A
HERITAGE OF FOOD AND CULTURE
Since opening its doors in 2001, Ottawa
hotspot e18ghteen has emerged as one of the most successful high-end
restaurants in the capital, pushing culinary boundaries from within its
heritage stone walls on York Street in the Byward Market.
 This success is due in no small part to
e18ghteen’s Executive Chef Matthew Carmichael and his life-long motivation to
explore food and its association with the culture of fine-dining.
“Food is so reflective of how you feel, the
company you are with, and where you are eating it,” he says. “If you have a restaurant that has ultra
levels of service, food/wine and atmosphere, you have a winner.”
A protégé of world-renowned chef Susur Lee,
the Toronto-born Carmichael, whose first culinary inspiration came from his
grandmother’s kitchen, studied human kinetics at the University of Ottawa and
minored in recreation. He wrote his
thesis on food and tourism, which led him to the Canadian Tourism Commission
and the task of incorporating food as a marketable product into its domestic
and international marketing campaigns.
“Essentially, we wanted people to come to
and experience all of the talented vintners, winemakers, chefs and
restauranteurs that Canada has to offer.”
Carmichael’s formative years as a chef
began in 1996 under the guidance of John Taylor, Executive Chef and owner of
Ottawa’s Domus Café (also in the Byward Market), who was the first to recognize
his student’s passion and talent for the art and who credits Carmichael with
playing a large part in the success that Domus enjoys today.
“When he started with me, he had really no
experience,” recalls Taylor. “But when he was finished, he was such a
success. We covered a lot of ground in
that time.
“He was all around fantastic. Extremely creative and hard-working, he was
always there so you could always depend on him.”
Following Domus, Carmichael mentored with
Susur Lee, whose self-titled restaurant in Toronto was listed as one of the
world’s best by the U.K. magazine Restaurant in 2002.
The circumstances could not have been
better. Studying under an
internationally recognized maestro whose uncanny technique, professionalism,
organization, no-waste policy and shared philosophy of working with only the
best seasonal, regional and domestic products available was indispensable to
the young chef’s development.
“Susur has an incredible work ethic and an
unmatched respect for food,” says Carmichael, who began to refine his
understanding of the subtleties and detail crucial to fine-dining.
“The first sense is always the
presentation,” says Carmichael. “It must
have impact. It must never supercede the
flavor, but you eat with your eyes before your nose and tongue. For instance, if I slice a mushroom I will do
so in a way that will highlight the naturalness of it.”
To maximize and draw the purest natural
flavour out of vegetables is a constant challenge for chefs because, while the
freshest produce is always preferable, it is uncontrollable. Like many other high-volume restaurants in
Ontario, e18ghteen sources the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable terminal for its
organic needs, but upon his arrival in November 2006, Carmichael discovered the
advantages of operating in the Byward Market.
“Everyday I walk the stalls. Generally,
I’ve found that fruit and vegetables in are much fresher than what’s available
in Toronto. (The farmers) usually came
to the restaurants in Toronto, but it was more difficult; they had to drive two
hours just to penetrate the core. Here in Ottawa, we are only a half hour from
farmland.”
Although Ottawa can boast advantages, there
are concerns that don’t always tie into the quality side of the coin, like
shortages. The Gatineau Hills, known for
a diverse array of wild mushroom growth (Chanterelle, Yellow-Foot and Black
Trumpet), saw little rain during its growing season in August 2007, which left
some restaurants scrambling for alternatives.
“You find a way to compensate,” says
Carmichael. “Back in June, we had a
romaine lettuce shortage because of the citrus problems California experienced
in March, and we couldn’t get any lemons.
Certainly we are always at the whim of nature.”
Fortunately, this did not impact
Carmichael’s Susur Lee dinner, a June 1st dining highlight for one hundred
lucky people (with some being turned away) who had the privilege to enjoy an
intricate seven-course meal with Lee serving as guest chef. Currently, e18ghteen is working on bringing
in a New York-based chef as the next potential guest.
“I like to do these sort of dinners every
once in a while; not just the winemaker’s dinner, but to have a guest chef come
in so my staff can study new combinations, techniques and presentations.”
Carmichael’s greatest fulfillment is the
time he spends with his kitchen staff, endeavouring to maintain and expand
their interest in food. And like Lee, he
challenges his staff to push creativity and service to a new level and discover
new elements of technique.
“He is exceptional in his leadership and
organizational skills in the kitchen, as well as his talent for sensing what
his customers are looking for in terms of variety,” says e18ghteen co-owner
Caroline Gosselin of Carmichael. “When
we sat down, experience was a big factor because we were looking to change our
approach to meet a more diverse crowd - away from a menu geared toward a
particular customer base. He had a good
understanding, from a business perspective, of what would work well in this
region for our restaurant and for these times.”
In his dining guide of Ottawa, where e18ghteen
is currently listed at eight, Chris Knights suggests that food is reflective of
how you feel, the company you are with and where you are eating it.
“If you have a restaurant that has ultra
levels of service, food/wine and atmosphere, you have a winner.”
This is the formula for which Matthew
Carmichael has demonstrated a profound understanding, and one many Ottawa
fine-dining patrons believe will soon see e18ghteen reach number one.
HOME
RECIPIES
What Matthew's cooking when he's at home
Fresh Salsa recipe
Finely chop a small- to-medium size sweet
onion and soak in ice water for 5 minutes to remove astringency before
draining.
Drain excess liquid from canned Italian
whole tomatoes and crush the remaining tomatoes with your hands into a course
texture.
Add the onion, along with sugar, chili,
salt, lime juice, chopped coriander and olive oil. You can also add a chopped
mango or peach for sweetness.
The end result should be a nice balance of
the sweet, salty, sour and spicy.
Fresh Pasta
Add three whole eggs plus one yolk to three
cups of flour.
Mix by hand or in a food processor. The
dough, when done needing after 10 minutes, should be fairly dry but moist at
the same time. Run this through a pasta machine after letting the dough rest
for one hour at room temperature.
Skin and seed fresh tomatoes, heat up olive
oil in a pan, add one pounded garlic clove, chili flakes, a handful of fresh
basil, followed by the tomatoes.
Blanch the pasta for two minutes, drain,
cook in the sauce for 30 seconds and serve topped with grated parmesan.
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