{"id":1260,"date":"2018-06-12T16:39:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T16:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2018-06-12T16:39:41","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T16:39:41","slug":"a-feast-for-the-small-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/2018\/06\/12\/a-feast-for-the-small-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"A Feast for the Small Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

NICK & TAYLOR’S FOOD SHOW<\/em><\/h3>\n

BY CHRIS TIESSEN<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Sorry I\u2019m late, guys,\u2019 Chef Nick Benninger declares as he hustles towards our table. \u2018Stuck in meetings.\u2019 It\u2019s no wonder. After all, Nick does run four restaurants. All along the strip in Uptown Waterloo. There\u2019s Harmony Lunch. Marbles. Taco Farm. And the place that started it all \u2013 Nick & Nat\u2019s. Nick takes a seat and unloads a stack of books he\u2019s carrying. Onto the table, in front of Taylor and me. Taylor Jackson. Wedding photographer. Cinematographer. Entrepreneur extraordinaire who knows his hustle inside and out. Just like Nick. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018These should get you started,\u2019 Nick remarks, addressing Taylor. Gina Mallet\u2019s Last Chance to Eat. Michael Pollan\u2019s The Omnivore\u2019s Dilemma. Mark Schatzker\u2019s Steak. Rudolph Chelminski\u2019s The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine. I ask what\u2019s up with all the reading. \u2018I want to learn more about the impact of a carnivorous diet,\u2019 Taylor replies. My eyes move back and forth and back again between these two. And for a split second I wonder if this is all a bit of theatre to make me believe that the two of them philosophize about food all the time. After all, that\u2019s why we\u2019ve met. At Lancaster Smokehouse. (The irony in our having lunch in a haven for carnivores is not lost on any of us.) To discuss the new local food show that Nick and Taylor are about to release. Which is exciting \u2013 not least for me.<\/p>\n

You see, I\u2019m a food show fanatic. Hot Ones. F@ck That\u2019s Delicious. The Burger Show. The Pizza Show. Chef\u2019s Night Out. And anything at all by Anthony Bourdain. To be sure, this very magazine draws inspiration from Youtube food shows like these. (And of course Petrolicious too.) So when I found out that Nick and Taylor were preparing to do a show highlighting our regional culinary scene, my curiosity was piqued. And I wanted to find out more. Which is what got us all together at \u2018the Lanc\u2019 \u2013 which is also the setting for the first episode.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our food arrives. Brisket. Ribs. Pig\u2019s tail. Cheesy grits. Collard greens. The good stuff. And we begin to eat. And continue to converse.<\/p>\n

\u2018We decided to put this together,\u2019 Taylor begins, \u2018because no one\u2019s done anything like this about our local food scene. There\u2019s too much talent in the region for people to ignore.\u2019 Nick echoes Taylor\u2019s sentiment, adding: \u2018Over the past five years, the local culinary scene has exploded. And chefs who once looked toward Toronto as the place to grow their careers are now sticking around these parts.\u2019 He goes on: \u2018There are so many advantages for chefs and restauranteurs to set up shop here \u2013 not least of which is our proximity to literally hundreds of farmers and producers. It\u2019s like a goldmine.\u2019
\nThe show\u2019s premise is straightforward enough. Over the first seven episodes of this inaugural eight-episode season (which are each a digestible ten to fifteen minutes long), Chef Nick tours culinary neophyte Taylor around the region to a number of Nick\u2019s favourite culinary haunts \u2013 interviewing chefs, learning culinary techniques, tasting great food and discussing the region\u2019s culinary landscape. There\u2019s the episode on the Lanc, of course, where Chef Tim Borys demonstrates how to prepare a show-stopping rabbit dish. And one on The Bruce in Stratford, where every single ingredient used is local to these parts. And late night pizza at the storied Pepi\u2019s Pizza in #dtk. And cocktails at The Grand Trunk and Jane Bond. There\u2019s a chicken wing special, and an episode devoted to late night eats. (Shawarma poutine, anyone?) And ice cream at Four All. \u2018One of our region\u2019s great culinary success stories,\u2019 adds Nick. <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the last episode, in which the tables are turned and Taylor gets to plan his own menu for a couple dozen guests at Nick\u2019s Taco Farm restaurant. \u2018To get him out of his comfort zone and see what he\u2019s learned along the way,\u2019 notes Nick. \u2018And to make for great content too,\u2019 adds Taylor. (Tickets may still be available for this: visit 519foodshow.com to find out.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018The show\u2019s a bit of a lark, of course,\u2019 notes Nick as we get to the bottom of our barbecue. I survey the scene. Not a clean hand or napkin in sight. Nick continues: \u2018A great opportunity to see what we can get up to at some of the region\u2019s most unique and cherished destinations. But,\u2019 he adds, \u2018I think it\u2019s also an important thing we\u2019re doing here. Our regional culinary scene hits well above its weight class. And it\u2019s important that this story \u2013 these stories \u2013 keep getting told.
\n\u2018Besides,\u2019 he adds with a bit of a smirk, \u2018there\u2019s an appetite for this.\u2019 .<\/p>\n

<\/span> 519foodshow.com
\n<\/i> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NICK & TAYLOR’S FOOD SHOW BY CHRIS TIESSEN \u2018Sorry I\u2019m late, guys,\u2019 Chef Nick Benninger declares as he hustles towards our table. \u2018Stuck in meetings.\u2019 It\u2019s no wonder. After all, Nick does run four restaurants. All along the strip in Uptown Waterloo. There\u2019s Harmony Lunch. Marbles. Taco Farm. And the place that started it all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,113,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-drink","category-issue-4","category-kitchener"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/1DSC_9966sm.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KDF5-kk","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1266,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions\/1266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}