Chefs from across British Columbia will meet in Victoria on November 19, 2015 to compete in the Gold Medal Plates for the BC spot in the Canadian Culinary Championships held in Kelowna in February. We’re heading over to check out the event and as a prequil have interviewed the chefs. Here’s a little background from Brad Holmes, the chef and owner of OLO Restaurant in Victoria.
Tell us a little bit about your restaurant.
OLO is about a community of farmers, foragers, butchers, cooks, wine makers, distillers and other local artisans coming together to showcase the best of Vancouver Island.
Where do you eat in your city?
Fol Epi, Caravan Cuisine food truck, Part and Parcel, Relish, Bliss, Be Love, Fish Hook Uchida, Chorizo and Company, Standard Pizza. I mostly go out for lunch.
What would be your ideal food day?
Spending the day cooking and eating with my family. Breakfast of pancakes made by Sahara. Shopping for ingredients and eating a falafel at the farmer’s market. Back yard bbq for dinner.
What trend do you wish would die?
Food Waste.
What ingredient do you always have on hand?
One?! That seems way to limiting.
What’s your go-to recipe when you’re eating at home?
Pasta, pasta, pasta. This has been genetically transferred to my 2-year-old son who also shares my passion for noodles.
What cookbook would you suggest for a gift for your foodie friends this year?
Beer and Food by Daniel Burns or Relae by Christian Puglisi
What trend/s do you wish would be next?
Seasonal eating. I hope this isn’t a trend but that people start to be more aware of what the seasons provide us to eat. I think more public education is needed on this and the desire to try different types of in-season food instead of eating just tomato salads in winter. Yes you can have pizza, but in August have the fresh tomato pizza, in fall have a mushroom pizza, in winter have a winter squash pizza and spring have a nettle pizza. This are what a natural food system can supply and is better for your body and the earth.
What do you want for food/food equipment gifts this year?
I’ve been very lucky and blessed by the restaurant gods and have almost everything I could want in a kitchen, but I recently got a pasta extruder and have become addicted to the brass dies that it uses. I want all the pasta shapes!!!
What country/city would you travel to just for the purpose of eating?
Japan
What is in your home refrigerator? When did you last cook at home?
Lots of condiments; pickles, many different mustards, hot sauce. Some staples; milk, yogurt, etc. The last thing I cooked at home was a cauliflower and broccoli soup for my son’s lunch today.
What recipe you invented by accident , that was a KEEPER?
Crispy Semolina Cubes, a delicious snack on the menu at OLO. We were making pan fried gnocchi romano. We had a guest who had to leave unexpectedly and wanted to take their food with them asap. In order to get them on their way as fast as possible I decided to pop them in the deep fryer. The result was a great combo of creamy and crispy.
