Introduce us to your favorite kitchen accessory and why you chose it.
I could show a lot, because I’m well equipped, because I cook a lot and I also know that to get it right, you have to have the right equipment. Here is a mitten that a fan gave me. It was a young Korean girl who came to see our concert in Japan and she brought a gift for each of the members of the band. She knew I love cooking.
Do you have other accessories that make your life easier in the kitchen?
The Vitamix, a great food processor. My girlfriend uses it all the time. Other than that it’s my coffee machine that I got for my birthday. Impossible to make coffee without it.
Precisely, do you two have any small rituals in the kitchen?
We both love cooking, so we each have our block of knives, our darling objects… Cooking with four hands is nice. When my daughters get involved, it also makes a great group activity.
What is the perfect meal for a perfect evening for you?
Since I love action in the kitchen, I like to involve my guests in the culinary achievements of the meal. They are sometimes a little surprised that I make them do things, but soon the mood settles down and everybody’s relaxed. Everything is done in a relaxed way, with humor, no stress, joy and a good glass of wine. Having a nice evening is the most important part.
Give us an idea of what you would do with your guests?
Before, I tended to do simple things, like scallops with an Asian sauce, a nice big grilled fish. Now I admit I like to improvise and do things that are more daring. I use more elaborate techniques, vacuum cooking for low temperature preparations. I often cook with my daughter Maya, she loves cooking and gadgets. She has a keen sense of precision, so we both enjoy making good food.
Tell us the culinary achievement of which you are most proud of.
I love making stuffed pasta. Lately, I went to take the cooking class of Helena Faita, her Italian pasta course. She showed us how to make simple, tasty things and talk and taste things I did not know, such as tuma cheese, sheep milk cheese. Today, I love making pasta to my guests, thanks to her.
Tell us that you have already served a dish that didn’t go too well…
Wow, yes! Once I invited people for a roast beef and it was hard as a boot’s sole. My friends said, “Hmm, that’s good!” In short, good friends. (Laughs) It is not for nothing that today I am equipped to make meat that melts in the mouth.
Do you have a funny experience to tell?
One day I decided to make shrimp in the fryer with panko … The kitchen was a cloud of smoke. Firefighters arrived at the house because the trigger went off to the power station. That made me and the guests laugh for the whole evening.
What is your best culinary experience of your life?
Meat in Argentina is really something. But it was also because they had to marry the dishes with the wine, to make perfect food and wine arrangements.
Did you feel like at home, in the kitchen, when you were little?
My father is Italian, but he was born in Tunisia. I then lived with the smells of spices, dried fruits, cumin, saffron, cinnamon, mint tea … I was cooking Italian cuisine, tomato sauce, pasta. At home when I was little, it was often a party. My father often hosted dinners for his friends, all of them incredible characters. My father also made an extraordinary ragù sauce. I have kept his recipe and I do it often.
Do you have any special memory?
My grandfather loved spaghetti. Then, to please her, my grandmother had 365 recipes of sauce and spaghetti preparations in her recipe book. Imagine the inventiveness that this demands. A holy woman, my grandmother.
Do you have a culinary dream? For example, a restaurant where you want to go, a culinary project, a rare wine to taste …?
I would have liked to discover and especially to taste the cuisine of the Spanish chef Ferran Adrià. There’s something mysterious about it, and it puzzles me.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
One of my great experiences was at Laurie-Raphael in Quebec City. Great from start to finish.
What’s your favorite restaurant to go head-to-head?
I discovered recently a small Mexican restaurant, very pleasant, the Caifan, on Beaubien East, in Montreal. Really very good!
What’s your favorite restaurant to hang out with friends?
Mangiafoco, in Montreal. I have particular ties with this restaurant. (Laughter) But frankly, it is an ideal place of conviviality and good cooking.
What’s your favorite gourmet shop?
Crazy desserts, on the Plateau Mont-Royal. Everything is good, especially the croissants. Otherwise, Chez Vito, a butcher and sausage shop in Montreal.
What’s your favorite restaurant outside of Quebec?
Chief Jiro Ono. My ultimate dream, but I have not managed to get there again. You have to book months in advance. I promise to do so. I also went to the Tokyo fish market, very early in the morning, it’s fabulous. In Chicago, the Trench Bar. Wonderful, ambience and tasty food. Also, Bar Isabel in Toronto, very friendly.
What are your favorite wines?
I like to discover wines from small producers, who do different things, who respect nature too.
What’s your favorite food-related book?
I enjoyed reading Joe Beef’s book, very exciting in its content. Also, Dr. Béliveau’s book, Foods Against Cancer. He opened my eyes to spices.
What’s your favorite culinary product?
I’m in love with herbs. So there’s a lot of them at my home all the time.
What’s your favorite recipe?
I am surrounded by vegetarians in my life, at home and in the band. So, as soon as I have the opportunity, I eat a good steak. Happiness assured for me. (Laughter)
What can you not do without?
Coffee, at home in particular, otherwise, Chez Nevé sur Mont-Royal.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Ice cream at Vincenzo, in Villeray. Top! Also, the croissants from Sébastien Godard, rue des Martyres, in Paris. But, my tomato sauce to me, with tomatoes that I grew myself. It is very good and I do not get tired of it.
What do you hate?
Let’s just say that Kimchi or marinades are not my thing.
What’s your favorite cooking style?
One of the best things I ate in my life was with the band (Simple Plan) on our first trip to Japan … Kobe beef. Other than that, I would say that Italian cuisine fills me with happiness.
