A NEW CLIENT OF OURS: KAIZEN SUSHI BAR & RESTAURANT

I came to Montreal in September 1996 to study Interior Design at College Inter-Dec. If I had known then that this would be the city I would permanently live in, find my soulmate, form close and life long friendships and discover my endless love for Sushi, I would have arrived here earlier.

In October 1996 I was introduced, by then a class mate and today my close friend Bill, to sushi. As I was having it, I still remember that it was a shrimp tempura roll. I was amazed at how something could taste so good. I was also amazed over how they managed to mix so many different flavors in one little roll, not to mention the combination of soy, ginger and wasabi all together creating the perfect harmony and satisfaction between all my senses.

I very quickly picked up on the sushi hype and started my pilgrimage across Montreal to see what the city had to offer. My friends and I (many of them international students just like me and new to Montreal)  continuously exchanged experiences from different sushi bars and quickly made sure we went to try out the places that we hadn’t been to yet. One evening, I had this girlfriend of mine asking me, if I would like to join her for sushi at Kaizen, I said I had never been there so I would love to join her. After my evening at Kaizen my quest for the best sushi place ended. From then on I still continued going to new places that opened and many of them were remarkable but my heart was still at Kaizen and I always have to go back every once in a while.

I would say that it’s a little over a year now that I have been wondering why no sushi restaurants carries our products and what we could offer that they can’t already get. When we first started importing Bottarga, I remember Paolo saying that “this should be something that might be interesting to sushi bars and restaurants”. But then at the same time, we realized that this is not what we wanted to primarily contribute with. As time passed the thought just kept on growing in my head and I was now at the point of really wanting to have a maki roll with Prosciutto di Parma, I had by now even built an idea of what should be in this roll. I’m sure many of you are now wondering why I didn’t just try making it myself. You see, this was so important to me that there was no room for disappointment.

And then it hit me! Where else but at Kaizen. I knew of Cassady Sniatowsky through Paolo and I had seen on different occasions pictures that were uploaded on Facebook from Kaizen by him and I was amazed of the different kinds of fish that they were using and how a lot of it was seasonal and imported. I knew I was able to reach him on Twitter, so that’s what I did. I thought I was going to have to work really hard to convince him and that I would have to somewhat explain myself but that wasn’t the case. Sharp as a whip and always looking for something new and also very confident in his Sushi Chef or ‘Itamae’, Antonio, this was just another one of their continuous and ongoing experiments to outdo them selves and differentiate themselves from others by being one of the better ones and for some of us, the best.

On Halloween evening, Paolo and I went to Kaizen Sushi Bar & Restaurant to have one of the better meals I’ve had in a long time and also a very memorable one. I finally got to have sushi with Prosciutto di Parma and also with Spek, which is a slightly smoked prosciutto, but that was not even the beginning of what we had that evening. Every plate that was served were beautiful to look at, the flavors were magical to savour and the aftertaste is something that I am still holding on to as I am writing this post. I would without a doubt suggest for you to pass by Kaizen and try your Harumaki and don’t forget to let me know what you think about it.

A CHEF’S TAKE ON PARMIGIANO AT RESTAURANT PRIMO AND SECONDO

Primo and Secondo has been a milestone for Italian cooking  in little Italy for a while now, we have enjoyed many dishes made by part owner and executive Chef Roberto Stabile. Roberto, his wife Natalina and family have over the years been faithful and valued clients of ours here at Macchi Inc. and Paolo and I have personally experienced many  exciting dining experiences over there. I’m sure you have read some of the write ups that have been made by food and restaurant critics in the past and he keeps on evolving with all the upcoming food trends.

Here is an expample of how Chef Roberto Stabile will present a plate with parmigiano reggiano:

Prosciutto Appetizer w. figs and Parmigiano reggiano

• Prosciutto friulano riserva
• fresh figs
• arugula salad
• Parmigiano reggiano shavings

Trust me, it tastes just as good as it looks!

Off course the plates change depending on the season and what fruits and vegetables are available on the market. Since the Jean Talon market is practically in the ‘backyard’ of the restaurant, it makes it extremely easy for him to ‘work-as-he-goes’ during the summer season.

As usual, I would be extremely appreciative to hear your thoughts on this and if you get a chance to go and have this there let me know what you think.

Until tomorrow, have a good  one!

MRSMACCHI AND KIM VALLEE AT DNA RESTAURANT

On the launch of my Blog, the first product that I introduced was our key product: The Citterio Prosciutto. Kim Vallee sent me a message on twitter and let me know that she had by then only had one kind, of the five kinds of prosciutto that we are supplying and I quickly responded to her and offered her to have a Prosciutto tasting with us over a lunch at restaurant DNA in Montreal. With me I brought my husband and the President of our company Macchi Inc. Paolo Macchi and Kim were accompanied with the all so pleasant foodie friend of hers, Nathalie Rivard. As we all installed our selves at the table, there were 4 cameras and one video camera, one computer and 3 iphones covering our table and I was just thinking; “will there be any room for the plates?”

- Of course, there was !!!

(more…)