Edward Hughes Glidden

Transcription

[applause] Chuck Hughes: What's up? Alison Fryer: That one, that one. CH: Really? AF: Yeah that one. That one. Okay, stand... Just stand for a minute and I'll just stand over here, okay. Get your photos in now. You can Photoshop me out later. Okay? Good? Good? You all done? We won't make him lift his shirt, will we, for the tattoos? No. I thought you were, I thought you were. CH: I'm good, I'm good. AF: Later, later. I have to get my glasses on. Keep taking photos while I get my glasses on. He's too young to need glasses yet. CH: Hello? Can you guys hear me? Awesome, awesome. Thank you guys for coming. AF: Shush, I ask the questions. CH: Oh, sorry. [laughter] CH: I had something... AF: You could chat away while I... CH: There we go. AF: You all got the book, right? Are we going to get the book? [cheers] AF: Number two? Yes, got it, good. He'll sign them afterwards. CH: Mom! AF: Mom. CH: Jeez. AF: I know. See, he doesn't remember these things. First of all, before we get started though we were discussing tattoos as one does in the green room. CH: She's got tons. AF: I... [laughter] AF: Zero. How many of you here have a tattoo? CH: Okay, get out of here. [laughter] AF: Okay, we just want... We're just curious. CH: Return of the hooligans, this is a library. AF: We were just... [laughter] We were curious actually more than anything else. And we're delighted you're here today because you were sick a couple of weeks ago. We were a little bit worried about you. CH: Yeah. Aw! I'm I'm getting over it slowly a lot. I got vertigo which sounds fake and slightly, slightly awesome. Like, "Yeah, dude, I got vertigo. Awesome!" AF: Don't spin your head too much, I'm a little nervous. CH: Yeah, exactly. So I'm a little bit spiny and dizzy and... AF: But you're okay? CH: I'm okay and I'm slowly getting back. But yeah, if anybody has it raise your hand. [laughter] CH: Yeah! All my vertigo peeps. Yeah, apparently it's... AF: There's a meeting later afterwards. CH: Yeah, exactly. Apparently it's pretty pretty common, so once again I'm not special. AF: Don't have that. CH: But yeah, getting over it and happy to be back and honestly thank you guys for coming 'cause I know it was a bummer, but thank you guys for coming back. [applause] CH: Honestly, it means a lot, thank you. AF: So quickly, 'cause you all know his bio pretty much. The two restaurants in Montreal, Garde Manger, which opened in 2006, Le Bremner 2011, both located in old Montreal. You've got your TV show. Nobody knows about the TV shows, right? CH: No. AF: No idea about what you do on TV. CH: A lot of these people have seen me on Cops probably. AF: Yeah. [laughter] CH: But that's it. AF: And now you're doing your new season on the Cooking Channel in the US of Chuck's Eat the Street which is cool. You go down some, not the most... Not the streets you think of in major cities in the US or not even major cities, but kind of off the beaten track which is kind of cool. CH: Yeah. It's amazing. You know, I always said hopefully we get a good TV show out of it, but personally for my life it's fantastic. You know, I get to travel around the US, meet tons of chefs, learn new recipes, get involved and there's always like a mini adventure. For those of you who saw Chuck's Week Off, it's kind of like the American version of that condensed only in the States. So it's not at all the same thing, but it's kind a likes that travel adventure and really all about learning about food. So, so it's cool. I'm so blessed and lucky that I have a chance to do this. So, hopefully, it will come to Canada soon, but if not steal it off the Internet. AF: We've got a few streets... [laughter] CH: Yeah, we got a few streets here in Toronto. We'll take you down. CH: Yes! Yes, awesome. AF: There you go. But you've just got a new project you're doing with some of your buddies, your chefs in Montreal. And it's an app called Deep Dish MTL. So Deep Dish Montreal. CH: Yeah, Deep Dish Montreal. It's really me and five other chefs that have known each other forever and basically it's an app, but it's really a cookbook in digital form. AF: Don't let that stop you buying the book. [laughter] CH: Please, please keep on buying the book. So yeah, it's basically digital garbage. [laughter] CH: No, it's an app. It's basically a cookbook, but it's not just one chef, it's five chefs from Montreal. And there's some sneaky deal in there where you got to pay 2.99 at one point probably. But the downloadable app at the beginning is free and there is I think 10 recipes that come with that. And there's like 30-minute meals, 15-minute appetizers. Aahh! Every thing's fast. This is kind a like slow. It's a little bit... I'm not gonna say advanced 'cause I don't think cooking really is advanced, it's really for everybody in a sense. But kinda pushing the culinary boundaries and the recipes might take a little bit longer and a little bit more complex, but yet they're easy and anybody can do them, hence, I'm doing them. So it's not too complicated. AF: It's a nice enhancement to the books and things like that. CH: Yes, it's a nice enhancement and it's for somebody who hasn't come to Montreal, it's a great way to discover restaurants before you go. AF: You got like Joe beef and... CH: Yeah, Joe beef, Maison Publique, oh my God, who else? Who cares? I'm on it. And... [laughter] CH: And, yeah. And it's fun and the beauty of an app too is that we can add on to it and... But it's not a book that I can sign, so. AF: Were you like 12 years old when you started this? CH: Yeah, pretty much. AF: Like honestly? CH: Yeah, I feel like I'm 12 years old. AF: So tell us how your mom... You went to culinary school? CH: Yeah, I went to the... AF: Your mom kind of said, "Go." CH: My mom was actually the first one to tell me, like from the beginning, "You should be a chef, I see you as a chef." Even at school, in high school when they did aptitude tests, it was always chef, chef, and I was like, "Why do I have to be a burnout? Can I not be an accountant?" 'Cause up a that point, honestly, I hadn't really met any chefs, or either I knew like the French guy that was so annoying, like in my books, like the "Hmm," sniffing a glass of wine. Or like the guys that I would see in the restaurants and I'm like, "These guys don't look happy." [laughter] CH: So I really... At that point in time, like when I was 12 years old, I really didn't have a clear vision of what it was to cook professionally or be a chef. I hadn't had really many examples, but my mom kept on pushing me, pushing me. And I had the dream of... I had a couple, but you know, ad agency was really... Creativity is the main thing in my life, so I thought I would work in publicity or an ad agency in the creative department, but realized very quickly, studied that in school, and always was working in restaurants, and even when I was working in an ad agency, I had a job on the weekend in a restaurant. AF: Working in a restaurant. CH: So, my mom kind of said, "You know, you really love cooking and working in restaurants. Why don't you make that your work?" And I never really hit me until I actually went to work in Banff for a summer, don't remember, and I was 17 years old. No, I had an amazing time, worked really hard though. It wasn't easy. And I remember... I was a busboy at one of my first restaurant jobs, and I remember walking into the kitchen, and the general manager of the hotel walked up to the chef and said, "Chef, permission to speak." And I went, "Whoa! This guy?" And I knew this guy from like not working in the kitchen. I went, "This guy is asking this maniac if he can speak?" I'm like, "Wait a minute... " AF: You want that job. CH: I'm like, "I want to be this guy." And that was it, like I came back and started working in kitchens, and went to cooking school. You know, cooking school was a great part of, obviously, my culinary instruction and I learnt a lot, but it doesn't teach you the sense of urgency. You know, we're lucky today with all the books, and Internet, and travel, everything is so much more accessible. Back then, 18 years ago, there really wasn't as many, and it wasn't like it is today where there's so much information and cooking school was more of a place to go get a degree and get like $5 more an hour on your paycheck, or get a certification, or... CH: In my class, I really didn't have anybody that was really passionate about food or interested in cooking the way I was. So, I think for me, my first day of culinary school when I chopped an onion for the first time the right way, and I looked at everybody in my class, and went, "Wow, this is for once in my life, I'm actually head of the class. I can excel at something." You know what I mean? So, it was kind of an eye-opener, you know. I think it was just really about the passion and the love of something. So, yeah, so that was really an eye-opener... AF: How you got started? AF: For me, like... CH: It was a few years ago. I actually met you... Well, I didn't meet you, I was in the same room as you. I know, kind of like you're all up there now, but it was at the Cuisine Canada Book Awards, and your first book was in French at the time. CH: Oh, yes. AF: And you got up, you got a Silver award, and you got up and did a... CH: If you're not first, you're last. AF: Well, only in Canada, but I am so glad you got that, because you got up there, and one of the first things you said, you paid tribute to Madame Benoit. CH: Yes. AF: And I was... Really thought, "Good for you to really recognize from where you came and where your... The Quebecois Cooking, the Canadian Cook, came from. And I really... And then you also endeared me when you said one of your favourite cookbooks is Martha Stewart's Entertaining. I love that book. [laughter] AF: I know. CH: Honestly, the oldest one, but get it right now. It's still to this day the best. AF: I love that book. CH: It helps to be a trillionaire, you know, I'm not gonna lie, but it's a nice book. AF: Okay, enough about Martha, tell us about Madame Benoit and how that really influenced, in Quebec and then beyond that. Because people are tending to forget their heritage. CH: You know, the thing for me, Madame Benoit and I never met her and I really wasn't exposed to her that much, but... AF: You've got a great photo in here of her, great photo in the book. CH: I do, and that's actually my book, which is, I don't know, 50 or 60 years old. It's all ripped up and it was really my first cookbook my mom gave me. And growing up, my mom's generation, they grew up knowing her recipes off by heart and learning most of her recipes in school. Back then, that was part of what they were taught in school. So, my mom had this kind of a romantic view of her that she kind of fulfilled in a sense because she did become somebody that was kind of like Quebec's Julia Child, if you will, in her time, and just really inspired my mom, and inspired my whole family and myself. CH: And that was the first cookbook I got, and kind of like every kid, I was like, "What is this old cookbook?" And I was kind of like, "Oh, whatever," started looking through it and the recipes were not only kind of straightforward and authentic to Quebec, but just... Are really... There's always like a story behind stuff, and the way she was. You know, she was one of the first to actually have a cooking show as well. And, you know, I know when microwaves came out, she had a whole book on how to cook with a microwave and there's, like, a whole bunch of weird things, too, that just added to the mystique for me, because I'm not from that generation, so I didn't really know her that well. CH: So, I knew her through her books and through her recipes and she's just really an influence in the fact that she inspired me to cook and it was really the first cookbook where I looked at recipes and got an idea of what it was like to cook, and kind of, improvised with those ideas and not necessarily stick to the recipe. My mom put me in cooking classes when I was quite young, and I always related to like, playing with food. I always was like, "Man, this is fun. Like, chicks dig it." [laughter] "And you get to play with food and then you eat it. It's fantastic! Why isn't everybody doing this?" So, I don't know. I kind of, like, really enjoyed food, as well. So I think that was also one of the reasons I got so interested in food, but she's definitely a big part of it and... AF: It's just nice that you paid tribute, and I think for somebody of your age who would maybe just go to the next great thing but you were looking behind you to say from where you came. I just want to say thank you for doing that. CH: Okay, awesome. Well, thank you Jehane, wherever you may be. AF: Now, in Garde Manger, the first book, Garde Manger literally means "keeper of the food," and you talk about the larder as your favourite place in the kitchen. Why is the larder your... What do you like about the larder? CH: Well, I kind of grew up as a garde manger. It's where the food is, but it's also a position where you take care of apps, and really, the pantry. That's your whole thing. And growing up in kitchens, I was always that guy that was in charge of... So, the chef might be talking to clients, doing something, he might be checking out his sauce, but when he turns around and says, like, "How many cherries do we have?" Like, "73, Chef." They're like, "What? Are you serious?" "73, Chef. And 72." So, it was kind of like, my way of not controlling, but being that extra added value, in a sense, where the chef like, was always... AF: Heeded you. CH: Like, "Hey, this guy knows. You know, out of everybody else in the kitchen, he might be at the bottom, but he's working his way up and he's really taking inventory, really." So, that was kind of like my strength in the kitchen where I love that position because you got to do a little bit of everything. Back in the day, growing up in the French classic style of cooking, there was one guy making sauce, one guy making meat, one guy doing fish, one guy... And when you were garde manger, you were appetizers, desserts, soups. I remember my first restaurant, we had four appetizers of the day and that, to me, was... The guy working with me, it was his biggest nightmare, and now is the thing I love the most, because it allowed us to be creative. Was it always good? No, but that's why we had a chef. [laughter] CH: That's why we had somebody there to... I remember one day, I spent probably like three hours making cream of spinach soup with a garnish, and the chef came in and said, "What the hell is that?" I'm like, "Cream of spinach soup, Chef, and my garnish." And he was like, "Cream of spinach soup? That doesn't exist." Garbage. AF: Oops! CH: I'm like, "What?" AF: Three hours. CH: He's like, "Yeah, nobody's ever heard of cream of spinach soup." And then, like, four hours into service, he's like, "You know what? Cream of spinach soup could have been okay." [laughter] I was like, "Oui, Chef." Like, what? So, yeah, so I learnt a lot. AF: The larder is a good place. CH: Yes, it is. AF: And in a new book, Chuck's Day Off, which you all have, right, and will have, you break it down into groupings; like suppliers, industry, life. And then within that, within the suppliers, for example, you talk about your spice guys. The obvious ones, cheese, butcher, but you also talk about the linen guy, and you talk about your landlord. Not everybody talks about their landlord. CH: But not everybody's landlord is Greek and invented the world. [laughter] CH: Yeah, he's a character and you know what? AF: But good. It's great that you... CH: It's great, because you know... AF: Shine the light on them. CH: Yeah, I mean, there's the obvious, like the cheese and fish and meat and stuff like that, but there's the plumber, the linen guy. These are all people that I see more than my family. They're people that are so important to us, and if you've worked in a kitchen professionally, you know how important a rag is. And when we see Norm walk in, it's, like, "Hey, Norm, how are you? Where's the rags, man?" Everybody's stealing them, stashing them, hiding them. It's like your lifeline, literally, like it's... Like, without a rag, you're nothing in the kitchen. So, people don't really know that, but for me, it was important to invite him and not the owner of the company, which I don't know. And that was when we started doing the show, we're like, "Oh, we want to invite Norm." But they're like, "Well, wait a minute, we'll get the President. This is TV, right?" I'm like "Yeah, but I don't know the pres. Like, me and Norm, we're buddies. It's like when we see Norm roll in, we're excited." AF: Yeah. CH: So, I want it to be the real people and I want it to be authentic and honest in the sense that, everybody that came on the show was a real person that was part of of my life. The ones that are a little bit of a stretch, if you will, is the hospital. I invited the hospital staff because I actually broke my ankle during an event, and I went into the hospital. And I'm lying down and I kind of came out of it, and the nurse was like, "Well, you haven't eaten in, like, almost two days, you must be quite famished." And I'm, like, "Yeah, you know what, I'm pretty hungry." She's like, "Well, this is the room service menu." And I'm like, "I'm in a hospital. Room service?" CH: She's like, "Yeah, we've changed our menu. We were wasting too much, so we've come up with a room service menu where you can eat as much as you want or as little as you want. And obviously, some people, there's certain things they have to eat, but in general, you're allowed to order as much as you want or as little as you want." So I was like, "Wait a minute. This is fantastic. Can you break my other leg?" Yeah. So, I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, chicken noodle soup, pudding, Jell-O, the whole shebang and it gets there and I'm eating the soup and I'm like, "This is made from real chicken. Like this is not made from powder." So, the next time she came, I'm like, "This is all like real food. This is really good." It was not that good, but it's real. AF: It's... Yeah. CH: Yeah. AF: It's palatable. CH: I got to be honest, it's not changing my life, but it's pretty amazing that a hospital... And when you think about it it actually makes a lot of sense that a hospital would be serving real food and get people to heal faster obviously. But in the world that we live in, it's really not the case. So, I was really impressed by that and decided, it doesn't make sense really, but because of my ankle and because I was there and I saw the work they were doing, I was impressed and I decided, "We'll invite the hospital, the nurses and the people that really... And the chef who ultimately is... " When you're serving I think... I forget how many thousands of people a day. But food costing and all the things I can't stand, that I hate, just because it's part of the business, but... AF: Not the part you want to do. You want to be in the larder. CH: I want to be the guy that gives more, not takes less. So, like it's always about taking off. Lobster, that's too much. At restaurants, that's the business. So, business side of it I'm not too impressed, but I love to cook. And this guy, it was amazing to see him go. So, I really want to pay tribute to the unsung heroes really that make it happen, that are behind the scenes, that we never know about, that we never see and ultimately like Norm's got four kids, he does not go out. He never comes to the restaurant. I just feel for him, and he's a great guy. CH: And I'm just like, I'm probably going to be in that situation one day and hopefully somebody breaks my ankle or takes me to the hospital or takes me out. I don't care. But when you have four kids you need a moment like, yeah, like I was, "Man!" So, that's kind of why we invited them. On the other side is also to show them what we do. They come in during the day, they see us prep, they never see us in our element. They never see us at night when the lights are down low... AF: And the service going on... CH: And the guys are changing to their service uniforms and it's a little bit more sharp. He'd never really seen that, so I wanted to give him that experience as well. So, it's really about that. It's really about celebrating the people that don't really get... Some people will talk about certain farms and certain vegetables and, "These were grown here and these stuff," which is great but "My linens were delivered by Norm today and I hope they're to your satisfaction." But you don't really see that much, but it's important to us so. AF: A little bit about the Iron Chef America. CH: Yes. [cheers] CH: Oh stop. Worst and best day of my life. AF: Really? CH: Yeah. AF: Why? CH: Best day because I got to meet Iron Chef Morimoto. [laughter] CH: He's like my ultimate favourite. Doesn't really speak any language, I think. I realized... [laughter] They all told me like his English is not that good. I'm like, "His nothing is never great." I haven't heard him say anything. Once he's like, "What is it?" He would say, "Red pepper," like, "You've been in New York. You know what a red pepper is." He's like, "What is this? Like red pepper? Ah, like dude." Anyway, he's amazing. One of my ultimate kitchen heroes. And so I got to New York and I brought two of my guys with me and for me it was really the beginning of all these TV stuff and just to go to New York to be at Food Network, in the studios and see all the... Bobby Flay was actually practising some stuff in the kitchen when we got there and when we got in the elevator we met Morimoto, Alton Brown, like all that, the whole scene like where you see with the smoke it's like just being there. It was like surreal. So that was the great part and the fact I was with my guys and we got to spend a couple of days in New York, go eat and just enjoy and... AF: What's the bad? CH: The bad part is that we beat Bobby Flay. [laughter] [applause] CH: Yeah. I was like, "I don't know." So it was a really weird feeling, you thought I would have been really happy. AF: How was he when he when... CH: You know what? Bobby Flay is like New York. Cut and dry, super friendly guy, but visually doesn't look... Well, He's not a guy that smiles much, but he's a super nice guy and after that I've gotten to know him a lot better and it was just really, I'm like, "Well, I came all the way here from Montreal and did this to Bobby Flay?" Like, "Why?" So, it was weird. When we finished, we were all like depressed. We're like, "Oh man, what do we do?" I think it was a lot to do with the fact that, personally, I'd really just worked in restaurants and I was used to the local celebrity on my block. You know what I mean? On my block, I was pretty cool. CH: You're pretty cool. CH: I'm not gonna lie. AF: You're Mr. Hughes. You're Chef. CH: On the the block, we were running that block. But then this is like... I think the realization of people and how many people were gonna see this. You know what I mean? AF: So how did it change what, your life and career? CH: Yeah, it was insane, I mean, ultimately for me it was probably one of the biggest... In terms of recognizability, it was definitely the biggest thing I've ever done. And then there's also the fact that you have to live up to that expectation in your mind. All this is really... And I'm just a regular guy like everybody else, you know what I mean, that has the chance to be on TV and travel. And honestly, I'm just really, really lucky that I have the chance to do this. But ultimately I think for me, the way I interpreted it, was the pressure was on now. Well you beat Bobby Flay, like... AF: Now there's an expectation. CH: You can't let people down and the whole world has seen this. And I remember being in Mexico in a city called Huamantla that's like, I don't know, probably like a million people which is small for Mexico. You know, I don't know how many people but really not that many people, super small town. And there's a construction worker and he's like, "Iron Chef?" And I'm like, "Get out of here. Are you serious?" I didn't see one TV in that whole village. Like seriously, you know what I mean? It was like one of those places where it's like my hotel didn't have a TV. It was like what's up? This guy knows me from that. I think it was realizing those things in my head and going like, "Wow! The pressure is on." And its something I guess I struggle with sometimes because I grew up for almost 16 or 18 years working on the line for $9 bucks an hour. AF: Obscurity. CH: Yeah. Not thinking about anything but opening my small restaurant. And really never had enough money to get cable, so I never watched Food Network. You know what I mean? It was really, it was really kind of like for me the whole deal was working hard, making good food, and hopefully chef will let me look out the kitchen so I can see somebody happy eating an appetizer that I made and I was like, "That's the life. I'm killing it right now." For me that was it. So I never really expected anything else or thought anything else was possible. CH: And I think Iron Chef was the trigger that said, "Things can... You know your a small kid from Montreal but I mean things can happen to anybody." And I think that was the marker for me where it was like "Wow!" Mentally it was kind of hard to adjust like that and really I still deal with it today. I still sometimes struggle with it because I'm... At heart I'm still that guy that's on the line, thinking like, "Oh man, everybody is an idiot. I'm the best." [laughter] CH: And then in another sense, I'm not, it's opened my eyes to so much and it's been so humbling for my life. And you know, chef's tend to be a little chef-y. AF: No! CH: Yeah! One or two. Not in Toronto though. You guys are good, don't worry. But, you know, the whole chef world is kind of elitist. It's not so bad anymore, but there's still this sense of importance, you know, "I'm chef." And it's like, "Eh, you cook." There's tons of nurses that are saving lives and there's a lot of people out there making a difference. And you put food on plates and it's great and I don't want to take anything away, everybody's gotta eat, but take it down a notch. And just your... AF: The whole concept of celebrity chef drives me crazy. CH: Yeah. AF: You don't say celebrity author, celebrity nurse... CH: You know, I'm like "Why?" And they asked me that as well, "So how does it feel to be a celebrity chef?" I'm like, "I don't even know what that means." AF: Does your mom get a better restaurant reservation, though, because of that? CH: You know what, that's another thing... AF: No at your place. CH: Not at my place, she can't get in. But... [laughter] CH: No, you should see the comments. I know, I've seen them on Yelp. Don't worry. [laughter] The other thing is before all this, I would actually go to more places and say, "Hey, I have small restaurant in Montreal, where I work for this guy and the food was amazing thank you so much." Now, it's changed the dynamics of me in a lot of ways. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, you know, and it's... I'm just a normal guy and that's the whole struggle for me sometimes is... Sometimes I go to a restaurant, it's weird. Right away, I walked in, there's a weirdness and I feel it. AF: It starts coming out sort of thing? CH: And then it's like... Oh well, sometimes it gets, it gets... AF: Is that from customers as well? Do yo think? CH: Well customers, yeah. Sometimes it's like, you know, I can't... I wanna just go and eat one plate and have a normal meal and it's 12 courses... AF: Yeah. They want you to try everything. CH: Which I respect and I like but, then it stopped me from going to a lot of places a lot of times because I don't have seven hours. On my block, in Montreal in the summer time... AF: How about we all come though and then we'll have the 12 course. CH: Guys, you're so invited. Come to my house, what are you, crazy? Come to my house. [laughter] CH: I'll ask Mark McEwan if I can borrow his dining room table, and you could all fit. AF: Yeah, yeah. [laughter] CH: Yeah. I... AF: Do... Go head. CH: Mark McEwan is the man. AF: Yeah. He's got it. Come on. CH: You know, I mean I grew up watching him on... I mean, he hates that. "I grew up watching you." "What did you say? I'm not that old." [laughter] I'm like, "I swear on my whole life when I was this this big... " Yeah, they hate that. Like the older guys, you say that, "I grew up watching you." Ugh, don't say that. Or go to Bob Blumer, "Oh my God, my mom loves you." [laughter] Right away, you're out. Right away you're out. 'Cause I was like, growing up, I was like, "Bob Blumer, really, The Toaster?" My mom was always like, "He's amazing! He's so creative! He reminds me of you!" I'm like, "Ma, really?" And I know him, he's a great guy and I really did love that show, but it's funny 'cause I think a lot of people say that to him. Like, "Hey, my mom loves your show, man." And he's like, "Yeah, okay, thanks." But, where were we? [laughter] Who cares? AF: Who cares? Exactly. Do you... Tell us something about what you love about your restaurants, though, that we don't read about in reviews, or see or whatever. Like what do you love about the restaurant? CH: You know I... That's a great question and... Oh yeah, I remember what we were talking about. We'll come back to it. It's something that... And it almost seems like it's just happening, but we put a lot of work into it, is really the ambiance and the customer service and the service element of a restaurant and anybody who's been there... I know the chef is always right and he never makes mistakes and all that like, "Pfft!" But, we're humans and sometimes people just don't like food and they're never happy. AF: Really? CH: And I can't help you with that. But, in general, it's really... It's more than just the food or the ambiance. But, really a combination of everything and when it really comes together... And it's really about the whole experience and that's the package that I like to give. Really, the music, the food, the ambiance, ultimately is the creative and amazing positive staff that works at the restaurant, and we've almost had a culture of people that are just... You might be going to university and working in a restaurant to support yourself, that's great. But, you give your 100% in school, you gotta give your 100% here at work. And when you give your 100% and you give your all, it reflects on what you're gonna be doing in the rest of your life. CH: And for me that's what we ask, is that you be engaged. A lot of restaurants have robots and that's what they want. "Hello, let me be the pilot to your culinary voyage. Pow!" Like, "Oh my God, really? Where's the nearest bridge? Where's the nearest bridge?" Or like, "This bread has 19 grains. Let me name them." I'm like, "Thank you, dictionary." So, I encourage people to be themselves and have a personality, but to never forget that we're there to provide a service and ultimately the client is always right until he's like majorly wrong, but... [laughter] There's just some things that just don't fly. It's not like... A lot of people have said that, "Oh, the client's always right." It's like, "Yeah, well if you're racist, I'm pretty sure you're wrong." It doesn't matter, it's not 'cause you're in a restaurant, if you treat the waiter or the waitress and the busboy like garbage, I'm sorry, you're wrong. We're all people. CH: But I think, for me, the big, big thing is the service and the fact that there's so many great restaurants on there and that people have made the choice to come and spend hard-earned money at our restaurants. It's not super expensive, but it's not cheap. And restaurants are really for people who have a little bit more disposable income, or people who have saved up and really made that the evening or the event. And, for Garde Manger, it was a lot like that in the beginning, and I think it was a bit of why we became popular before TV. But then, TV added 50 other countries of people that are kind of like looking at us and coming. It's food. Ultimately, it won't do a back flip on your plate, it's not gonna solve the world's problems but if we can make your evening memorable and amazing, then really that's what it's all about, so. AF: Hospitality. CH: Yeah, hospitality, and sometimes I tell that... People ask me like, "What's your tip for opening a restaurant?" I'm like, "There's so many different styles of cooking. There's so many things you can do with a carrot. In the end, do whatever you want but don't forget that you're in the service industry and that people have a choice. They don't have to come to your restaurant." And for me, it's really about that about... I just feel so lucky that people actually wanna come and enjoy and have fun and not everybody does but that's life. You put it out there, and the second you put yourself out there, you gotta be able to take it a little bit too. CH: So, it's a little bit of both, but ultimately I would say like the service and the attention to detail and the fact that the waiters and waitresses, busboys, you know, to my dishwashers, bartenders, really, they're all really super passionate no matter if they're doing this in passing or doing this as a lifer, as we say. But, really they're in it to make a difference that night in what they're doing and that's really what I like to promote as much as possible because life's too short to not take part. And life's too short to just come to work and drag your feet. And, the ultimate answer is that I can do that job too. So, I've never... And a lot of other businesses or things that I've done in my life, I've been scared to either offend people or say something that was maybe a little bit rude or a little bit rough. But in the restaurant, I can bartend. I can bus tables. I can cook the food. I can... AF: You've done that. CH: So, I've done it all, and I feel comfortable in saying... You know for me I think the biggest, biggest was going from line cook to not just... I was obviously chef in other places, but really being an owner and a chef and a psychologist, and a part-time plumber, and... AF: Electrician. CH: You know like electrician. Really, it's learning how to be a boss and a friend and that fine line and knowing when to... And it took me... I'm still learning today, but it took me three, four years to get it because I was used to doing, doing, doing, doing, doing and not really saying what I wanted. And, as a cook on the line, I would get frustrated so I'd just do it myself. And then, at one point, you realize the restaurant business, when it's your restaurant, you can't do it all. And you need to have good support. And I think that's when, for me, it really hit home that I'm part of a big team and to run smoothly, the dishwasher is as important as... AF: We get a lot of that when we interview chefs and stuff. We always ask them who's the most important person in the kitchen and they never miss a beat, and they always say the dishwasher. CH: Yeah. AF: Always say the dishwasher. CH: I have to be careful how I'm gonna say this next thing, but it was a tragedy, but I was happy that a dishwasher saved the day. It was in Cleveland when they found those three girls that had been in... [applause] CH: Yeah. And the guy was like, "I was sitting, eating my McDonalds," he was like, "And I saw this pretty little white girl and I went over and I said... " And he's like, "Yeah, I'm a dishwasher," and I was like, "Yes! Dishwashers, finally! Finally, somebody wins it for the dishwashers!" I was so proud. 'Cause I've asked Food Network a million times, "Let's do a show on dishwashers and let's talk about the dishes," 'cause it's the unsung heroes of cooking really, and every kitchen has one. No matter how low end, high end, I don't care. And even on the shows they're like, "Hide the dishes, hide the dishes. We don't wanna see... Where do they go? Where do they go? Who cares? Who cares? Get rid of them." You know who washes them? I do. When we finished shooting Chef's Day Off they're all piled up in the sink and everybody goes home 'cause Director of Photography's too important to wash dishes, and the director. So who washed dishes is me. And, there's something... S?: Oh! CH: Yeah, it's the bomb. AF: Really? CH: Seriously, in the dish pit, Pfft! Mad game. You don't even wanna see, you don't even wanna see. The LeBron of dishes. [laughter] Seriously, yeah. It's insane, it's insane. It's something about it though that it's dirty, it's clean, it's like, "Yeah, I did a good job. It's dirty, it's clean." A pot that's really gunky and sticky and you scrub it and then your chef watches you and he's like, "Ah, good job." You're like, "Ah, yes." AF: I think we need a show of you in the dish pit. CH: That's what I've been saying. And you know what? AF: Going to all the restaurants. CH: Michael Smith actually had a really amazing show and I think it was even before Food Network or probably in Food Network in the beginning called the In Chef. And I recently met him and I told him, I said, "Dude... " AF: I watched your show when you were growing up, is that what you said? CH: Yeah! [laughter] CH: No, I actually told him, "I watched your show and please stop growing." 'Cause he's eight feet tall. I met him a few times and we were in Toronto, and he's like, "Ah, I wanna go check out Burger's Priest." And I'm like, "Alright, let's do it." So, he calls a cab and he hops in. He's like, "I'll meet you there." I was like, "What?" He's like, "Yeah, both of us don't fit in this." [laughter] Michael Smith, ladies and gentlemen. But yeah, that was a show where he had a bit of a crew going and there was a dishwasher and there was something about that that I loved. And unfortunately, nowadays, nobody wants to hear about it, but maybe a documentary on dishwashers, you never know. [laughter] AF: I'm gonna ask you, 'cause we're gonna go to questions in a few minutes. And I'll just tell you 'cause there are so many fans here, you all want your book personalized, right? Yeah. S?: Yeah! [applause] AF: So, we're only gonna do only about... We're only gonna do three questions. Sorry, I know, but it's either that or each... [laughter] AF: Then what? Because we want you to have time with Chuck, so I'm sure there's photo opportunities and all that good stuff. But we gotta talk about the tattoos. 'Cause I'm sitting here, one of my questions which I like to ask chefs is what's your favourite oven temperature? And you've got right on your arm here 275. So? CH: 350's out. [laughter] AF: Is that an indication of a favourite oven temp? CH: No, this is a deep fryer temperature for potato chips. [laughter] Damn, somebody's been doing their homework. And, yeah, I regret it, but who cares? [laughter] Actually, when we opened the restaurant... When we opened Garde Manger we had zero money. And I don't know if this is in the book but when we first opened, the old man who owned the building was like 92 years old, blind. He'd been blind for 50 years. He'd never seen the building, he was super rich. He had bought the building and his lawyer was his right hand man and he'd been with him forever. And wasn't particularly a nice guy, but he owned half of Old Montreal and he liquidated everything and just... I think he... I don't know where he is right now, but he wasn't particularly nice. CH: And we were trying to get the space off him which was really a dump. Nothing had been there for 10 years. It was really dirty, dingy, small. Everything needed to be refurbished. And we had, I think we were three partners and we had... Of our own money, of our parents' money, we had about $65,000. And now I think about it and I'm like, "What were we thinking?" So, we had about $65,000 between the three of us to open this restaurant, and all of my savings, scraping from my mom, asking my grandma like, you know, everybody doing the rounds. So, we're sitting there and he's got his lawyer next to him and I'm there, and we're all wearing hats and this is seven years ago. I looked whatever I looked like seven years ago. [laughter] CH: And he goes to his lawyer, he says, straight up, not even like, doesn't care, he's like, "So what do they look like?" [laughter] First thing he says, "Well, first of all, their all wearing hats inside and one of them is covered in tattoos." [laughter] So, he's like, "If you want the liquor license it's gonna be 55 grand." And my partner goes, "No problem. Where do we sign?" We were all kinda like, "What? Really?" And it was kinda like one of those things, you know, liquor licenses in Old Montreal, there are not many of, so it was a really good move but that only left us with 10 grand to open the restaurant [laughter] which was kinda insane and we kinda maxed out everybody at this point. We couldn't even get a credit card from the bank. CH: We're really kinda like, "What do we do?" And so basically, we're all working in restaurants and my partner's pretty handy and he said, "You know what? There's enough garbage and weird stuff in the basement that we could probably build the restaurant ourselves." And I'm like, "Let's do it!" [laughter] So, we worked in restaurants and then at night and on weekends, and whenever we had a chance, we built the restaurant. It took us about a month, a month and a half, two months and you know, the first day of opening, we were just like, "Man, we made it." It's working and I think it was 10 minutes before service, I'm like, "We don't have an ice machine, do we?" And they were like, "No, we never thought about ice." [laughter] CH: And so, I called my mom. We had zero dollars. We have the cash that was in the cash register to open for that night, like 50 bucks float or something like that... [laughter] And I remember the first thing clients like, "We ran out of ice." I called my mom, I'm like, "When are you guys coming for dinner tonight?" She's like, "Oh, we'll be there in 15 minutes." I'm like, "Can you grab ice? Can you get ice on the way here?" So, that was kinda like how we started and then when we made enough money to actually buy an ice machine, which is almost like three months into it, we got an ice machine, but the 275 came about... This is a long story. [laughter] CH: Then, I just flipped it right up on you. You guys are just like, "Where is he going with this?" "I'm back, yo! I'm spinning, but I'm back." We had the fryer we had bought... 'Cause we had no money, we went to a restaurant that was going out of business and we took everything and the woman that was going out of business was so sad and we're kinda like, you know, like anybody else, she didn't want to get rid of her stuff but she had to. And the fryer was disgusting. I was Mr. Chef. It was eight years ago. I was really Mr. Chef back then, like, "Whoa! Forget about it." I was too cool for school. I knew everything and so I was like, "Your fryer's garbage. You have no respect for your life." [laughter] CH: "I don't know what you're gonna, do but obviously this isn't working." [laughter] "And I'm not taking the fryer." And then five seconds later, I'm like, "Oh my God!" You're not the chef of this place. She's not your employee. You're not supposed to talk to people like that. Like, I was learning at this point, you know. I had no restaurant. I had only been a chef in other people's places and I was learning and we all learn. But we got the fryer and finally, she cleaned it up a little bit and we took the fryer and then when we plugged it in and everything, it didn't have a knob. I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna kill this girl." [laughter] CH: So, for six years, because it was a great fryer, we used tweezers to turn the fryer on everyday and like we could've gotten a new fryer but it was like, one of those things that you know, it worked, it was part of the restaurant, part of the whole story behind it so we didn't want to get rid of it. And then when we opened a new restaurant, we're like, "275. That's the temp. That's the one we've been looking for." We knew it was between 250 and 280, but we just weren't sure exactly where and there was like exactly 275. We're like, "Guys, we're getting it tattooed tomorrow." And obviously... AF: All did? CH: We're like, that was a joke, ended up the next day, "Yeah, just do it." And so... But honestly, at this point, really, who cares? Yeah, is this gonna matter? It's like, as long as it's not like, I don't know... [laughter] I'd like the face... AF: And your latest one you're showing earlier... CH: Yeah, I just... I got a baby seal in the Newfoundland. It's kind of a Russian doll. AF: That looks like a Russian doll a little bit. CH: Russian doll inspired baby seal, yeah. AF: It's right there... CH: This one's safe. This one's safe. No. AF: Does anybody have a question? Whoa! We were gonna use the microphone here. There is a microphone. You need to use that 'cause this is being taped. CH: Everybody run to the microphone. No, I'm joking. AF: One more person can go up. S?: Oh! [laughter] CH: You've already asked me every question. You've already asked me every question. AF: She's distraught here. She's distraught. Anyway, first question. S3: Hi, Chuck. My name is Vijaya Selvaraju. I just wanna say a big thank you on behalf of all of us for coming to Food Network Canada. I think you single... More or less, single-handedly revived the network at that point and I think you came at the perfect time with a lot of freshness and it's really appreciated. My question... CH: She's actually my publicist. AF: That's what I'm gonna say. There is a question there, right? S3: Yes. My question is, how... Where did the concept of Chuck's Day Off come from? Was it something that you were working on personally on the side or did you have... Or were you approached by a production company with the concept? CH: Very good question, it's gonna take about a half hour, so... [laughter] CH: I opened the restaurant, and about a year and a half, two years into it, I started getting phone calls, mostly from production companies in Quebec, saying "We'd love to do a show," but they were all... Most of them in French. And they're like, "You know, we think maybe we could maybe do a food show or something." And I was like, "You know what, man, I'm a kitchen guy. TV, that sounds flaky. I'm not into that stuff, like, I just don't have time." Ultimately, I was running my own business, had a lot, and I just said, "You know what, no time." A month later, somebody else calls me, and then somebody else calls me, and then they're calling from Toronto, the Big Smoke, and I was like, "Whoa, wait a minute, Toronto's calling?" Like, "This is serious!" [laughter] CH: So I kept on refusing, because I just... It wasn't, because really I didn't care, I just didn't have the time and I was concentrating on building my restaurant, which was really my dream, you know? And then I just figured out that after five or six phone calls, I realized, "Okay, maybe there's something there, maybe I should explore this." And I called one of my friends up. Her name is Anne-Marie Withenshaw, she was on MuchMusic or MusiquePlus in Quebec, and she's got her own thing going. But because she was a friend and she knew a lot about TV, I said, "Let's get a crew together, let's shoot a pilot." And so we sat down and literally, for like three minutes, we're like, "What could it be?" Well I'm like, "We're closed on Mondays, so that's my day off. So we can do it on my day off." And then she's like, "That's an amazing title, Chuck's Day Off." And I'm like, "You know what? If I would do a show, it would have to be real, and about the restaurant, and the restaurant business, and incorporate... " So that was one level of brainstorming, and then it kinda came together. CH: And really, the first episode, and the first time ever, was the short rib and red wine. So that was the first episode ever, my first time ever on TV. And no food styling or anything like that, all of it was done by me. And as we moved along I got a culinary team, just because it was too crazy and too much. But I really just... There's... And you know, this is four years ago. I haven't done anything on Chuck's Day Off for like four years. So I watch it, never, I avoid it as much as possible, but when I do watch it I get so nervous, like anybody else that looks at a picture or anything of them four years ago. It's just like, "Oh my God, what did I just say? 'Beautiful cinnamon!'" You know? [laughter] CH: So I still stand by the show and I'm still super proud of it, and I think we did an amazing job collectively, like the whole team. I'm a small part of a big team that put that together, but it was really learning. I was learning as went, and now when I watch, I'm inspired to get in the kitchen again on TV because my style is totally different. I've got so many other new things that I've learnt. Every day I learn something in the kitchen. So I feel like I wanna do another show that's similar, but that's just a little bit new, you know? There's new techniques, there's new things going on. And back then, I had a vision of food that's totally different from today. It's along the same lines in terms of philosophy, but I just... As an episode, back then, I did a burger episode, and I'm stuffing the burger, and today I'm like, "I just want a burger." [laughter] CH: You know, like when I want a burger, I want a burger. So it's weird when I watch those things, it's like, "That was... " And it's... Four years ago is when we ended, so it's been a while. And I just feel like I could redo every episode differently. And I think that's partly cooking in general, you know what I mean? But yeah, so that's kinda how it came about. And then we got a producer, Debbie Travis, who had many, many shows on HGTV, and yeah, it kind of went from there, and we had 52 episodes and then we did Chuck's Week Off, and hopefully we're doing more of that. TV just works very slowly, it's... AF: Is it a hurry up and wait sort of thing? CH: Yeah, hurry up and wait, and 52 episodes is the magic number, because it's one a week. And when you hit 52, it's kind of like, on to the next. And unfortunately, or fortunately, for Chuck's Day Off, it was kind of time to end, because I just... The last episode was setting up two of my restaurant friends on a date. It's like, okay... [laughter] I just... Now, if we did it again today, I would have a whole new bunch of suppliers. Because, like food, it evolves. And the restaurants evolve. So I don't know, hopefully we get to do more. I would really love to, but I don't know. But that's kinda how it came about. S3: Cool. There's been a spin-off in the USA, but yours is still the best. CH: Yes, awesome. Thank you. [applause] CH: Yeah, my answer was amazing. [laughter] Speaker 4: Well, she kinda stole the thunder there on there, Chuck, but... CH: Yeah, I was gonna say... S4: Oh, my name's Paul... CH: 'Cause you guys are wearing the same shirt? I'm joking. S4: I know, exactly. I had one question, but then a second one because my wife Carrie back there, she's a nurse. So when you started talking about nurses, I thought, "You know, I've gotta give a shout out to her," but... [applause] CH: Yeah, awesome. S4: And I know you said your moment was when you went to Iron Chef, but we watched you at Chuck's Day Off before Iron Chef. CH: Yeah. S4: Was there a moment when... And I love cooking and stuff. Was there a moment when you were chopping onions or walking your dog when you kinda sat there and went, "You know what, I wanna be," what you are now, like, was there a moment? CH: I think the... I had a couple of moments, the one in Banff that I spoke of, when I saw the chef. That was a big one for me. First day of cooking school, I obviously knew I wanted... I had worked in kitchen before, not necessarily seriously and I knew I wanted to own a restaurant and I wanted to be in the restaurant business, but I was kind of going to cooking school to see what my chef would be doing. I had this attitude where I was like, I was still very young, and I'm like, You know, "I wanna go there and like... I know how to sling drinks. I know how to be a bus boy. I can wash dishes." But the whole chef thing, you know, I love to cook at home and my mom's taught me a lot. But I feel like if I'm gonna yell after... Yell at a guy, I'm gonna have to know what he's doing. CH: So I really went to cooking school to kind of be like, you know, I wanna have the whole perspective. And then I got there and I cut an onion. And I was just like, "I'm pretty sure I'm the best right now at this in this class. I am crushing it." So, that was another moment where, you know... But there are other moments that weren't so amazing, and that I still remember to this day. Kitchens, there's a darker side of it too. It's... There's a lot of booze, a lot of partying. I got caught up in that a lot too. And so, I got into cooking for a lot of right reasons, and I got into cooking for a lot of wrong reasons as well. That's where, at one point, I needed to make a decision what side of the fence I wanted to be on. But there was good reasons for me to get in the food world, and then there was bad reasons, you know. CH: And ultimately, now I look back and I... It's kind of insane. Sometimes it doesn't register. You know what I mean? I'm just so lucky that I found something that I love to do. And I think, I said it today... I made up a saying today. [laughter] I don't... Yeah, it's the bomb, this one. This should be, maybe, your next tattoo. "I don't measure success in dollars, I measure it in smiles." So... [laughter] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know, seriously. And there's no punch line of like, "And I skinned a rabbit." There's like, no, it's the truth. It came out, and I was thinking about it. And that's what it is. You know, I love to get up in the morning and go to work and do what I do, and have a good time, and really enjoy what I am doing. And I see... I go back to high school, you know, 25-year reunion or whatever, or no, 15-year... [laughter] I don't know how many years it was, but it was a while. And I showed up at the high school and everybody is like, "Dude, are you wearing the same shoes?" I was like, "Yeah, pretty much." Maybe not the same pair, but I haven't changed much. You know what I mean? I was the guy that went back to my reunion all happy. I saw a lot of the guys I hadn't seen in a long time. AF: Miserable? CH: Yeah, they're loaded, but they just looked unhappy. So, for me to just do what I love everyday, I think is just probably the best part. I don't know if I answered your question. S4: No, you did. [laughter] But I don't want to misquote you. But I remember the one thing you said on one of your shows was, "A sharp knife and a good pot, and that's all you need." Kind of thing. So. CH: Yep. S4: Okay. CH: And a great nurse. [laughter] S4: And a great nurse. Thanks, Chuck. CH: Cheers, man. [applause] AF: Lots of... But if you weren't a chef, what would you be doing, do you think? CH: I honestly... Do you want to know the honest answer? AF: Yeah. CH: If I wasn't cooking right now, there is a possibility I would be in jail. [laughter] I really, like... AF: Sorry, I asked. CH: Yeah, yeah. Not 'cause I'm a bad guy, but I was going down the wrong path. You know, I say it sometimes, like, cooking saved my life because it really... It gave me something that I love to do. Before that, I did a lot of jobs that I liked, but I didn't love them. And when I found cooking, it was like, "Wow! This is, like, a combination of a lot of things that I really, really want." And, you know, I come from a good family and have great parents and support, but still, it doesn't mean anything. I kinda went down some crazy, crazy roads, and cooking kinda was the thing that kind of got me out of it. And, at least, showed me something that I loved to do. AF: Last question. Speaker 5: Hi. CH: You better make this one a hit. S5: Oh, it's not. It's so impulsive to brag here, [chuckle] it's probably not a really good question. But, anyway, thank you for saying thanks to nurses. I'm a nurse myself and it's nice to hear... CH: Nice. S5: That it's not such a thankless job. But, anyway, the question is, in all your travels, has there been any food that you came across that you said to yourself, "I just... I can't absolutely try this"? CH: That's a really good question. I always want to keep an open mind. And, you know, we talked briefly about the baby seal that I got. But, you know, I was in Newfoundland, I've learnt to love Newfoundland. I go there five or six times a year. I wanted a tattoo that... This is a serious event. [laughter] AF: They must be from Newfoundland. CH: Yeah, they must be from Newfoundland. [laughter] CH: They'll get it in a half hour. [laughter] CH: What? A half hour later. It's a half hour later there. [laughter] What? I kind of got this to... Because I got it in Newfoundland from a girl that tattoos, that has done a lot of my tattoos, and she's from Newfoundland. And, you know, a lot of the people there, their history is sealing. And that's how they survived. And no matter what you've heard from a lot of people up north in Quebec, and there's a lot of communities that survived on it for a long time and they've been judged for it. And I was a big believer of "When in Rome... " I don't necessarily want to eat seal right now as a canapé, but if I'm there and this is a way of life and it's tradition for thousands of years, then I want to be a part of it. So, that was kind of the tattoo. It was kind of paying homage to that. That being said, when you are in different cultures, it's a touchy subject sometimes to refuse or to not eat. And I remember an incident where a... [baby crying] [laughter] CH: Are you coming to tell me it's mine? [laughter] [applause] CH: 'Cause I know about the one in Ottawa, but I didn't... There's a couple of incidents, but I have two really that are memorable and they're both... I don't know why, but they're both in the Philippines. S5: Oh, I'm Filipino. Which one? CH: Are you, really? S5: Yes. CH: Pinoy for life! I love it. Yeah, man. The Philippines is like... I don't know why you guys are here right now. The Philippines is the coolest place I've ever been to. I loved it and I had a great time and I thought probably, the food was really amazing, but I thought the people were even cooler. I thought it was hard to beat Mexico in terms of nice people and then I went to the Philippines, and they like crushed Mexico. Mexico-Filipino, right here? Nice! Two of my favourite places. I see, Philippines is almost Mexico, but with soy sauce. [laughter] CH: Yeah! There's a lot of similarities. There's a lot of... No. It's true. I travelled through both countries and there's a lot of similarities in terms of food, culture, last names. It was just like... I was just like, "Man!" It was just weird, you know what I mean? But Philippines is probably one of my favourite places ever and when I got there, they're Like, "Oh, this is so great. You know there's an all night market and on Saturdays it's like crazy, and we're gonna go and eat." And I just got off a 18-hour flight and I was like, "Okay. I'm down." But, I got there, she's like, "Here." And it was meat on a stick and I'm like, "Man, this is... Okay." I'm not gonna lie. It looked fantastic. It looked amazing. Caramelized, sticky, it looked like salty, sweet. I was all excited. Took a big bite and she's like, "It's chicken anus." And I'm like... S?: Aw! [laughter] CH: "Where's the rest of the chicken?" You know, like, "Honestly?" It was like, "Really? I just got off a 17-hour flight." So that was kind of weird. And, you know, you're like, "Do you like it?" And I was like, "Yeah." I kind of liked it, but not that much." And, so that was a weird thing. But then I had talangka. S5: Yeah. CH: Little deep fried crabs. Oh my God. Is that not life right there? Honestly, I don't think I've ever lived a day before I had that. I was just like, "Man, this is heaven." So I loved that. And then, the ever so famous balut in the Philippines. So they're all like, "You know, you gotta try it. Everybody loves it. Ahhhh." So I'm like "Alright." You know? Then you see the face. Oh my God. I was just... I was on camera, and they were... You know? I was like, "Oh no." Actually, I knocked it back and I was like, "You know, in terms of flavour, it's kind of like an egg." So I was like, in my head, I'm like, "What am I gonna say? I'm not that impressed." I don't know what to say. I wanted to say, "Oh this is amazing. I'm so happy." It was a whole thing that they served me. I was like, "It tastes like egg." And they're like... [laughter] CH: "That's it?" And I'm like, "Well, besides the face part, I mean, it's actually pretty good." You know what I mean? So those were two of the really, kind of, insane things that I had, that I tried because I was there. I don't know, if I was watching a hockey game, if I'd eat balut just like that. Which is basically, it's what? It's a... Duck foetus. Yeah. Sick. [laughter] AF: You lost some people there. CH: Yeah. But I didn't want offend you when I said that. You look really mad at me. I was like... [laughter] But those... Yeah. Those are kind of like the... But you know, seal, which I did have, it's kind of weird too. It's not that great. But, you know, when you got to survive... But yeah, that's pretty much it. That's pretty much it. S5: Thank you so much. CH: Thank you. AF: One last question. [applause] CH: Yeah. AF: This is a quick yes or no or you can just pick one. Seeing as you're a hockey nut and you said you're going to play tomorrow... CH: Ooh, let's not bring up hockey, not here. AF: Who's gonna win the Stanley cup first, Montreal or Toronto? CH: You know, I think that kind of says it all. AF: Who? Who? CH: I... Honestly? You want the honest answer? I think the Leafs probably. I think the Leafs. When you've been that bad for so long... [laughter] When you've sucked for so many years, you deserve something. AF: I tell you what... [laughter] CH: We have 24 BTW. Just saying. AF: We can give you... Our mayor compared to your mayor soul, might be a little better. [laughter] CH: I was just saying before, a mayor smokes crack, you know you have him under control. It's like... [laughter] [applause] CH: Lower taxes. Yeah, all our mayors are in jail for c rruption and so we all get along in that sense. [laughter] AF: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much! Chuck, thank you so much! [applause]