inthekitchen
inthekitchen
french with a twist
Big dreams, high ideals, and a sweet small space to share them
by Arvel Gray
Chef owner Cam Tran proudly shares his passion for cooking in bold, black script on the back wall of Café Ce Soir: Le Bonheur est dans la Cuisine – happiness is in the kitchen.
The phrase is borrowed from renowned French chef and advocate of nouvelle cuisine, Paul Bocuse.
Like Bocuse, Tran reimagines classic French dishes by using modern cooking techniques and regional ingredients. His petit Portage Avenue bistro delivers brunch, lunch and dinner to a growing restaurant and catering clientele, providing an international dining experience just steps from Winnipeg’ s busiest thoroughfare.
“ You have to have fun in the kitchen,” says the energetic 38-yearold, whose days begin with picking up fresh produce and end at one or two in the morning, when the last latte cup has been washed and dried.
The lone Winnipeg member of the slow food movement, Tran is a firm believer in the value of sustainable foods, strong relationships with local producers and the celebration of culinary traditions and regional cuisine. This creed takes him out of the kitchen regularly, whether foraging for wild mushrooms for a lobster puff, picking blueberries and Saskatoons for jams and pies, or meeting with rural farmers to purchase eggs, bison and chickens.
“ The slow food approach is based on three interconnected principles: good, clean and fair,” he says. That means using quality, healthy produce that has been raised or grown in an environmentally friendly manner, and maintaining accessible prices for consumers and fair pay for producers.
12 ciao! / feb / mar / two thousand seventeen