Five Stars for the Five Guys!

Sometimes, life sucks.  And when it does, you need to make it better. And today, life sucked. And one way to make it better, is to go for comfort food.  Mel and I were both in need of comfort food, and, good thing was, lunch time had arrived.  I asked her what she would like and she said she could use a good burger.  

Now, I know that Mel is not keen on fast food chains such as Burger King or Wendy’s.  She doesn’t mind Harvey’s or A&W but will reject McDonald’s 99% of the time.   This wasn’t what she needed anyway.  I thought of The Works, I thought of Hintonburger…  But something else popped up in my mind: Five Guys - Burgers and Fries. Ever since their arrival in Ottawa was pointed out to me by reader Bruce, I meant to try it.  This was a perfect opportunity.

Five Guys was founded in 1986 in Arlington, Virginia by Jerry Murrell and his family. Jerry and his sons, the “Five Guys”, opened a few more locations in Virginia before the restaurant’s popularity convinced the Murrells to franchise the stores. In 25 years, Five Guys has grown to over 900 locations in 46 American states and 6 Canadian provinces. The company has plans to open another 1500 units! Ambitious. Maybe you’ve never heard of it, which wouldn’t be a surprise considering the chain doesn’t advertise, issue coupons or any other promotions. But they do have an online store.

But one of the main reasons for my failure to sample one of their burgers is the location of their outlets. The little burger chain is growing in the nation’s capital: they first opened on Hazeldean Road in Kanata,  followed by one on Greenbank Road in Barrhaven.  The third one opened this fall at the Train Yards Centre and and a fourth is due to open in Orleans on Innes Road.  So not central, I’d say.  There is talk about Five Guys opening two more locations, one in downtown Ottawa, and one in the Hunt Club area

For some reason, we picked the Greenbank Road location.  If was a beautiful day, there was no traffic and we soon pulled into the Village Square Mall parking lot.  The bright red letters on the brand new building were like a lighthouse in a sea of parked cars.

First thing that hits you when you walk into Five Guys:  there are 50 lbs bags of Idaho Famous Potatoes and boxes of peanuts forming a cordon to handle traffic.  Free peanuts on the shell while you wait!

Talking of peanuts, Five Guys is clearly allergic to any concerns about peanut allergies – along with the large supply of fresh peanuts, they also fry their potatoes in peanut oil. The rest of the decor is all red and white, with framed newspaper reviews from all over the place hanging all around the restaurant.

Once you get to the menu, you notice how simple it is: Hamburger. Cheeseburger. Bacon Burger. Bacon Cheeseburger.  And “Mini” versions of them.  (A regular burger has two patties, a mini only one.) They also have Hot Dogs. A few veggie options: Veggie Sandwich, Cheese Veggie Sandwich and Grilled Cheese (Note that their veggie sandwich is not a veggie burger, it is a burger bun filled with as many toppings as you would like. And since one grilling station is reserved for vegetables, those grilled onions and mushrooms are meat-free.)  Two types of fries, regular or cajun-style, in two sizes. Coca-Cola products.  That’s it.  No milkshake, no chili, no chicken tenders-fingers-nuggets-burgers.  When you don’t use freezers, you have to keep your menu simple, and that is what Five Guys has done.

There is a long list of toppings, all free of charge, as many as you want! You can garnish your burgers with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, relish, raw onions, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, A1 steak sauce, Bar-B-Q sauce, and hot sauce.  Nice. 

So we lined up to order. The place was busy, but not packed. But you had to wait in line a few minutes before ordering, which gave us the time to wonder which of the 250,000 possible topping combinations we would select.  Mel ordered a Mini Bacon Cheeseburger ($5.49) with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard and jalapenos.  I went with a Cheeseburger ($7.49) with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, and A1 steak sauce.  After thinking about it, we decided to share a large order of fries ($4.59) rather than getting a regular one each. Soft drinks are self-serve once you purchase the cup, and you get free unlimited refills, so there is no point in getting a big one if you are planning to dine-in.

The kitchen is open-concept so you can watch your order being made.   Two hot plaques were the fresh, never frozen hand-made patties are being grilled.  Deep-fryers were the potatoes, hand-cut every morning, become fries in peanut oil.  And of course the assembly station, where you can monitor how your burgers are being made.  It is handy if a topping is forgotten, you see it right away – which was the case for a couple in front of me who reminded the teenage staffer that bacon was part of their burger order.  It is not as interactive as Harvey’s, where you direct the assembly yourself, but it is nevertheless a cool concept.

Once our burgers were ready, they wrapped them up in classic aluminum wrap paper and put them in a bag. They then filled up our regular size fries container, put it in the bag and added a big scoop of fries on top of it, directly in the bag!

 All meals come the same way — in a brown paper bag. There are no plastic trays, which I think is a downside. It is probably cheaper and employees don’t have to collect and clean trays, but it doesn’t make it easy for the customers. Especially for someone who orders for his family – and also once you are done and you are trying to clean up your table.

The fries were very good.  They are thick, fresh, nicely golden and crispy. And they are served almost immediately after being fried, so they are pipping hot!  You do get the home-made feel they are trying to achieve. Skin is on, but it doesn’t dry out the fries. Much better than regular fast food fries, by a mile.

I left my burgers wrapped a little bit as I noticed that the processed cheese was not placed on the patties while they were cooking.  I knew that a few minutes in the foil would melt that cheese nicely.  Once I opened my package, the burger appeared in all its glory:

Five guys cooks all of their burgers well done.  This is of course easier to do and to achieve consistency, and it means a guarantee to meet health code standards for ground beef.  But really, they also firmly believe that their burgers taste best cooked juicy and well done. And I’ve got to admit that these hand-formed patties were quite juicy.  Not surprising, considering that they are cooked in their own grease, diner-style.  I didn’t have bacon on my burger, but Mel did, and though she wouldn’t share it, she assured me that it was excellent.   The sesame buns were slightly toasted, could use a little more toasting, but the bread was fresh and held well together under the weight of the toppings.  The veggies were also quite fresh. The grilled mushrooms were tasty but the texture was a bit rubbery, meaning that there is too much moisture when they cook them, preventing caramelization. Too bad. The cheese being processed, it is what it is, and while it rested in the foil, it melted nicely oozing out and making this burger a gooey, juicy, tasty 1000+ calorie treat. 

Although the burgers are a bit pricey (food and drinks ended up costing $21.55 before tax and tip), I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Five Guys and will definately go back.

1 combination down, 249 999 to go.

Finnigan was a winger… But do his wings live up to his legacy?

A last minute decision to accept Rod’s offer to go see the Ottawa Senators’ game against the New Jersey Devils meant that dinner wouldn’t be super healthy tonight.

So be it.

We walked into the Scotiabank Place, and pondered what to do.  Time was limited, but perhaps because this is basically the last day of the Holidays, there wasn’t that many people in the concourse.

We stopped by the Club Red to peer at the menu, and thought that a pricey fine dining experience was probably not what we needed.

Walking towards the concessions, we noticed that Frank Finnigan’s was pretty much empty – which suited us just fine.

Born in Shawville, QC, Frank “The Shawville Express” Finnigan played 10 seasons for the Ottawa Senators in the 20s and 30s, and was captain of the team for two seasons.  He scored 115 goals and accumulated 203 points in 553 NHL games, winning the Stanley Cup with the 1927 edition.

Finnigan was part of the ‘Bring Back The Senators’ campaign, but he died before the new Senators took the ice. The Senators honoured him by retiring his #8 jersey. Finnigan’s number was retired 58 years after he finished his NHL career – the longest wait for a player to have their number retired. The street in front of the main entrance to the Scotiabank Place is also named Frank Finnigan Way.

We found two spots at Frank Finnigan’s bar, and after a few painful minutes of being ignored by the not-so-busy staff, we finally were able to get some service. We ordered a couple of beers (had to settle for a Canadian – they were out of Rickard’s Blonde, my first pick) and we got some menus to look at.

 Finnigan’s menu, although limited, is what you expect for a sports bar. Chicken tenders, smoked meat, a couple of different sandwiches, wrap and burgers.  There is also a recent addition of fish and chips and a few salads and there you have it.  All entrées are under $20 in this casual establishment.  Their doors open at 4:30 p.m. on game days.

And, oh, of course, Chicken Wings. Finnigan’s wings come in 5 declinations: mild, medium, hot, BBQ & honey garlic. We decided to share an order, and since Rod is a sensitive guy, we ordered the BBQ wings.

They arrived promptly, which was good, as the clock was ticking and game time was nearing.

There were 9 wings on our plate, accompanied by 3 celery sticks and a blue cheese dipping sauce.  The wings were medium-sized.  They were served warm throughout.  The BBQ sauce was a little tangy, a little sweet.  Nothing special, but not terrible.  The wings weren’t drenched in the sauce, which is good, just a nice coating. Without being super moist and juicy, I can’t say they were dry either.

Basically, what we had here is some average wings at a major league price…
The wings alone were listed at $13.99, or $1.55 per wing.
Add three 16 oz beers to that, and the bill ended-up being $38.32, before tip.

Thankfully, we got to our seats in time. Game on!

Lone Shining Star

Melissa had a craving.  She’d been talking about it for a few days now.  Fajitas, she wanted. The urge was becoming too powerful to ignore, so we got ourselves a babysitter and we headed to Lone Star Texas Grill in the Byward market.

We were welcomed by very cheerful staff, who even opened the door for us, which was nice. The place was busy, but not packed, which suited us just fine.   We were seated by a table near the door, which was unfortunate – the staff was not opening the door just for us, they were doing it for everyone, letting in a cool breeze in the process.  We ain’t that special.

“Dixie”, in tight jeans and plaid shirt, brought us our menus and took our drink order quite promptly.  Before even coming back with our drinks, she put down on the table a complimentary basket of freshly-fried tortilla chips with a side of salsa.  A bottle of “True Texas” hot sauce was also provided – a cayenne pepper sauce not far off from Tabasco, but with much less vinegar.

There is nothing like fresh tortilla chips.  These were very crispy, a tad oily, served warm with just enough salt. They cannot be good for you but were so much better than their bagged cousins.  The salsa, also house made,  is served cool, a nice contrast to the chips.  Not a lot of bite, but nice tomato chunks, great fresh feel.  And if you go through the basket or the salsa, they’ll bring you more! Nice.

Lone Star’s menu is typical Tex-Mex, with Nachos, Quesadillas, Chili, Enchiladas, Tacos, Burrito, Chimichanga, etc.  They also have a Salad section, a selection of Burgers and Sandwiches, Ribs, Chicken and Steaks, including a 72 oz. Steak Challenge  - eat the  steak with all the trimmings in one hour and it’s free! If you fail, it’s $54.99. But to try, you’ve got to order it 24 hour in advance. Why?  They need to thaw the monster! Perhaps a future Waffle Challenge…

I digress. We were here for the Fajitas, weren’t we?

Lone Star is really proud of their Fajitas.  They claim to have introduced Canada to fajitas in 1986, when the original Lone Star opened in Ottawa (there are now 16 Lone Star locations, all in Ontario), a claim The Waffle cannot debunk so it might be just true.

We ignored the fancy fajitas versions such as Chili Jalapeno Fire, Vegetarian (with broccoli!?!), or Buffalo Chicken, and decided to go big with the Fajita Fiesta.

Quite the Fiesta in fact, including Mesquite-grilled steak & chicken, sautéed garlic shrimp and Pork Back Ribs.  “Dixie” thought it was the best deal on the menu, and who am I to challenge her?

As we waited for our meal, the fixings appeared first, with lots of good stuff to pick from: shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce and sour cream, of course.  But also a very creamy housemade guacamole and fresh, zesty Pico de Gallo.

As the story goes, Texas cowboys starting eating fajitas after long cattle drives, when they would grill steak over a fire and wrapping them up in a flour tortilla.  But I can’t imagine them cowboys carrying the trimmings with them as well. I mean, how sour can cream be?

Anyhow.

The star of the night showed up soon after.  Lone Star uses skirt steak, which they grill over real Mesquite wood imported from Texas. The beef was nicely seasoned, could have been enjoyed on its own.   White meat is the chicken you get, grilled the same way as the steak, with the same seasoning.  It was juicy, quite good.

The garlic shrimp were surprising, I was worried they would be on the dry side, but no, perfectly cooked, lots of meat, great texture, not too much garlic. Good stuff.

The quarter rack of ribs was tender, falling off the bone, nicely smoked. The sauce helped on that front, as we had picked the Smoky Chipotle Tequila sauce over the Original Texas or the Honey Garlic Jalapeño.

The meat was served on a bed of sizzling onions and peppers, as usual.  I love the aroma of sizzling fajitas.

The hot fixings were served on the side: a very ordinary and somewhat dry Mexican-style rice;  Saddle beans – not the triple re-fried beans paste we usually have at Tex-Mex places, but actual firm beans in a sauce – not drenched in it, which was good. I’m not sure why they are called Saddle beans, perhaps because of the texture? Naaah, can’t be.  The beans were a little smokey, a little spicy, a very honest rendition.

But what really shines at Lone Star are the fresh flour tortillas, baked on order in a custom-made tortilla oven. Eva’s Food World shows how it works:  small balls of dough placed at the top, then flattened and and baked as they slide down a ramp.  The result is fantastic, nice fluffy tortillas, so much better than the usual paper thin flat bread.  We had to order more to finish eating everything, which was A-ok from our perspective.

If you’d like to enjoy Lone Star’s Fajitas, and you should, you might want to go on a Monday, when you can enjoy All-You-Can-Eat fajitas for $19.99, or on a Sunday when 4 eat family fajitas for $44.  Or really, whenever you have a fajitas craving!

The Foolish Chicken paging Peter Mackay

The Foolish Chicken on Holland serves the best Rotisserie Chicken in Ottawa.

And it is even easier to access it now.

The best deal on Parliament Hill

On workdays, I usually have a light breakfast at home or, when I don’t have time, I snack on fruit at the office. But from time to time, I need something more substantial to get going. When that happens, I head towards the 5th floor cafeteria in Centre Block and order the best deal on the Hill: the healthy breakfast special.

For $3.59, you get two toast (whole grain of course), your choice of an egg white omelet, scrambled or poached, a cup of cottage cheese, and a mountain of fruit (2 slices of tomato, 3 slices of honeydew, 2 slices of cantaloupe, 3 quarters of orange, 2 slices of watermelon, 1 quarter of grapefruit and a small bunch of grapes.) You also get a milk or a juice.  All that for $3.59!

Now, of course, it is not the fanciest omelet. Pre-separated egg whites poured on the hot plaque. After a bit, addition of bell peppers and onions. Because they are added after the fact, they actually get steamed on top of the eggs as opposed to being fried. It works in a way, as the veggies remain quite crunchy and juicy. The omelet is quite size-able, too. The fruit are fresh, and as you can see, there was plenty.

Now, of course, you can go for the unhealthy breakfast special, which is the same price – but your eggs are yolky, your fruit are potatoey and your cottage cheese is meaty. 

But you know me, always a bias towards healthy.

Miso happy!

This morning, I received a weird email.

“Miso happy James’ back!

 Quick Response is ‘wonton’ to welcome back our ‘kamikaze’ comrade James from his tempura paternity leave (aka baby vacation). 

We are going to all-you-can-eat sushi in his honour. How better to ‘maki’ the occasion? Udon are all welcome to come join in on the spider roll-licking good times!

So at 12:30 we will all sashimi to Albert St to edamame a spare rib or two…

 Don’t be shrimps, be dynamite!

 Sincerely,

 Bei-seaweed salad.”

Yeah, I know. 

Despite the bad puns, one must salute the effort of the writer, who inflicted embarrassment upon herself in order to create hilarity amongst her co-workers.  Way to go, Bei-seaweed. 

Still, we made our way to the new Kirin Express, an Asian-fusion restaurant which replaced the venerable Cathay House as reported by The Waffle last year.

And by Fusion, I mean they have a Chinese Buffet downstairs and All-You-Can-Eat Sushi upstairs.  And upstairs we were headed.

First, one must admit that the much needed renos of the top floor are making the space a much more welcoming place. 

The warm woods, the soft lighting, the sober accessories are a long overdue improvement over what the previous administration offered towards the end.

We picked up our order tablets, and started scribbling down orders.  The AYCE menu is divided in 13 categories: Soup & Salad, Deep Fry, Tempura, Terriyaki, Udon, Noodle, Donburri, Sushi Pizza, Sushi, Sashimi, Roll, Spicy & Crispy Roll, Hand Roll.  153 items on the menu.  But there is a catch – about 30 items are available at dinner time only, including all Sashimi, which was a major disappointment for me.  Continue reading »

Bagel shortage!

Every Sunday, I play soccer with the Sporting Yamela of the Soccer 7s Borsodi Liga. We play at Landsdowne, and usually end up at Irene’s afterwards to review the game that was.

Once re-hydrated and satisfied with the post game analysis, I head home – with a quick stop at Kettleman’s Bagel Co. to  get our weekly supply of the fresh, wood oven-baked Montreal-style delicacy, in my opinion the best in the National Capital Region. Dense, a hint of sweetness, not salty, freshly made many times a day.  Just good, simple, traditional.

They were voted the best Bagels in town  8 years in a row by readers of the  Ottawa Xpress - though Bagel is no longer a category in the Best of Ottawa survey of the Xpress, since 2006 it has simply been rolled in with the Best Bakery category (A category last won by Kettleman’s in 2007).

The place always boasts that it is open 365 days – “We never close!” their sign used to say.  Alas, no longer.  The sign now says it’ll close on November 7th, at 1 PM!  Renovations, apparently, are needed.

I entered the store, and everything seemed to be business as usual. 

The Bagel Roller was busy hand rolling. The Bagel Baker was busy baking a batch of their most popular bagel, the Sesame – a classic.

The selection of spreads were plentiful, as always.  Cream Cheese, Lox, Hot Peppers, Olive, etc…

But as I ordered my dozen of fresh, and still warm, baked bagels ($7.50) with a small container of Dill Cream Cheese, I had to investigate further.  

The Waffle can confirm that it is true, that the Bank Street location will be closed for at least a month for renovations, but that it will reopen before winter fully sets in.

Bagel lovers will have to rely on the Carling or the Orléans location to get their fix. Which is quite unfortunate for me, as I seldom go to Orléans and the Carling location is also a bit out of the way.  But I may end up there anyway in case the Mrs. Waffle’s withdrawl is too hard to manage…

————————————–
UPDATE  Dec. 18 2011 @ 21.09

They are open again!

Ottawa’s Top 10 restaurants?

A reader, Emily, pointed out to me that Ottawa Magazine just came out with their Best Restaurant Issue.

In it, food editor Shawna Wagman has submitted her Ottawa  Top 10 Restaurants List.

Wagman’s premise? Dining has apparently moved into a new era where respect for culinary tradition and home cooking collides with vanguard ideas. The best meals, it seems, are coming out of kitchens where the chefs excel at experimenting while keeping it real. Who knew?

Her list features an interesting mix, some obvious choices and some surprises – great to see Oz Kafé making the list. (The Waffle was there not too long ago.)  Gone from last year’s Top 10 are Castlegarth, The Wellington Gastropub, Atelier, Play, Bistro St.Jacques, Absinthe and Taylor’s Genuine. It’s hard to stay on top.

But what surprised me the most was how many of these restaurants I’ve never actually been to. 

I guess The Waffle has been busy.
Anyway, here are the restaurants and their chefs.

OTTAWA MAGAZINE TOP 10 RESTAURANT LIST

1. Black Cat Bistro (Patricia Larkin)
2. Navarra (René Rodriguez)
3. Town ( ?)
4. OZ Kafe (Jamie Stunt and Simon Bell)
5. Canvas Resto Bar Etc. (Charles Beauregard)
6. Fraser Café (Fraser brothers)
7. Restaurant E18hteen (Matthew Carmichael)
8. The Whalesbone Oyster House (Charlotte Langley)
9. Murray Street Kitchen Wine Charcuterie (Steve Mitton)
10. Sidedoor (Matthew Carmichael and Jonathan Korecki)

The Ringmaster

On our way back from Quebec City, we decided to stop in St-Hyacinthe for lunch. The huge Burger King sign by  Highway 20 was strangely appealing to us, and we figured since this was a road trip (well, a trip on the road), we might as well stop at the King. After all, he is the King of Burgers.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a big sign promoting the goodness of BK’s current novelty burger, The Ringmaster Whopper (along with the Angry Whopper).  The Ringmaster was re-introduced with an infamous ad campaign in Canada last August – I say re-introduced because it was available last year under its previous name, the Bourbon Whopper.

The Waffle had never tried this Whopper (the last BK Burger we reviewed in this corner was the BK Stuffed Steakhouse), so he was easily convinced by his wife to sample it.

The Ringmaster is a Whopper (with its regualr ¼ pounder patty on a sesame seed bun), topped with Onion Rings, Bacon, Processed Cheddar Cheese and finished with a Sweet & Tangy Bourbon-Flavoured Sauce.

As always, the delivered product didn’t quite look like the marketing effort.  That said, the Ringmaster looked perfectly edible, and was satisfyingly sizeable.  The Rings were there, in all their golden glory…  Soon I would be the Lord of the Rings! 

First, let’s deal with the skeleton:  Burger King claims that their Sesame Seed Buns are toasted.  I’ve got to admit, I never had the  sense that their buns were actually toasted, ever.  Not that it is a big deal, but they shouldn’t claim the buns are toasted. The meat was the usual 1/4 pounder Whopper patty, a tad overcooked but with the classic grilled flavor.

Second, let’s deal with the regular toppings: the lettuce (iceberg, not Boston like in the ad) was crispy but white-ish. The tomatoes weren’t very fresh, and were quite small slices.  The bacon was kinda chewy, not crispy as touted. The processed cheese was melted as processed cheese should be when used, providing some gooeiness to the sandwich.  There was some mayo as well. 

Third, the former star of this burger: the Bourbon-flavoured sauce.   I’ve got to say that it is not a good sauce at all.  They describe it as Sweet & Tangy – not sweet, not tangy – bitter, in fact, no spices.  Not good at all. The Magpie called it vile and repulsive . Perhaps I won’t go that far, but it is not good at all. Really not. And since they say it is Bourbon-flavoured and they insist on saying it is alcohol-free, let me assume that Bourbon was never anywhere near this sauce.  Except perhaps a shot after eating the burger, to digest better. No wonder BK decided to change the name – let’s bury the Bourbon sauce!

Finally, the new star of the burger: the onion rings.  Now, the idea of adding onion rings as a burger topping is not new.  The concept is not bad – replace the regular raw onions with a few crunchy, deep fried rings of  the then-less pungent vegetable. Sadly, if BKs’ Onion Rings are pallatable on their own, inside the burger, they become a totally flavorless mushy mush stack of industrial batter. It simply doesn’t work, and it’s a shame.

All in all, the Ringmaster is clearly not Master of its Domain.

Remembering Jack

It was a cold February evening in Sydney, Cape Breton. Jack Layton and I had had a long day of doing what one does in politics, outside the parliamentary arena. 

We had started the day in Halifax, first joined by MP Peter Stoffer for a meeting with the Rear Admiral Davidson.  Then Layton spoke at a conference of the Nova Scotia Young New Democrats, followed by a lunch with the delegates.  We then flew to Sydney, where we had a meeting scheduled  with a group of pensioners from Devco.  The evening ended with the Leader’s Levee in Cape Breton, a joint fundraiser with Nova Scotia’s NDP Leader Darrell Dexter at Sydney’s Pensioners Club.

Long day then.  When we were ready to wind down, he asked me to join him at the Crown and Moose pub, located in the Delta Sydney where we were crashing for the night. We’ll watch a game, he said. “And there is something I would like you to try.”

Jack Layton enjoyed food. He was a fit man, exercising on a daily basis, and without keeping a strict diet he ate healthy food, most of the time. Avoiding bread and potatoes.  Leaving sausages aside. “Nothing good can come from meat in a tube,” he used to say.  He’d go for healthy portions of vegetables. Salads. Fruits, granola and yogurt for breakfast. But because he enjoyed food, he let himself indulge from time to time.

He had a couple of péchés mignons when it came to food.  Beef – Prime rib, especially. As I once said to Rick Mercer’s camera, “he likes his meat.” For sure, he did. When Layton first got to Ottawa he discovered Darcy McGee’s Lamb Shank – something his D-Comm at the time described (wrongly) as “disgusting.” 

Regularly while travelling in the prairies, he ordered Dry Ribs for lunch or as a snack, a delicacy I discovered thanks to him.  He liked a good slab of ribs too, and even asked an aide to fetch him an order from the International Chicken-Rib Cook-Off on Sparks street as the debate about the back to work legislation was dragging on last June. He also loved his mother-in-law’s Chinese New Year’s feast – or anything she cooked, really.  

What else? Well, peanut butter: “I could live off this stuff,” he told me a few times.  He was always surprised by the fact that I didn’t drink coffee – he liked his black, no sugar.  After the first cancer diagnosis, he switched to decaf, much to his dismay.  In fact, his whole diet changed after the diagnosis – and Olivia made sure of it! Not that he was really undisciplined before:  Jack always knew how many extra minutes of gym time he would need to burn off the extra calories he had consumed. During the 2011 campaign, antioxidants like pomegrenate juice and  fresh small berries were always available.

But back in 2004 in Sydney, none of these health concerns were on the radar screen as we sat down and ordered a pint.  Jack didn’t need to grab the menu. He’d been here before, during his travels as FCM president.  So he simply asked for an order of pepperoni.  What kind of finger food is that, I thought to myself? 

But over the past few months, I had learned to trust Jack’s capacity to order food in a restaurant – seeing him in action in a Chinese restaurant was something else - he would order a few dishes for the table to share and do so in Cantonese, much to the pleasant surprise of the waiting staff and other dinners. And so once again, in Sydney’s own British Pub, I trusted him. Soon after, arrived an order of  Deep Fried Pepperoni.

It was delicious. Salty. Greasy. Spicy. Hot. With a honey mustard sauce on the side.  It couldn’t possibly be healthy. Nevermind. It was a lot of fun.

So on this day when Jack Layton passed away, as we were dealing with the shock and our sadness, lots of New Democrats and friends spontaneously assembled at Brixton’s, our regular hangout on Spark’s Street, to commiserate and share memories.  In between interviews, I stopped by.  I should eat something, I thought.  I had been going non-stop since the morning. 

I peered through the menu. 

And I remembered. 

Legend has it that Jack convinced the staff at Brixton’s to bring it on the menu.

And to name it after him. 

With a smile, I ordered the dish. I couldn’t choose anything else.

Behold:Jack’s Deep Fried Pepperoni.