Three Friends.
Three Travelers.
Three people who absolutely love food.
Follow Felix, Janine and Taylor as they go about living their lives in the breathtaking cities of San Francisco, Victoria BC, and Seattle exploring their relationship with food.
Taylor Page
Seattle, Washington, USA.
Law student, future workaholic, self-professed “meat-etarian”, born and bred Albertan-turned-Seattleite for 3 years. For me, food is the ultimate hobby for anyone to appreciate, whether you’re experimenting with new techniques at home (or perhaps just trying to master scrambled eggs) or enjoying a meal out at a restaurant you’ve never been to before. It’s easy to be adventurous with food, just sit down and try something totally unconventional, if only to say you’ve had it before. I’ve eaten crickets, have you? Food is about discovery; it’s about learning more about yourself and expressing what you love, hate, and hate to love.
Guilty pleasure food: Ben and Jerry’s Americone Dream ice cream. If I had less restraint I could crush a pint in one sitting, no problem.
Food I could eat every day: Red meat. Lamb chops, prime rib, filet mignon, steak tartare, all of it.
Best meal at a restaurant: Rouge (Calgary, AB), rated #60 of the world’s best restaurants in 2010. I still dream about the foie gras torchon and the roasted cauliflower that made me like cauliflower
Personal specialty: Probably my French lemon tart – but you have to really love lemon to enjoy it
Felix Chen
San Francisco, California, USA.
Marketer by day – Pain Au Chocolate monster by day as well because let’s face it, that shit flies off the shelf – you gotta beat the market. The best I’ve had hails from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, a city where I serendipitously ended up living in for over a year now and still trying to make sense of its crazy quirkiness. Food to me is the ultimate expression of culture and the best intersection of humanity meets science meets art. It’s a necessity where most of us fortunate folks have do three times a day and for those who are more fortunate – a task where one gets to truly enjoy doing three times a day. I love learning about food history, the technique and craftsmanship of a particular dish. There’s nothing more fascinating (and enjoyable) to me than having the pleasure of eating a very ordinary dish free of gimmicks crafted with complete virtuosity.
Food I could eat everyday: My dad’s pork and cabbage dumplings. My record so far is about 70 dumplings, nearly 3 lbs!
Favourite Fat Kid Food: Well, I’m just going to tell you of a food bucket list item that I haven’t crossed off yet. 2 Krispy Kreme classic donuts + a double double protein style, animal style In N’ Out burger.
What’s your ‘Is this real life’ food experience: The Brassiere Burger at Brassiere L’Ecole in Victoria, BC, Canada (there is a story behind this one). Next would be Sushi Yasuda in New York City, NY, USA. Next would be the Pain Au Chocolat at Tartine Bakery, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Food I’ll Probably Never Touch: Bugs. You can’t pay me enough to eat a tarantula. You can quote me on that, and I’ve had a lot of weird stuff.
Personal Specialty: I’ve once had in my possession a dozen bottles of $1 red wine. I got really really good at making Boeuf Bourguignon.
Janine Boom
Victoria, BC, Canada.
Janine Boom. Part time light bulb expert, part time world explorer, full-time gastronomic day dreamer. I’ve been interested in cooking my whole life, but it wasn’t until my cousin, a chef, had taken me to a molecular gastronomy restaurant in Toronto that I became a full fledged gourmand. At that very moment my eyes were opened and my stomach elated, I knew there was no turning back. Ever since then I’ve been on a constant mission of exploration and pursuit of perfection around the world and back again. Perfection can be found in piece of deep fried chicken from Harlem or in a 2 star Michelin restaurant in Hong Kong or apparently in a duck poutine I had last weekend. Perfection, with regards to food, is totally subjective. A food is perfect in every way when it evokes emotions that you didn’t know you had upon taking your first bite. The power that food can have over our thoughts and emotions is what I just love about it.
Food Addictions: Hot sauce, mustard, and feta cheese. Not all together of course.
Favorite Fast Food Item: The spicy chicken fillet at Wendy’s. If Subway counts as fast food then I should also confess that I have a moderate Subway addiction.
Best meal at a restaurant: That would be a toss up between the ‘four hour braised veal cheek pasta’ at Cioppino’s in Vancouver, BC or the sushi at Sushi Yasuda in New York, NY.
Personal Speciality: Moroccan lamb curry. Pretty darn amazing if I do say so myself.