May 2007 - Nr. 5
Nine new "Chevaliers" in Toronto!
Cheese Boutique and Saputo hosted Ontario’s - first ever - "Confrérie du Taste Fromage" on the last day of March 2007 in an all-day event.
For
the first time ever and only the second time outside of France, The
Confrérie du Taste Fromage have honoured a select number of the city’s food
elite for their knowledge, appreciation and support of
local
Canadian Cheese in a ceremony hosted by Fatos Pristine of the Cheese
Boutique.
The Confrérie was founded in Paris in 1954 with the goal to showcase all the great cheeses of France, to see that traditions are preserved and to perpetuate the spirit of the Confrérie. In light of this very French vocation, Cheese Boutique and Saputo are especially proud to have welcomed the society’s members to Toronto and in so doing, highlight the know-how of Canadians and their work in promoting cheeses from our soil.
Many
tasty samples of a variety of cheeses were offered to the visitors to this
event.
In attendance, the French delegation included ‘Le Grande-Maitre International de la Confrérie des Chevaliers du taste Fromage de France, Monsieur Christian Room, and Monsieur Jean-Charles Arnaud, the President du Comte National des Produits Laitiers, and Louis Aird, Expert Director of Imports and Fine Cheeses and Commander Taste-Fromage (Canada) for Saputo, and Fatos Pristine, owner/operator of the Cheese Boutique, himself a Chevalier Taste Fromage (Canada).
Various
cuisine activities during the day with cheese included some of the city’s
most notable French Chefs; Jason Innis & Bertrand Alépée of Amuse-Bouche
restaurant, Jean-Charles Dupoire of the Royal York Hotel, and Pascal Ribreau
of Celestine Restaurant.
The
event concluded with a gala evening ‘Cheese Extravaganza’ presented by the
Bonacini Group at Biff’s.
Members of the community were invited to share in the event and participate in adding awareness for the love of cheese and how it is woven into our city’s culture.
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| Sword fight... | ...ends in celebration |
To
lend historical colour to the event, the Medieval Time Restaurant had sent
two knights on horseback, a falconer with a Peregrine falcon and other
medieval folk to help with the festivities.
During
the Investiture in the afternoon they blew trumpets after each one of the
nine new Chevaliers was knighted. This ceremony was about as medieval as you
can get – considering that the Confrérie was only founded in 1954 – and an
interesting sight for the hundreds of visitors to the store, witnessing the
event.
The investiture
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| The investiture in French by Le Grande-Maitre Monsieur Christian Room |
Investiture in English by Jean Charles Arnaud |
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| The new "Chevaliers" | |
The new Chevaliers were Chef Mark McEwen, Linda Haynes, James Chatto, Michael Bonacini, Chef Lynn Crawford, Brian Langley, Jacob Richler, John Louis Coppa and last but not least Afrim Pristine – Fatos’s son! I guess here is where the wise old German saying fits: " Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm!" (The apple doesn’t drop too far away from the tree!) And you could see how proud father Fatos was about his son! They both take their cheeses very seriously!
May
is "Festival of Chefs" again every weekend – including Victoria Day, Monday,
21st of May, at the Cheese Boutique! This is something else to
look forward to and the ‘cognoscenti’ already plan their purchases to
coincide with these weekends! This year’s line-up is as impressive as ever:
Donna Dooher, Massimo Capra, Keith Froggett, Bruce Woods, Lino Collevechio,
Jonathan Gushue, Aaron Barberian, Anthony Walsh and Jamie Kennedy – on the
last Sunday.
