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Local See ker The We s t
E n d Community paper
Chicken chic at Chef Ramsay’s newest culinary hang-out al
DO YOU know your LOCAL Businesses?
Vo l u m e 2 , I s s u e 1 6 , A u g 1 9 , 2 0 1 1
h nt e s Ei am r B s: oto h P
This Issue: *Briefly Bram sounds off on Bell *Graif on straight shooter Tevan *Last Call Sol and his gas problems *Day Travel: Grosse Ile and the Irish Memorial *Challenging puzzles
In the end, the sprinklers won out over the “chicken chic” focus of this story. The re-imagined Laurier Barbecue, now named Laurier Gordon Ramsay, celebrated its resurgence on August 9 with a jampacked, scalding-hot VIP soiree, featuring the star-ofhonour, celebrity chef and co-owner, Gordon Ramsay, his local business partner Danielle Lord, other luminaries and a bevy of fawning, passionate foodies. It was certainly a night to be remembered, particularly Chef Ramsay’s entrance about an hour in, accompanied by Mayor Gerald Tremblay (quite fitting, actually, since his goose is increasingly cooked with every passing month) and others. The Chef is quite suave in person and on this evening, exchanging his white working jacket for a fashionable suit, he looked amazing. Grabbed by a senior as he squeezed past the photo-taking, autograph-hunting throng of well-wishers, after she kissed him on both cheeks he stated, quite unabashedly, “Darling, you look fabulous!” Turned out (from what I understand) that she was the mother of one of the producers of his hit show Hell’s Kitchen, but the chef certainly seemed genuine nonetheless. Genuine, too, is what the cuisine appears to be, a step up from the establishment’s basic but historic chicken dishes, including pot pie, that have been standards here for eons. On this evening, we were treated to tiny-but-delectable “amuses bouches” and smaller portions of some of the newer staples, such as scrumptious, melt-in-yourmouth pork medallions, the fabulous house poutine and something involving pulled beef that had me salivating for cow long afterwards. Oh yes… and their housecreated potato chips are simply to die for.
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