Titanium Chef
At the long-awaited new AGO restaurant, executive chef Anne Yarymowich promises to serve curvy dishes, Gehry style. Good luck getting a table
Image credit: Jessica Eaton; Dessert featured on
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You’re known for creating exhibit-inspired menus for the gallery. How do you make that work?
When I came on as executive chef 12 years ago, it seemed natural to play off the exhibits. Because
the Courtauld Collection had Impressionist works from the south
of France, we did a Provençal-inspired menu. For the Hermitage
show, we had a Russian-inspired menu.
Do you ever hope to have a Jackson Pollock show?
So that I can
do something with spaghetti sauce? Yeah! Some of the shows are a little harder to theme. When we had the William Wegman show, which
is all about dogs, I certainly wasn’t going to pair a menu with it.
Has the Gehry reno inspired anything?
The forms and shapes that
are key in his work are going to show up in how we plate dishes.
Do you have a gallery restaurant philosophy?
We see ourselves
as purveyors of Ontario and Canadian culture. We’ll source as much
food as we can locally, and we’re talking about serving exclusively
Ontario wines.
Do any guests stand out over the years?
Paterson Ewen, who’s
one of my favourite painters. We had Joni Mitchell and Meryl
Streep. And Keith Richards was a guest of our director one evening
after hours. I have a personal note from Yoko Ono, saying how much
she enjoyed the food. If I remember correctly, she had oysters and
a sushi plate.
Related:
• Best New Restaurants: The top 10 of 2008
• Opening Soon: The most-anticipated restaurants of fall
• Art Throb: A slew of artful goodies for aspiring gallerinas
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