Mark McEwan Serves The Truth « Sharp – Canada's Magazine for Men

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May 2013

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Mark McEwan Serves The Truth

<i> McEwan is not afraid to tell Top Chef contestants what their strengths and weaknesses are.</i> <br /> <br /> <strong>On the coming season of Top Chef Canada and whether or not he crushes dreams:</strong>
“The second season should be out in March. This season was spectacular. We had amazing cooking, great characters – really quality young chefs. Crushing their dreams? I don’t look at it from that angle. I’m giving them really good advice. If anything I’ll help them understand what they’re good at and what they’re not so good at.”

<i>North 44 was McEwan's first restaurant.</i> <br /> <br /> <strong>On getting his start in the restaurant business:</strong>
“I needed a job when I was 15 years old living in Buffalo, New York. The job I found was in a dish room. All that did was acquaint me with the restaurant business in a marginal way. It put gas in my car. My plan was to go to hotel school at Guelph when I graduated high school but I decided, on a lark, to take an apprenticeship in the kitchen. What started as a job to put gas in my rusted Mustang turned out to be a profession.”

<i>The glass wine cellar at McEwan's downtown Toronto restaurant Bymark.</i> <br /> <br /> <strong>On up-and-coming chefs who are trained by television:</strong>
“It’s double-sided. There are a lot of young chefs who only know the Food Network, who only know the Gordon Ramseys and Bobby Flays of the world. When you only see that veneer, your view is a bit distorted and you have a rude awakening because it’s a tough vocation being a cook. You have to learn to be a cook before you can have your own TV show, you have to put years in to develop that skill. They don’t see that part of it from the outside. When I got into the business there was no glamour side to the kitchen, so when you started out your level of expectation was much more grounded than it is today. Having said that, you do get young people coming into the business who are serious and adept and have the basic skills to survive. You can learn a lot and you can learn quickly in today’s world but those individuals are still fairly rare. I don’t think any young person knows much about cooking – my daughter does because she grew up with me.”

<i>Located at the Don Mills mall in Toronto, McEwan's grocery store marked a major leap in his personal branding.</i> <br /> <br /> <strong>On ruling a food empire and his next conquest:</strong>
“I’m 54 and I still love what I do. There are different challenges. We have a catering division that takes a lot of mothering and hands-on attention. The restaurants have a lot of variables; many people involved in the process so you constantly have to keep your thumb on it. Our grocery business was probably the greatest challenge of my career. Retail was a tough learning curve. I will definitely expand the grocery business and I will do more restaurants. I like our branding, I like where we are. We will grow the business and we will do it carefully and thoughtfully. I want to tap out Toronto’s growth and I think there’s room for a couple more, well-placed restaurants. I had an opportunity to go to Vegas to start a restaurant and I’m glad I turned it down. There’s always a deal in Singapore…if you’re willing to fly 24 hours to get there.”

<i>Patrons at ONE are greeted by the elaborate bar. </i> <br /><br /><strong>On stuffy restaurants:</strong>
“I like restaurants to maintain a sense of humor. I’ve never been a fan of 5-star dining. I find it a bit overwrought with ceremony and pretension. I like efficient service but I don’t want to be smothered. I don’t need a captain or multiple servers who are laying something down every 3 minutes. “

<i>A chef at Fabbrica pulls a pizza out of the massive oven that was imported from Italy.</i> <br /><br /> <strong>On his menu for a potential Bills Super Bowl party:</strong>
“I would do classic Buffalo stuff; beef on weck sandwiches with jus and horseradish. Soft custard. Those are things that were tried and true when I was a kid. But man, if the Bills even got in the playoffs...It’s a very hard thing to be a Bills fan. There has never been a great level of reward. If they make the playoffs then we’ll really talk menu.”

<i>McEwan's new cookbook Fabbrica is named after his Italian restaurant.</i> <bt /><br /> <strong>On his new cookbook, which focuses on simplicity:</strong>
“We try not to be too rigid. You need options. Sometimes when people read a cookbook they’ll get offside and think they can’t make the dish because of one missing ingredient. I would say that the book really emulates our style of delivery. I’m all about the back-story – where the food comes from, how you source your product. Basic ingredients are great. I’ve grown very weary of the coffee table-style cookbook that’s all about style and art on a plate.”

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