Discussions
Sharing The Table With...
By Mary Luz Mejia
Left to right: Rick Bayless on set in his studio,the author
and Maricel Presilla in Florida, Madhur Jaffrey.
I've had lunch with Madhur Jaffrey, dinner with Norman Van Aken and even had the pleasure of cooking for Maricel Presilla when she was here in Toronto. For a food enthusiast and cookbook nerd like me, meeting these culinary icons in the flesh was akin to winning a lottery.
After working on one food show, I got an intriguing offer to work on a (then) new Food Network Canada series entitled, 'At the Table With...' A biographical doc series where we didn't have to fabricate or create any needless drama, where it was zero “reality TV” and all documentary style filming! Oh happy day! (I've paid my dues in the depths of “reality” TV Hades. 'Nuff said.)
By the time I was asked to be one of two Associate Producers on the show, and a director in the series, I’d had the good fortune of building up a decent network of industry insiders through my other gig as a food writer. It made trying to find, convince and book some of these “Type A” chefs a lot easier. Some of them however, and I kid you not, were fully booked two years in advance! Yep, getting one of them on our humble Canadian TV show was not going to be easy (in the US and beyond, we Canadians rarely register on the “big deal TV” radar) - and I'm a perpetual optimist! But try we did- and sometimes we scored BIG; I guess being optimistic pays.
My first effort was with Toronto's own Susur Lee. I'd met him a few years back when I worked on a weekly magazine show; I recall he was quiet, intense, observant and professional. One of the show's Executive Producers was supposed to join me on what was essentially a formal plea to be our new show's first guest. A major white-out of a late winter storm hit Toronto... and sent me packing by myself to meet Chef Lee.
No pressure! Just convince one of the country's best chefs to be our brand new series' “guinea pig.” I had prepared by reading everything there was to read about the man. I even learned about his love of tennis, acupuncture and his hard-knock Hong Kong youth. All of this to say that once he saw I understood where he was coming from, the walls came down, we shared some tea and even a laugh. When I left in the still-raging storm, I was elated. He probably didn't know it- but his simple ‘yes’ to my request had made my week. It was an auspicious start.
By the time we filmed season III a year and a half later, and I had occasion to meet Chef Lee again (this time for an in-flight Lufthansa vignette), I thanked him for taking a chance on us. I also told him his episode had been nominated for a Gemini Award. Smiling he said, “I knew you guys were good!” Big praise from a renowned perfectionist!
After Susur's “OK, I'll do it!” it got easier to call up guys like Marcus Samuelson, who in his own, intense, quiet way reminds me of Susur. And I'd need Marcus to say yes in order to get Daniel Boulud on board, followed by Charlie Trotter (with prodding from my pal Chef Norman van Aken), Lidia Bastianich, the list goes on... It was like the old TV ad copy that ran “and you tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends and so on.” Once word spread about this show in NYC and beyond - even though it wasn't airing there - we were off and running. After the first season aired, we sent our featured guests, their publicists, assistants and PR reps DVDs of the show. Seeing our hard-won efforts on screen meant that the gatekeepers, past and future, blessedly backed off - even if just a bit.
My first season's directorial debut was on the Norman Van Aken episode. Here's one of the most approachable, down-to-earth guys who my husband describes as “like a good neighbour who shovels your walkway when it snows without you asking him to.” His “New World Cuisine” melds the bounty of South Florida with tropical notes from South America and a few Asian nuances that are dear to Norman’s taste buds. But his food isn’t the derisive “fusion confusion” food pundits like to bandy about in their “I’m-so-clever-for-coming-up-with-this” smart-assed way. His food packs a ton of integrity and never confuses the ingredients or culinary styles he broaches.
The best example of that was when the crew followed Norman and his wife Janet to one of the best fish mongers in Key West. A shrimp boat had just come in and chef set about selecting the most perfect, still wiggling samples from the haul. He also scored the area’s just-caught spiny lobsters and a few other local fish that he’d grill to include in the very best Spanish-inflected Paella I’ve ever had - and I used to live in Spain!
My cameraman and soundman’s spouses, along with my husband were in town during filming- so Norman, true to his Mid-Western roots casually says- “Well, have them come over! There’s plenty of food!” And you know the food is great when the whole room suddenly goes quiet as everyone focuses on the vibrancy and intensity of flavours hitting them from all sides. As the sky turned a burnt orange and crimson, our shoot wrapped up and we all decided that this was one of the best meals we’d ever had anywhere. We felt honoured to have been a part of that evening.
Lunching with Madhur Jaffrey and her family at their summer home a few hours away from the frenetic Manhattan was another mid-summer day’s dream. She was busy testing casual, everyday Indian recipes for an upcoming book and we were treated to homemade Mango chutney, ground turkey with peas and Indian spices over basmati rice, sautéed bitter greens and homemade lemonade. While her grandchildren ran around the kitchen and she fussed over pots with her daughters, our crew got an intimate, rare look at one of the most multi-faceted and talented food personalities I’ve ever met. Actor, writer, interior designer, recipe developer, Indian food expert - these only begin to describe the almost regal nature of Madhur Jaffrey.
Not everyone was as hospitable however, something I always find at odds with those in the food and hospitality industry. Some enforced crew dress codes, made us enter through the back door and didn’t even offer us a glass of water in their establishments. And others would just sic their handlers on us. One chef’s publicist lost it when she realized it would be a late night for her (despite having the schedule in her hands weeks ago) because we had to film our “money shots”- the food frenzy on a busy service night.
“HELLS NO! I’m NOT staying” she said, adding, “I’ve got a life, you know!” When I calmly told her we didn’t need her to stay, and that we’d carry on without her, she replied with: “WHAT? Leave you here by yourselves? Who does that? I have to be here to mind you!” “Apart from one other chef, none of our crews have ever been minded and we’ve filmed in top kitchens all over the world,” I tried to reassure her. It was like whistling in the wind - no one was listening. Cut to the chase - we both got angry. We managed to film for another hour and forty-five minutes - not nearly enough, but we made do and she fumed all the way home after “minding” us. You can’t please everyone, and in this business - as in most - there’s no sense in trying unless you’re a martyr.
Yeah, some celeb chefs have huge egos, some unhappy personal lives and others – well, who can say really? I’m not their psychologist so I can’t determine what makes them tick. What I can say with certainty, is that I’m lucky to have shared a few moments with people that do what they do with the dedication of world-class artists. Along the way, I also met farmers who inspired me by treating the earth and the food they grow with respect, like Tim Stark- heirloom tomato and pepper grower to top toques all over NYC – and the very same man who introduced me to David Pasternack of Esca. Tim also happens to be an astounding food writer - if you read Gourmet Magazine, you’ve likely read his work.
And of course I met people like Maricel Presilla - a Cuban-born academic whose love of Latin American food and culture deeply resonated with me. Her meticulously researched recipes have found their way onto the menus of Cucharamama and Zafra - her two noteworthy restaurants in Hoboken, NJ. Like the countless chefs she’s taught and nurtured throughout her career, I count myself lucky to be one of those she’s taken the time to coach and listen to - if only to shine a light towards a path I didn’t clearly see. And that, apart from becoming friends with some of these great talents, has been the biggest gift I’ve ever received working on any food show. Like I said, it’s been like winning the lottery with a different kind of pot – or maybe a skillet - at the end of the rainbow.
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