The Art Gallery of Ontario.
The Group of Seven, van Gogh, Degas, Picasso, and Rothko all live under one roof at Toronto's famed AGO. The artists epitomized creativity in their times, imparting their signature brush strokes on canvases that continue to move visitors who wander through the museum every year.
A different kind of creativity is cooking in the AGO's kitchen. With a chef's knife in hand instead of a paintbrush, Anne Yarymowich is at the helm of FRANK Restaurant, a contemporary comfort cuisine resto cradled in a dramatic Frank Gehry-designed space. Yarymowich's provenance is impressive - in the mid-to-late 80s, she headed up the kitchen at The Parrot (although now defunct, Paul Boehmer was also an alumni) and helped open Mildred Pierce (its modern day incarnation is Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village). Recently, Yarymowich spoke with OurFaves and dished about her favourite ingredient, dinner date and signature dish.
What’s the most inventive dish you’ve ever tried in Toronto?
That’s a hard one. There are a lot of really creative and inspired chefs in Toronto, people who do really wonderful things. I think the trick with inspired dishes is not to go over-the-top. Too many chefs just get ingredientitis and just start throwing all sorts of weird combinations together. They think that just because it’s different, it’s going to be good. That’s not necessarily so. I like what some of the charcuterie chefs are doing. There’s some great pastry stuff going on in the city that are very inspired and creative. It’s great for the city.
What is your favourite ingredient to use in the kitchen?
That’s a tough one. Bacon (laughs). Bacon makes everything better, so I love to use bacon. Duck fat adds a lot of richness. But you know what, it changes from season to season, from year to year. You can be enamoured of certain things. Sometimes it’s as simple as an egg and I don’t think I’ve ever cooked without an onion. If I were on a dessert island, I’d have to have onions. I’d have to have eggs. It’s the simplest things that get to you. Bread. You can’t underestimate bread. If you didn’t have them, you’d really miss them. If I didn’t have quince or figs or prosciutto, I could go years without those things - but butter, eggs, bread, onions, boy, I couldn’t live without those.
What is your most often-used kitchen tool?
It’s got to be the chef’s knife. Your favourite knife. That’s the one you go to all the time. You can improvise with just about anything else in any given situation, but if you don’t have a good knife…
What dish are you best known for preparing at home?
A good roast chicken and a nice mashed potato. Roasted potatoes in the summertime.
What makes those dishes so spectacular?
I think it’s just simple food prepared well without a lot of pretension, without a lot of excess. These are just classic flavours that are crowd-pleasers. You season things well, you cook them to the right doneness, that’s all that you ever really want to do. You want to honour the ingredient with a decent preparation, season it well, make sure it’s properly cooked and make sure it looks good going on the plate. You can’t miss.
It sounds so easy!
I make it sound so easy, I know!
Getting into the kitchen is a whole other story.
You’ve got to love it. I think you have to want to do it. There’s no point in cooking a meal unless you really want to. There’s so many alternatives out there for us, especially living in the city, we’ve got so many great restaurants, ranging from really high end to really well-priced, economic places to get good ethnic foods that if you don’t want to cook, you don’t have to.
If you were on death row, what would you want your last meal to be?
It would have to be comfort food. Maybe a good roast chicken and some nice mashed potatoes and good, fresh vegetables, although, I probably wouldn’t be in the mood if I was on death row. That would be hard to enjoy! That’s so much a part of the eating experience is being in the right frame of mind. You have to be in a happy place to enjoy food.
What is one dish on your menu at FRANK that you'd want every diner to try?
I think it changes from season to season. But, I always like to have a duck confit on the menu and that’s kind of a signature dish and an apple tart tatine is also a signature dish that I always feels really represents my cuisine.
Who is your dream dinner date?
My husband (laughs). Of course. Always. You’re relaxed, you’re in love and everything is good. The pheromones are at work. They enhance the taste buds.