Posted by Jeff Jurmain in chef profile on October 1, 2007 at 7:21 am

This is a story best told in Q&A fashion. I’m at Rosebud with Rodney Bowers, its creator and one of the most down-to-earth chefs in town. The cooks are preparing for dinner service, the bartender lighting candles for tables. At the outset of the interview I mention the recent review of Citizen by Joanna Kates in the Globe and Mail. It wasn’t overly favourable, and in it she went on a tear about Caprese salads.

Bowers tries to explain his incredulity, but stops and goes to the kitchen. He emerges with the buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad. It’s the same recipe from Citizen. He says the cheese is imported from Italy and is about four days old. He gets local organic tomatoes from Ontario. The olive oil traverses the Atlantic as well; he says it’s probably in the top five in the world. The interview won’t start until I eat it. The cheese is phenomenally smooth and soft -- it really is. It dies in your mouth. Needless to say, he didn’t understand many of Kates’ points. And for the moment, neither did I.

With Rosebud, a proven success, and now the fledgling Citizen, what’s your approach to the restaurant biz?

I cut through all the B.S. There's a lot of B.S. in this industry. I like cooking food that I like. Simplify. People keep calling (the Rosebud) “fine dining” just because we have white linen on the table. It’s not fine dining at all. The food I put on the table is the best quality I can buy. I don’t believe food should need an Ernest Hemingway description. Microgreens: one guy put them on one dish and suddenly they’re all over the place. And I hate foams. I make food I like to eat. I like it to be simple and to be good.

How does your native Newfoundland influence your cooking?

Well my mom was 17 when she had me. I lived with my grandparents and we weren’t too well off. We lived off the land. We always had fish my pop caught, rabbit that he snared, and moose that he shot. I grew up with chicken wire in the backyard and on the wire was salted drying fish all the time.

Come summer we’d always go berry picking. In the fridge at any given time is half a moose, salted fish, and a ton of preserves – tomatoes, peppers all preserved at their peak. I mean, it was a simple way of eating. I took that attitude to the restaurant format.

So where’d you start with the apron?

My mom’s a cook and my nan’s a cook. I’m a third generation cook.

Did you cook with them?

No, I crawled around the floor in diapers. But I always had an interest in food, because my family cooked. I always loved food. My mom always tell the story about when I was four and made a batch of pancakes from scratch and brought it to her in bed.

Who’s influenced your cooking the most?

There’s a chef I spent some time with in Connecticut. Thomas Henkelman. He was a very no-nonsense chef. He made classical food with finesse. He taught me not only about food but about how to behave as a chef. He knows how to bring out flavours without confusing them. Also, I’d say Marco Pierre White is my mentor, because I’ve read so many of his cookbooks.

I have 1,500 cookbooks. I’m what they call a “fanatic.” When I watch TV, I watch the Food Network. When I go out for a good time, I go to a restaurant. When I read, I read cookbooks and cooking magazines. I haven’t learned balance, but I’m trying.

I live food. That’s who I am. In Newfoundland (on a recent trip), I wanted to go and do nothing. Sit around. But I went out picking berries. And I wound up cooking five out of seven nights. I get back there and I’m excited over fresh cod and I’m like “let’s do it!” You know, it’s different. Plus, it’s relaxing (to cook). And I’m better than everyone else.

What do you cook at home, in Cabbagetown?

I don’t cook at home. I’m never there! I have condiments in the fridge, a few bottles of champagne, coffee, and some freezies. But I always have good dried pasta, anchovies, chilies, and good olive oil around in case people come over. It’s my go-to meal. But yeah, with my own restaurant, and now another one, what’s the point?

How is the Citizen going, by the way?

It’s going well. Aside from negative feedback in the Globe, it’s good. I spent a lot of time there at the beginning and was on vacation for a month before the article came out. Now I’ll be there 24-7. When you hear something negative, there’s some truth to it. I want everyone to have the best experience. I want food people won’t ever complain about. I’m not trying to change the world with food… well maybe I am, but not yet.

Each night you typically leave the kitchen and mingle with diners at Rosebud. What do you enjoy about this interaction?

I mainly do it for feedback. I come out, ask how you are doing, try and ease over inhibitions, see how you liked the food. I’m a Newfie, I’m a social person – it’s easy for me to talk. And I can make almost anyone laugh.

Has your social nature created a certain vibe in the restaurant?

It’s created an energy; it’s the soul of a restaurant. The soul is who works there. I want to make people laugh; this is my living room and I want them to feel as comfortable as possible. And I serve rich, homey food.

You’ve worked at many joints in the past, including Mistura and The Four Seasons. Any particular bits of knowledge you’ve picked up along the way?

You take the good with you and leave the bad behind. The best things I learned are the things not to do. I don’t ever want to do that or be like that with employees. And you pick up a lot of great things. At The Four Seasons, there was an absolute dedication to service: We’d do anything to make you happy, which is a great attitude. At Rosebud, there’s a running joke that we’re a bunch of “yes people.”

What’s your signature dish, if you had to choose one?

Oh I don’t know. The menu changes about 18 times a year. It’s always evolving, a dish there, a dish here. I guess that to pick one it would be unfair to all the others.

On a global scale, where have been some of your most memorable meals?

One was in London, the best meal of my life. It was a two-star Michelin, extreme fine dining. Every dish blew me away. I had something like 17 courses; I had seven courses of dessert! Ridiculous. It was The Capital Restaurant. I went in for lunch at 11:30am, in my suit, with a reservation for one. It was a large dining room, real Picassos on the wall, and I’m the only one there for two hours. The food was impeccable, pure genius. I ate until 2:30.

In Barcelona I had grilled cod with shaved garlic and olive oil at a little tapas restaurant. The fish was just perfect. And Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal is a lot of fun. I ate about a pound of foie gras. I loved it so much because it’s a pedestal I’d like to get to here in Toronto.

What’s your favourite restaurant in Toronto?

Do I say favourite, or one I go to most often? Hmm. It’s Pho Hung, near Kensington. I go there once a week, if not twice. I had an awesome meal at Canoe, probably my last best meal in Toronto. It was a great meal, perfectly matched wines.

Do you have any embarrassing food-related moments?

Always. If a guest isn’t happy, it’s embarrassing. You want everything to be perfect. Every time I get (a dish) sent back, it’s embarrassing. If people don’t like something, they start to lose faith. If there’s a problem, I’m not one to cower in the kitchen. I’m the first person out to the table. I’ll make you anything.

Your restaurants are named after “Citizen Kane.” What draws you to the movie?

The movie can be taken so many ways. And so can restaurants. God, I’ve seen it probably 30 times. It’s awesome. It’s about the plight of a man who wants to be the best, searching for happiness. It’s the happiness from his childhood. That’s what I wanted Rosebud to be; food and hospitality that is reminiscent of family and friends. Simplicity undisguised. Anyway, what else do you call a restaurant? Bymark? Rod’s?

What’s on the horizon for the Bowers franchise?

I’d like to get to the bottom of it all and start sourcing my own meat, giving it to the restaurants. Not just meat, but ethical fish, organic produce – I’d like to have a little shop. Cooking is great, everyone should cook. Good shops promote that I think. It gets people away from McDonald’s and Pizza Hut and puts an emphasis on local food. It would create the environment of a smaller way of thinking in a large corporate world.

Anything keep you up at night?

Well, I never sleep, so everything. The Globe article keeps me up. I’m always thinking of ways to better the restaurants. If I’m not thinking over a Guinness, I’m thinking over a cookbook.

Do you miss anything about the Rock?

I miss everything. My plan is to have a restaurant there sometime. Every time I go back I want to stay. I mean I love the city, but they say home is where the heart is. That’s really true in my case. It’s such a different way of living there. There’s the salt air, real blueberries… Newfoundland is a state of mind more than anything else.