The other day, I took my kids to the nearby McDonald's. With no seating in the play place area I sat just outside of it, with a big group of teenagers behind me, while I watched my kids. While sitting there, I overheard the teenagers keep trying to show off with stories of grandeur and swearing to constantly try to "one-up" each other. This was what the night with David Adjey was like, except, he was the only teenager and he kept trying to "one-up" himself.
A few of us local bloggers got the chance to have Dinner and Q&A Date with David Adjey at NAIT as he is this year's NAIT Chef in Residence. We were able to ask him questions while we enjoyed dishes from David's book Deconstructing the Dish. A youtube video of the evening will be released later for viewing on NAIT’s TechLife channel.
I was not expecting such a large tasting of food and Champagne was served too. We bloggers were very spoiled. Though, I found the food not to be very hot, which disappointed me a bit. But it was overall pretty good. I'm not a fan of seafood but I didn't shy away from it. However, I noticed my stomach bloating and feeling queasy and by the time I got home, the back of my throat and tongue swelled a bit. I was obviously allergic to something, though, I'm not sure what it was, since there were numerous things I've never eaten before.
I had a preconceived notion of who David Adjey was before I met him and as I told him at the end of the night, he came across exactly who I thought he was. Pompous is the word that comes to mind. But he makes no apologies for it and I respect that. For him to get to where he's at in his career, he needs to have done something right and be hard working.
Chris and I came to conclude that "You can take the kid out of Scarborough but you can't take Scarborough out of the kid". (You'll need to watch the beginning of the video to get that.)
I had a preconceived notion of who David Adjey was before I met him and as I told him at the end of the night, he came across exactly who I thought he was. Pompous is the word that comes to mind. But he makes no apologies for it and I respect that. For him to get to where he's at in his career, he needs to have done something right and be hard working.
Chris and I came to conclude that "You can take the kid out of Scarborough but you can't take Scarborough out of the kid". (You'll need to watch the beginning of the video to get that.)
I enjoyed myself and am thankful to Diane, NAIT and David Adjey for having the event. Here are my fellow bloggers take on the evening. I will update the list as they post entries.
Sharon from Only Here for the Food
Bruce from Moments In Digital
Cathy from Walsh Cooks
Chris from Eating is the Hard Part
Twyla from Weird Wild and Wonderful
Valerie from A Canadian Foodie
Marianne from Loosen Your Belt
All I kept thinking after I left last night was "bravado".
ReplyDeleteNice pictures as always Maki, if only he'd actually taken his clothes off and put on a robe.
Great post, Maki! And great pictures! (I sure wasn't too steady with the camera, though... wow!)
ReplyDeletePompous keeps coming to my mind too. I'm not sure what to write about the evening. I think I'll let it all stew for a couple days...
Great seeing you again!
Chris: That would be my second word after pompous to describe him. I think there would have been breaking of some health violations if he was nekkid :) But then, Mr. Bad Boy wouldn't have let that stop him!
ReplyDeleteMarianne, it probably wasn't that you weren't steady enough, more like you didn't focus the red center dot. But I think you did a great job. I forgot to do that ALL the time at first and my hubby still forgets to :) Thanks for snapping me though, I don't think you had a say after I shoved my camera in your hands! I must have got a little bit of the pompous rubbed off on me by the end of the night there too! hehehe :)
What a great picture of you and Chef A, Maki! He actually looks like he is sincerely smiling at the camera. I just made all of the rounds in the blogosphere now that I have just posted mine, and killed myself laughing at your comments. WE should have gone for a drink after. But, you have your kiddies, and me, my week day bedtime. Love your beginning - and your ending.
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I have enjoyed reading the colourful writing about us all...for this colourful man.
Valerie
One thing I did think was that he sincerely was looking forward to this food event. He also could have left right at 7pm but he continued on for almost another 30 minutes with questions and photos. So, I do think he has a gentler side to his rough and tumble facade. You especially see it when he talks about his children.
ReplyDeleteAs for the photo, my sister asked me where his other hand was. HAHA! Too funny.
Nice sum-up Maki, and gorgeous photos! I am still trying to decide what and if to write as well ... it is fun reading what everyone has to say. I met with him again today to interview him for CBC, and he seemed a *little* toned-down ... but just a little! He wanted me to tell everyone again how much fun he had with us - very sincerely!
ReplyDeleteI'll echo what everyone else said - great photos! In the end, it was an entertaining evening, if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what, David Adjey was entertaining, and since that's his schtick, he delivered quite well. Great post Maki. Nice seeing you again, and sorry we couldn't chat. Next time!
ReplyDeleteSounds like quite an evening - an experience. I have never heard of the guy before this. I will have to check out his cookbooks.
ReplyDeleteSharon: True, true!
ReplyDeleteCWalsh: He did say he is what he is and doesn't make apologies. Can't fault him :)
cookbookcooks: I've never seen any of his cookbooks. I only know him from Restaurant Makeover show on Food network. He will have a new show coming out called The Opener. Similar to Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Should be interesting.
Hey Maki...great post, wicked photos. I'm still scratching my head a bit since that night. It was nice to be with some other Edmonton food bloggers. & wish I could've been there earlier to chat a bit. Not sure what else to say about that evening other than I was sorry to see the Prosecco guys had to leave. :-)
ReplyDeleteTwyla: I got there RIGHT before you did. I was a bit bummed out that I didn't get there earlier too. Would have been nice to chit chat with the fellow blogger peeps. Maybe we should have all planned to go out for drinks after, as Valerie suggested. That would have been good.
ReplyDeleteNext time!
Maki, Great pictures. Sounds like David is a real interesting guy!
ReplyDeleteToo bad the NAIT video cuts out all the parts that make him "interesting".
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