will do is I'll reach
(03:09):
out to Frank and see what hisanswer is.
But this is my answer and Idon't claim to be a herbal
doctor, but I have done a lot ofresearch in the area of natural
health because I've struggledwith health myself and I just I
(03:31):
prefer to deal with thingsnaturally.
And as far as flax seed oil andhemp seed oil, and that
especially those two, no, Ibelieve that those oils are
healthy for you.
I think that Frank was talkingabout hydrogenated oils, oils
(03:53):
like canola oil and vegetableoil, highly processed, terribly
bad for you.
Oils that at high heat gorancid and are overused, like at
restaurants, where that oilsits in the fryer for far too
(04:16):
long and doesn't get changed.
When you start talking aboutflax seed oil and hemp seed oil
in particular, I believe thatthey're probably two of the
healthiest oils in the world.
Flaxseed oil is rich in omega-3fatty acids, which are
essential for brain function,heart health.
(04:38):
It also contains lignans, whichhave been known to have
anti-cancer properties.
Hemp seed oil, on the otherhand, is very high in
gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA,which has been linked to
reducing inflammation andimproving your skin.
(05:02):
It also contains a greatbalance of your omega-3 and
omega-6 fatty acids, which isimportant to your overall health
.
You can use them both topically, especially hemp seed oil.
If you use it topically, it isgreat for your skin.
(05:24):
As mentioned above, although wewere talking about intaking it,
it actually penetrates deeplyinto your skin and nurtures all
of those skin cells that arebelow the surface, great sources
(05:50):
of antioxidants which helpprevent disease and helps the
body against oxidative stress.
They're just, they're wonderful, wonderful oils.
They are both easy to numberone incorporate into your diet.
I use them along with olive oilin salads.
(06:11):
I prefer to use one of thoseoils with apple cider, vinegar,
salt and pepper, and that makesa great salad.
That makes a great salad.
I also draw on my grandmother'sold recipe and use a little bit
(06:32):
less of the apple cider vinegar, but I still use it and I also
will add kefir.
She used to add heavy creamright from the barn, from the
cows.
She'd add heavy cream with alittle bit of vinegar, olive oil
, hemp seed oil one of thosethree oils and then she called
(06:54):
it cucumbers and cream, but shealso added well, there was the
cucumbers and onions chopped uponions, and I like to add tomato
in it as well, and that makes awonderful salad and the
dressing to soak up with freshbread, although fresh bread is.
(07:20):
If you're extremely healthconscious, it's one of those
things that you may avoid alittle.
But you know what?
Go for the sourdough and sopthat stuff up, man, it is just
delicious.
But yeah, like I mean to answeryour question and to finish it
(07:42):
off, you can get those oils intosmoothies and you can also buy
capsules and do all of thatstuff.
The one caveat I will add intothat is it's important that they
are cold pressed and unrefined,because once you start heating
(08:04):
up those seeds to extract theoil, it kills all of the
positive effects.
And also if you're looking forthe truest and cleanest, most
(08:24):
positive effects of these oils.
It's always best to go to thesource and go to the seeds
themselves.
So I would also beincorporating hemp seed and flax
seed into your diet.
Now, the flax seed, you're goingto want to get it, um, um, uh,
(08:47):
cracked and crushed, um, andthen I put that right in
smoothies.
Actually, one thing that I dowith that hemp seed, that's uh,
that's cracked.
I'll add it into um tuna.
Uh, I like to, uh, I like tothrow that right into tuna salad
and and I don't use mayonnaisewhen I mix up my tuna fish for
(09:07):
sandwiches I'll make wraps.
I like eating it on a lettucewrap.
But take that hemp seed, throwit right, or, sorry, the flax
seed, throw it right in with thetuna.
It actually, once it soaks up,I use vinegar and a little bit
of oil, salt and pepper samedeal and it soaks that up and
(09:30):
you can't even tell thedifference.
It almost has the sameconsistency as the tuna itself
and it's wonderful.
Just put everything in there.
I'm one of those guys where, ifit tastes pretty good, I'll
just throw everything in there,because it all goes to the same
spot anyway.
But yeah, so there you have it.
(09:52):
Hemp seed and flaxseed oils aredefinitely, in my opinion,
healthy.
They may have some adverseeffect depending on who you are
and what your body is like, butfor the most part, in my opinion
and again I'm not a doctor butthey are very healthy, have very
(10:15):
, um, uh, healthy, uh uses, uhand uh, yeah.
So I'm pretty sure that Frankwas talking about hydrogenated
seed oils and yeah, so we'll gofrom there.
And now we get into this withChef Kobe.
(10:36):
Kobe, welcome, welcome to you.
I'll tell you what.
I just want to paint a picturefor everybody listening.
Right now I am standing in aboat, correct, with my good
friend tied to the dock atBrabant Lodge, and it's probably
(11:01):
, I'm going to say, 9.30, maybe10 o'clock at night, yeah, and
the sun is up as if it was 7o'clock in the evening.
Oh, but maybe even more yeah 5pm and Brabant is on the
Mackenzie River in the NorthwestTerritories, in the land of the
midnight sun, sure is.
(11:21):
And because my voice sounds alittle bit muffled, it's because
I'm smoking a stogie and allyou little fellas out there.
Don't even start, don't evenstart.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Terrible, delicious, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
But I, just before we get into your journey as a chef
and all of that to your journeyas a chef and all of that,
let's talk about a world-classdock and I don't think there's
anybody on staff that can talkabout this dock the way that you
can, because I see you out herefishing every moment that you
(12:01):
can be out here Morning, night,night, morning.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's almost all daytime here, which is the nice
part.
There's not a lot of nightfishing happening, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It's hard not to be on the water for 15 hours a day.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I mean, you know I'm cooking a lot.
I'm a city boy.
Before I got here, I hadn'tfished in probably 20 years and,
uh, there's somethingincredibly meditative about this
process you know no doubt themuscle memory, the repetition of
it, um, and after yeah, aftercooking, after sweating, after
(12:39):
writing menus, doing all thosethings like taking like the
mental, it's not even a mentalbreak, it's just a mental
recharge.
Yeah, you know, out here on thewater, um, it's therapeutic,
it's incredibly therapeutic,yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Therapeutic and like I mean.
Just so people understand howmany fish do you catch in a day?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Um, realistically 10 to 12.
Uh, a good day, you know, Ithink, like the biggest one so
far was that.
Was that really nice laker wehad for?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
and really nice is 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it was it was a really nice dock fish, for sure
yeah, you know that's the kindof fish like my, my uncle and my
cousin are our big fishermenand, uh, they are.
I don.
You know that's the kind offish like my uncle and my cousin
are big fishermen and they are.
I don't know if it's jealousyor hatred for me, right now it's
somewhere in the middle, Ithink.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I know we used to go fishing on Lake Kippawa in
Quebec when I was a kid and a 13, 14-pound lake trout was a fish
that we fished all week fornever mind off the dock.
I caught a laker just I wasstraightening my line.
This morning.
I saw that and right in thisposition in this boat, I cast it
(13:58):
out and got an 8-pound laketrout.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And the northern pike , like I mean, everybody calls
northern pike hammer handles andsnot rockets and everything
else.
But to me a hammer handle or asnot rocket is like a 12,
15-inch northern, you know,maybe up to 20.
You guys are calling like30-inch northern snot rockets.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Oh yeah.
You got one on oh, you got oneon oh, yeah, boy yeah, he's on
there it's crazy sometimes, likeearlier this afternoon, my
friend, like one of the guides,logan and I it seemed like every
three minutes one of us werepulling something up.
Yeah, it was nuts.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh, it's crazy, it's crazy let me see if I can help
you with this guy.
What do we got here?
Oh, it's crazy.
It's crazy.
Let me see if I can help youwith this guy.
What do we got here?
Oh, it's a northern.
Yeah it's a good size.
Yeah well, that's what you guyscall a snot rocket.
This is about a 29-inchnorthern right here.
It's ridiculous, honestly.
The old one he ate that.
(15:00):
Yeah, come here, little feller,you a little nugget, oh yeah.
And the nice thing about thefishing up here is it's legally
all barbless Absolutely so.
When you're doing surgery, itmakes it a hell of a lot easier
(15:23):
to get these hooks out.
Sure does, although this younggentleman here, this one in
particular maybe not, he ate it.
Yeah, we're going to get there.
Oh, I thought I had it, butwe're going to get it out.
But yeah, like I mean, it isridiculous the way that the
fishing is Want spudders no, Igot her, it's just he's got it.
(15:45):
He's got it in there, right inthere.
Eh, oh, he'll be fine, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
I know He'll be good.
Yeah, that's the thing Like.
Even I remember growing upfishing with my dad and stuff
and like heck, probably half thefish we just mangled yeah you,
it was all like perch andsunfish and garbage but that was
a lot of dead perch and thisfella in particular with that
hook set.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Oh there he goes in a splash he took off.
Oh yeah, that fish would havebeen a dinner table fish, but
not him.
He's gone back to grow to 25,30 pounds.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
We're going to wait until he's a little better off,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, and on that note, let's talk like I mean,
the fishing off the dock isridiculous.
But let's talk a little bitabout field to table Absolutely,
and I know that's somethingthat you've mentioned a couple
of times but we've not reallytalked about it.
But I know that since we'vebeen here and it's been about
(16:43):
four days there have been anumber of occasions where our
apps and everything else is dockto table.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Very much so.
Within 24 hours often less thanthat between when it's in the
water to on the table.
Yeah, I think this week inparticular I think it's been
three Lakers I've done twoeight-pounders and a 13-13.
So we did ceviche.
Actually, the boys brought backsome walleye for that and it
(17:13):
was outstanding, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah, that was phenomenal.
That's the first time I've hadceviche-style walleye and I
think that it's probably myfavorite way to eat it.
The texture is really, reallynice, stunning, yeah, and we
actually did a piece on on thefor YouTube when you prepared it
, yeah, that we did the shootfor that, absolutely so you can
(17:35):
folks look for that it's.
It's ridiculous, it's amazing,that's just it.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
When it comes down to like farm to table, field to
table, sea to table in this case, river to table, it just
requires, like I don't want tosay, it makes my job easy, but
it makes my job a hell of a loteasier.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Oh, you know, and for me, as a lodge owner, I oh,
there was a bump.
Oh, I would have loved to havebeen able to do that.
Yeah, I see do that yeah, I seehim following.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yeah, he's trailing you.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's okay.
That's okay, yeah, and I'll behonest with you.
I've fished lake trout for manyyears and I've eaten lake trout
and it was my least favoritefish, to be honest, like I
didn't like lake trout at all,fair, but the way that you did
(18:28):
it, um, the lake trout mighttake a beating now, yeah,
because it was excellent Iappreciate that very much now
the first time that you did late.
It's twice that we've eaten it.
Yeah, so the first time, whatdid you do with it?
Oh, there's one there you goright up.
thank you, that was a wonderfulrelease right there that was
easy peasy I love that I knowLike I mean, we're looking at
(18:49):
the fish and trying to pull thebaits away from them because
they're too small, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Um, so the first time we we made fish tacos a couple
days ago.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, we did those fish tacos,yes.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yes, so I did like a hard cast.
Oh, that's a nice one.
It was a nice one, but I shouldreally set the hook on these
guys.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We'll get there, it's turning on you know, yeah, that
was great.
That was like a cast ironseared, super lightly cured.
I did about like a 30 minutecure on it.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yeah, what do you cure it?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
with.
I tend to do like a two to onesalt to sugar.
Yeah, I usually use brown sugarflavors is better.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Is it a liquid, or do you just pot it down?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
just pot it, just pot it down with the salt and sugar
so I'll do usually like I guess, say, for example, tonight,
like we did that smoked trouttonight, yeah, um, which turned
out awesome and I did a bitlonger of a cure as a fatter
fish, right, those fillets wereabout, uh, probably four pounds
each.
Yeah, they were big fillets andum, so I did uh two to one.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Do that when it's still in one large fillet.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It's easiest yeah, especially for smoking sake.
Yeah, um, if I was doingportioned like seared fish, I
would portion it first.
Yeah, um, just to make sure theed, like all every piece, is
perfect, yeah, but when I'msmoking like a whole fish, like
that, like I just want to makeit as easy as possible for
myself, to be honest, yeah, andthen so then I also add in
(20:15):
usually for this I did the juiceand zest of one lemon, about
half a bunch of dill, yeah, andprobably a couple tablespoons of
cracked pepper.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Right on, and that's when you were cooking it.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
That was just for the cure.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Oh, and that's all the cure and that's all the rub.
Right, yeah, that's just a dryrub oh.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
So that's like a six-hour dry rub, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Oh, there's another one.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That's a baby though.
Six-hour dry rub and then Irinsed that in Mackenzie River
lake water, yeah, and then did apine and poplar smoke for about
two hours Right on Like amedium heat smoke, yeah, and
then just kept it wrapped, letit sit for about three hours and
it was served just on a bit ofa cracker with like a cilantro
(21:00):
lime yogurt.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Oh, yeah, it was outstanding.
Now, the thing that I foundwith lake trout when I would
cook it or buddies of mine wouldcook it it was very greasy and
lardy, almost it left a lardyfilm on my mouth.
Is there anything that you'redoing?
Are you cutting any of that redfat off the fillet that you're
(21:26):
doing like?
Are you cutting any of that redfat off the fillet, or or is it
I?
I I'm thinking that it could bejust the that curing process,
because we didn't cure at allyeah, that takes a lot of that
it.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It tends to break down a lot of the fats that are
happening in there.
Yeah, um, which is where thatgreasiness comes from.
Yeah, uh, the other factor withlake trout is, a lot of times
if you cook it with like I tendto just cook it with butter I
find the oils if I useespecially like vegetable oils,
it tends to almost release morefats from the fish.
(21:56):
Oh, really, I don't know why, Idon't know if that's science, I
don't know if that's just a mething, but that's just like a
process that I've found to betrue.
So, like, I find the curingprocess just staying away from
adding any more fats altogetheryeah Is a really great method to
stop that greasiness fromhappening.
Yeah, but again, we're alsolucky.
You know the fish was out ofthe water for 16 hours, right,
so it didn't be, it wasn'tsitting in a fridge, it wasn't
(22:18):
sitting in somebody's coldstorage, yeah, you know, and,
yeah, you know, and in theMackenzie River, which comes out
of Great Slave Lake, like Imean, the third largest lake in
the world.
Yeah, it's also still very cold.
It's like about 44 degreesstill right now, so it's not
like the fish, oh.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
There, I set the hook on that fella.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Nice, yeah, you know.
So.
It's like just the cold factorof the water is a big.
Oh, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, yeah, another one.
And when we say nice, we'retalking like 25 to 35-inch
northerns here.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, we're a bit blessed.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
They're extremely nice and we're just letting them
go beside the boat with thesebarbless hooks.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
It's awesome, it's beautiful Quick catch and
release.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So, yeah, yeah, we were so rudely interrupted by
another, by another pike.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
How dare they, you know, yeah, be so plentiful
around here.
The audacity.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I know, I know, yeah, I know, Because that, so it
would be the curing process thatit draws, it yeah.
And then and then cooking it in.
Now there, peter, the ownersstanding behind us, also
hammering these northern, so Ithink he's got here.
There you go.
Yeah, so that's great to knowBecause, honestly, I would never
(23:52):
have eaten lake trout unless Ihad been here and tasted yours.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
That means a lot.
I'm very grateful for that.
Wow, and I feel like, well, youknow that process, that curing
process, helps a lot of fishierproteins.
Like, if I'm ever cookingscallops, I'm doing like a light
cure on that.
Yeah, draws out some of themoisture and just makes it,
makes the mouth feel a lotbetter you know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And again, to recap, that's just salt, sugar, little
zest of lemon, lemon or dill orwhatever herbs.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
You got kicking around A couple of hours on that
, but the main thing is two toone, salt to sugar and I go with
brown.
Like I said, it's just moreflavor.
Yeah, if you can use honey oryou got something like a lot of
times folks don't want to Maplesyrup.
You don't want to do likerefined sugars, you want to
stick to natural stuff.
It's a great alternative foryou.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
In yeah, yeah, in every angler's heart lives a
fishing paradise With stunningscenery and wildlife, on a
trophy, multi-species fishery,having outstanding accommodation
and a food experience to diefor.
They treat you like royalty,tailor-making a package that
works for you.
Nestled in northwestern Ontario, nordic Point Lodge is that
(25:08):
paradise, and Will and his teamcan't wait to show you a luxury
outdoor experience and five-starservice.
So follow your heart.
Book now.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Hi everybody.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
I'm Angelo Viola.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's
favorite fishing show, but nowwe're hosting a podcast that's
right.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your
ears, bringing you a brand newepisode of Outdoor Journal.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Radio.
Hmm, now, what are we going totalk about for two hours every
week?
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Well, you know there's going to be a lot of
fishing.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors, from athletes, All theother guys would go golfing.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go
fishing To scientists.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
Now that we're reforesting and letting things
breathe.
It's the perfect transmissionenvironment for line to see.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated
, you will taste it and whoeverelse will pick up the phone
Wherever you are Outdoor.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell
the stories of all those whoenjoy being outside.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
So let's talk a little bit about how you got
into the business.
Certainly Because by thequality of the food.
I know for sure that there'sdefinitely been a lot of
practice in some realm or field.
How did you, what did you do toget yourself to this point?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Certainly, it's been a heck of a journey.
I'm in my mid-early 30s rightnow.
I'm from Mississauga originally.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That guy come right to the side of the boat.
We have a fighter.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right
at the side of the boat we havea fighter.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Oh yeah, he's a fighter because he ate it right
at the side of the boat.
Oh hell yeah, I didn't have afoot of line out.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I was going to say I thought you were just picking a
reel up there.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
No, I was.
I was just lifting it out tomake another cast, yeah, so yeah
, so I'm from Mississauga.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
You know, growing up I just my folks, worked a lot,
so I had, I was, I was making alot of chicken nuggets and
frozen home fries.
Yep, like all of us, like allof us.
And now you know, 20 yearslater, I'm not going to lie.
I do, I love my chicken nuggetsand my home fries.
So, but it was I startedcooking out of necessity, more
(27:44):
than anything, you know.
Yeah, just sick of the frozenstuff, sick of the same old.
I've been in hospitality sincemy first job at Dairy Queen when
I was 13.
Yeah, so it's been basically 20years in hospitality.
At this point, I briefly left.
I left for about six weeks andtried door-to-door sales.
How'd that go.
I begged for my job back aboutsix weeks in Just hated it.
(28:08):
It was like I was in my.
I was like early 20s.
I was getting my ass kicked inkitchens, you know, and like
pans were being thrown and likewords were being and I was like,
let's talk about that becauseI'm pretty sure that part of the
business is not just somethingthat happened to you.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
No, that's a pretty universal truth and I'm going to
be honest with you.
A lot of them were a little onthe crazy side.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, I mean that's a fair.
That's a really nice way ofputting it.
I'm grateful that you put itthat way, all great people.
Of course.
You know, passion and like it'snot one of those jobs that you
do because you know the hoursare great or the money's great
or it gives you a great chanceto have a family.
(28:52):
You know, like you know, spendall this time with your kids.
That's not what it's been about, at least in my experience.
You know there's a lot ofopportunities for folks that do
get to do that, but for me, youknow, I got into this because I
loved hospitality and I stuckwith it because there's
something incredibly satisfyingabout just like with fishing, I
(29:15):
feel like with the whole process, start to finish.
You know you get to.
With fishing, you reel it upLike look at this, this is
beautiful.
Yeah, I know.
Like look at this this isbeautiful.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Like wild, but I mean , it's not for everyone.
You know, like I said, there'scooking and there's chefing,
right, yeah, and I love cookingmore than I love chefing, for
sure.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So do you remember one crazy moment?
That kind of stands out whereyou were like, oh my God, I
don't know what's going on?
Or did you ever have anyreservations?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Oh, absolutely.
I think there was a moment inone of my first kitchens I was
working in and the guy who wason the the meat station we had a
flat top and a grill and he wasI was on a station called
entremetier at the time so like,uh, side dishes and stuff, yeah
.
So, um, that's one of myfavorite stations.
(30:16):
It's just a busy.
You're just getting smoked allday it's just side dishes for
every entree in the place, right?
So you have like 12 burnerstation and you just have 10
pans on the go.
It's awesome.
But this guy, he was slicingone of his steaks to serve and
he cut off the tip of his thumb.
This is a restaurant that didabout 600, 700 covers a day.
So we were just in the middleof a Saturday night dinner
service.
He turns around and sears histhumb on the flat top oh no.
(30:39):
And then duct tapes and goesback to work.
And I was standing there I waslike 19.
I was like I don't know if Ican do that.
I don't know if I have thewillpower to not stop what I'm
doing and deal with somethinglike that.
And, like you know, I've had alot of opportunities since then,
a lot of quite some significantinjuries in kitchens and, at
(31:03):
the end of the day, you knowwhat injuries in kitchens and,
um, at the end of the day, youknow what, when, when the guests
are the most important personin the room, and when that plate
of food, you know what wentinto it.
You know all the prep that wentinto it.
You know all the money it costs.
Yeah, I've I've figurativelyturned around and seared my
thumb on that flat top quite afew times.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
you know, yeah, I know exactly that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So it was a bit of a stressor off the bat but in
hindsight that was a reallygreat lesson in putting guests
first realistically.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
And there's another one here, I'll give you a hand.
Thanks, bro.
Yeah, wow, that's it for sure.
Like I mean, you know, there hegoes Back home, back home.
But I'd appreciate it if youtell Grandpa it's dinnertime.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, no, and I know, in those situations, even in
small kitchens, in the moment,it's high stress, absolutely
Like it's high stress.
In the moment it's high stress,absolutely Like it's high
stress.
And, um, it's.
It's one of those things where,being a guy that I cooked for
myself, for my family, for sure,and I had no idea when I bought
(32:17):
the lodge what I was gettinginto, that's reasonable.
And and seeing seeing thestress level that can occur in a
kitchen was eye-opening, verymuch so.
And to the point where and allthe folks out there listening
I've told this story before,I'll just give you an idea.
(32:39):
But I had a couple of chefs andtowards the end of the year, for
whatever reason, I was down tomy head chef and it was a lot of
work.
We were cooking for, you know,30 to 40 people a night, yeah,
breakfast, lunch, dinner, mm-hmm.
(32:59):
And he come to me and said no,you know, I can't do it, it's
too much.
Yeah, and being on an islandand with six weeks left, we had
a conversation and he didn'tleave me high and dry, but the
solution was to find a breakfastchef, so he didn't get up in
(33:23):
the morning, that's it.
Right was to find a breakfastchef, so he didn't get up in the
morning.
That's it right.
And being in that situation,trying to find somebody to work
for six weeks, was next toimpossible, no doubt.
And he looked me in the eye andhe said I have a solution for
that.
And I said what he said.
I'm looking at the breakfastchef and it turned out to be me.
You took the role.
Eh, I did.
(33:43):
And, long story short, I gotcocky After.
It was all we did.
He said all we're going to dois buffet.
Yeah, after about two and ahalf weeks of doing buffet every
week, You're like I can stepthis up.
I'm like this is easy.
Yeah, I got this.
So I told Jen, one of myservers.
I said, hey, jen, you know Ican do this.
(34:06):
We're going to do plated.
Oh yeah, yeah, why not, buddy?
I got my ass kicked the nextmorning to the point where I had
to go wake Dave up and say Dave, come and help me, please help,
I'm dying.
Immediate regret.
Oh, yeah, buddy, but no, soit's one of those things where I
know how stressful behind thescenes it can get.
(34:28):
Yeah, and relationships are soimportant and I always talk to
the chefs and servers because Iused to run head chef, sous chef
, assistant chef, yep, and fouror five servers, assistant chef,
(34:49):
yeah, and, uh, four or fiveservers.
And before we got intosituations where, you know,
people were under stress,yelling, and yeah, you know, I
told them.
I understand that it's going tohappen absolutely, and I want
you to understand that whathappens in the kitchen stays in
the kitchen, that's always thecase and also know that when you
leave this building althoughyou never left each other
(35:11):
because you're living on anisland oh yeah, you know, work
stays in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Absolutely At the end of service.
Reset Like service is service.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Because some people don't understand that and if you
don't explain it it gets verydifficult.
But if you can keep that lineof communication open between
the front of the house and theback of the house, it's so key.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Absolutely and just you know, just in general, being
on the same page right, havingthe same expectations of service
for, or quality of service, youknow like Absolutely.
Or quality of service, you knowAbsolutely, we were talking
today about how like myself andour head server and the owners
today, kat, we were talkingabout how much more valuable it
(35:55):
is to have somebody in here thatcares, right, yes, that notices
the little things For sure,because it's really easy,
especially, you know, going,know, going, like I'm used to a
lot of fine dining and stuff,it's really easy for me to walk
in here and and start stoplooking at the little things
because it's suddenly I'm, youknow, I'm, it's, it's not, it's
not three hundred dollars aplate anymore, you know.
(36:16):
So, like it's, it's really easyto to kind of let that stuff
slide.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Well, and servers are a great resource for chefs.
I would always tell the chefsbecause in the early days I kind
of let things go yeah, I didn'tknow how to deal with shit.
Of course I would run from it,yeah.
(36:42):
And the servers they have tolook the guests in the eye, yeah
, but the chef, he's back in thekitchen.
There's a wall there, yeah.
And without getting theinformation from the front of
the house to the chef, it makesthings so much more difficult.
(37:03):
And then you know, the lastthing you want is there to be
the server thinking that they'refighting for the guest and
their needs yeah.
And the chef thinking he'sfighting for the guest yeah.
And the quality of food, yeah,and then there's the clash in
the middle and egos get involvedand all of a sudden it erupts
into something that I've seensome horrific fights.
(37:25):
Oh yeah, you know, absolutely.
And it's so important for thatcommunication, you know.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Oh, that looks like a good one that does feel like a
good one.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, I'll get out of your way, but yeah, yeah, that
was, that's all right.
Oh yeah another hammer handle,a 28-inch hammer handle.
But so listen, I'm here, we'reshooting a show with Fish in
Canada Doing our TV thing.
Heck yeah, I heard a rumor thatyou also did a TV thing.
(38:01):
I did do a TV thing.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 1 (38:03):
little bit about it.
Certainly, I did a TV thing.
Yeah, why don't you tell us a?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
little bit about it.
Certainly I did.
I competed in Shop Canada.
Yeah, about at this point.
It would be about nine yearsago.
Yeah, I was very early on in mycareer.
I was chefing at a place in PEIcalled the Inupiaq Fortune,
which is a guy like Chef MichaelSmith owns that restaurant.
(38:26):
Yeah, so it was the first yearof operation.
It was a crazy and similar towhat you said.
Like I got my first head chefposition out of what they call a
battlefield promotion, you knowwhere I was brought in as a
junior sous and within the firstsix weeks the head chef was let
go.
Then the sous chef was moved upand then he was let go and it
was like Colby, do you think youcan do this?
I was like I can try thebattlefield promotion.
(38:50):
Exactly, I like that and uh andso that tv experience was
phenomenal.
It was, um, it was uh, it's aone-day competition for chefs,
uh, black box style competition.
So what does that mean?
So they'll give you in thiscase they give you four mystery
ingredients per course, gotcha,and then you're on a very strict
(39:12):
time limit.
So appetizer's 20 minutes, yeah, entree's 30, dessert's 30
minutes Get out of here.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
It's wild dude.
How do you do an app like anapp or an entree in 30 minutes?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Honestly, the app was the hardest because, like it
was a new kitchen, it was likeall, like I wasn't sure.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
You get one shot.
It was just that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Absolutely, and like the way that show is represented
in terms of how they show, likethe process is very true life.
Yeah, you know, like it waslike once you open the basket,
that real clock starts andthere's a big clock that says 20
minutes, you know, and there'sthe stress factor dude.
It's like it's one thing to becooking, it's another to be
(39:53):
cooking and have somebody sixinches from your face going OK,
kobe, just grab the rice vinegar.
No, never mind the white winevinegar.
Ok, and now he's, he'sseasoning, and so the whole time
I'm cooking, there's somebodytranscribing what I'm doing and
I'm like every little bit andI'm making mistakes, I'm like
don't, don't mention that part,you know like I don't want you.
I don't want you to say that Iforgot.
(40:14):
I forgot how to use a robo coopfor a second.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, but itwas.
It was a ton of fun.
First course was verychallenging.
They gave us us chicken hearts,chocolate, pie dough, sherry
vinegar and toasted pumpkinseeds.
That was a rough one.
That was a rough course, mysecond two courses, but I knew.
(40:35):
So what did you?
Speaker 1 (40:36):
do with the chicken hearts.
Did you fry them?
I should have fried them.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
I did like a chicken heart, chocolate pie dough pate.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Pie okay.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Which, flavor-wise, was fine, but the heart being
such a working muscle, it didn'thave enough time to break down.
Yeah, so it was just a littletough.
Yeah, but my goal for that show, and most of the time, is just
to do something that otherpeople wouldn't.
Yeah, like, I knew I'm fourpeople.
I knew all three of those otherpeople are deep frying those
chicken hearts.
Yeah, it's the easiest thing todo.
Yeah, you know so.
(41:08):
At the very least you know, bedifferent, be different, like
and I can be a little pridefulabout it you know, like I tried
something different If I lostand lost.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
You know.
So See, I love chicken hearts,I like chicken hearts too, you
boil them.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, I do, I love it , and I eat them with salt and
pepper Just straight up, right.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, and I love it.
It probably wouldn't have beena winning thing.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
But like no, but the guy that it's like the guy that
got kicked out the first round,did like he finished.
It was just weird, man, it wasjust weird.
But I knew the first couplerounds.
You don't have to be the best,you just don't have to be the
worst.
Yeah, you know, just don't bethe last person, yeah, and
you'll go through.
Yeah.
So that was great.
It worked out really.
(41:51):
I survived.
I would say I survived theappetizer.
So you survived the appetizer.
Yeah, it was these beautifulcod fillets.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
You know those you came from PEI.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Exactly, I just come from PEI.
And then you know those likemaple cookies, yeah yeah.
So maple cookies.
I had a thing called ahi pepperpaste, yeah, and what was the
other thing?
Something else.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Now did you try the ingredients, Like taste them to
try and get an idea how to putthem together.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Not even a little bit .
Most honestly, most of mydishes composed, I didn't taste
any of the of the components.
Gotcha, I, just I, it was justtunnel vision.
It was like I had the blinderson, yeah, and I never moved that
fast in my life.
Yeah, I don't remember most ofit, like you just go into
survival mode.
Yeah and uh, and that was great.
I did like a maple cookie,crusted cod with Sounds good.
(42:46):
Oh, baby fennel was the otherone.
So I did some like braised babyfennel.
And my other thing I wanted todo I wanted to showcase that I'm
all about limited waste, so Iused, I made fish broth, used
fish broth to make a polenta,braised the fennel in fish broth
as well.
Nice With like roasted carrotsand a little like ahi pan sauce
thing.
Yeah, and that was really good.
(43:06):
Very happy with that course.
And then desserts oh, there wego.
Yeah, I'm a big dessert guy.
I don't know if you noticedfrom the week you were here.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Oh, my God, your desserts have been outstanding.
I love desserts.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
man, that's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
That's a 34-incher right there yeah that's a nice
fish dude, Absolutely,Absolutely.
Oh yeah, and he's a Nice colorto it too.
Yeah, absolutely, I love fishlike this.
Yes, I noticed you were adessert guy.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah, I'm a big sweets fan, so, like,
realistically, you know, I liketo cook what I like to eat, you
know.
Oh, yeah, I like to cook what Ilike to eat.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Oh yeah, you did a couple of desserts this week and
I was a good boy.
I'm not supposed to be eating alot of sugar, that's true, you
were very good with that.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I did God, yeah.
Yeah, that is a nice fish, dude, that's a beautiful northern
Right.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Yeah, and actually Ange and Peter up on the deck,
they're doing a podcastsimultaneously.
Yeah, they're where we call thepeanut gallery right now.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Yes, they are, but so .
So, yeah, then dessert theygave.
It was a weird one, but I knewI love ice cream, so I knew I
wanted to make ice cream, yeah.
So I didn't know what.
But they gave us brie cheese,ginseng, these like apple
fritter things, and somethingelse, and so I made brie and
(44:34):
ginseng ice cream.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
Oh my God it was wild dude.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Wow, Absolutely wild.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I would have loved to have tasted that you know what
I would have too.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
I didn't even try it.
And one of my guests, one ofthe judges, was suser lee.
Yeah, and he said uh, bestmoment of my career up to that
point was suser lee saying youshould bottle this and take it
to asia.
and I was like oh my gosh, sir,like you legend, like you know
that's awesome and uh.
And then I came in.
I came in second, so I didn'twin, I lost in the.
(45:06):
I didn't lose the dessert round, but I lost overall.
You know, and they give youafter a 16-hour day, they give
you a $100 check and a glass ofwine.
Yeah, and Off, you went.
Off, they went.
Yeah, I said they were like allright, let's do our exit
interview.
And I said all right, I needthree cigarettes and a beer
please.
I'm not doing anything until Ifigure out that that's right
(45:28):
that's right.
So yeah, it was a hell of a time, um long day.
I would do it again, but with,uh, with just a different.
You know, I, I, I'm moreconfident in my abilities now.
Yeah, you know, I don't feelthe need to judge stuff up as
much anymore.
Yeah, you know, I'm at a pointwhere I know how to season stuff
(45:49):
.
I know how to use butter andwine properly.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
You know, like my foundation, and those are
probably big things.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
They are for sure that a lot of like, a lot more
like when I started cookingthere was a I was.
It was in the big likemolecular gastronomy time, so
people were making like pods ofstuff and mousses and foams out
of beets and shit.
I'm like I don't like, that'slike I tried it I tried it, but
I I one of my first tattoos is atattoo says saying keep it
(46:15):
simple.
Yeah, there's garlic and onionsand a knife, and it just says
keep it simple and it's areminder to myself that like,
the foundation of things isenough.
Yes, you know like, and that'swhy I love comfort for people.
Exactly, I call my like, mystyle, I call fine comfort food.
Yeah, because it's like, it'scomfort, it's approachable, it's
recognizable.
I'm not, I'm not turning stuffinto what it isn't yeah you know
, but it is, it's it's doingeverything I can from scratch.
(46:38):
Yeah, and you know, if I'mgonna catch a nice 13 pound lake
trout, I'm gonna treat it well,with the respect it deserves.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
You know, I can tell you it tasted like it had all
kinds of respect, and I know themost valuable and important
ingredient that you use in everydish is love.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
Oh, buddy you do know that.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
I know and we've talked to, I've talked to a
couple of chefs and oh, there'sPeter up there.
Yeah, and that comes throughwith the ones that are great.
Yeah, and it's so important andI wish you all the best up here
(47:25):
at Braebank.
I really appreciate that.
I really appreciate that mybrother, it is just gorgeous
here and you know it's toughworking in a place that's so
secluded, like it took us threeplane flights to get here.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Well, I was four, so you're lucky.
There you go.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
I know and it's crazy .
So I appreciate you taking thetime out of your busy fishing
day.
Hey, this kept me away fromdishes for an extra 40 minutes.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Yeah cooking as a side.
I'm very grateful that you tookthe time that y'all came up
here.
This is a heck of a week, youknow for a first round of guests
.
Yeah, opening week, my firstseason up here, so to have folks
like you that you know careabout not just the fishing but
the the whole experience.
Yeah, you know, because it'slike yeah yeah yeah, so it's uh,
(48:16):
it's been an absolute pleasureto have you, by all means, my
friend thank you, I appreciate.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
Yeah, let's hug it out, okay, folks.
Thus concludes another episodeof Diaries of a Lodge Owner, and
if you love it, like it, sendsome comments.
Really appreciate it.
Thanks very much for having me,my friend.
Hey, it's my pleasure.
I'm a good old boy Nevermeanin' no harm.
(48:44):
I'll be all you ever saw, beenrailin' in the hog since the day
I was born, Bendin' my rockstretchin' my line.
Speaker 5 (48:59):
Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
Someday I might own a lodge,and that'd be fine.
I'll be making my way the onlyway I know how, working hard and
sharing the north with all ofmy pals.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Well, I'm a good old boy.
I bought a lodge and lived mydream.
And now I'm here talking abouthow life can be as good as it
seems.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
In every angler's heart lives a fishing paradise
With stunning scenery andwildlife on a trophy,
multi-species fishery, havingoutstanding accommodation and a
food experience to die for.
They treat you like royalty,tailor-making a package that
works for you.
Nestled in northwestern Ontario, nordic Point Lodge is that
(50:00):
paradise, and Will and his teamcan't wait to show you a luxury
outdoor experience withfive-star service.
So follow your heart.
Speaker 4 (50:09):
Book now back in 2016 , frank and I had a vision to
amass the single largestdatabase of muskie angling
education material anywhere inthe world our dream was to
harness the knowledge of thisamazing community and share it
with passionate anglers justlike you.
(50:30):
Thus, the Ugly Pike podcast wasborn and quickly grew to become
one of the top fishing podcastsin North America.
Speaker 3 (50:38):
Step into the world of angling adventures and
embrace the thrill of the catchwith the Ugly Pike podcast.
Join us on our quest tounderstand what makes us
different as anglers and touncover what it takes to go
after the infamous fish of10,000 casts.
Speaker 4 (50:51):
The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing.
It's about creating atight-knit community of
passionate anglers who share thesame love for the sport.
Through laughter, throughcamaraderie and an unwavering
spirit of adventure, thispodcast will bring people
together.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our
angling adventures.
Tight lines everyone.
Speaker 4 (51:11):
Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
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