Dana in her home away from home
30 PEP
A CONSUMMATE HOST:
PLER ST
ERB
ST
E
WATERLOO
DANA SHORTT & HER ENTREPRENEURIAL BENT WORDS & PHOTOS BY CHRIS TIESSEN Remember that scene from Ratatouille – the
even with ratatouille – although the dish that
animated film about little Chef Remy who
consumed me (while I consumed it) was, like
(despite all odds) pursues his passion for
the French staple, rustic and timeless. Instead,
cooking in a fine dining restaurant in Paris –
my experience occurred in an air-conditioned,
when villain food critic Anton Ego takes his
windowless office deep in the recesses of a plaza
first bite of Remy’s rendition of the classic
on the outskirts of Uptown Waterloo. There I was
French Provençal dish? How, after just one
offered an extraordinary serving of quiche – by
bite, the flavours of Remy’s rustic creation
a member of regional culinary royalty. A real-life
transport Ego back to the critic’s earliest
Chef Remy. Dana Shortt.
childhood memories, of his mom making the young Anton a simple dish of ratatouille as an
‘Sooo – how do you like it?’, Dana asks after I
ultimate act of love? It’s a climactic moment in
take my first bite. The signature dish I'm tasting –
the movie, for sure – a tear-jerking scene. And
‘Ham, Broccoli + 3 Cheese Croissant Quiche’ – is a
it's a reminder that food can be so much more
conclusive example of what Uptown’s Dana Shortt
than choreographed ingredients. Food can be
Gourmet and Gifts is all about. The quiche is
love. Bliss. Nostalgia.
made with sliced croissants for a base, Stemmler’s local ham, a good helping of broccoli, fresh eggs,
One sweltering morning in late June, I
thirty-five percent cream, and a combination of
experienced my own ‘Ego moment.’ Not in
swiss, parmesan, and asiago cheeses: a perfect
some Parisian restaurant, mind you. And not
