Toronto Chef Daniel Craig has 30 years of industry experience gathered from around the world and is proud to be a homegrown Canadian chef. He’s lived and worked in France and in Australia at some amazing restaurants; Quay restaurant, Tetsuya’s, and at the Four Seasons in Sydney – and to this day, his Tetsuya and Quay cookbooks are always within reach! He’s been in the hotel chef life for 20 years now, having held Executive Chef roles at the Ritz Carlton Toronto, The Delta Toronto, The Grand Okanagan in Kelowna, British Columbia and is currently Executive Chef of one Canada’s largest hotels, the 1000-room Westin Harbour Castle.
What do you and team like about the quality and flavour of the Aussie beef you’re serving at the Westin?
The marbling is so good, I didn’t really believe it was grassfed! That opened the door to the Wagyu and other options available.
How are you using Aussie meats at the Harbour Castle?
We have a “Butcher’s block” weekly feature where we rotate in different proteins and cuts; a lamb shank, beef cheek, 16oz bone-in ribeye, etc. We change it 2 times a week or weekly, and it’s a great platform to offer variety, use different cuts and experiment a little. Guests love it, and it keeps the cooks interested, too!
We use Aussie lamb as well; I have some dry aging in my chamber right now in fact. The grassfed beef is in our burgers, and the Black Opal Wagyu Picanha might be my favorite cut of meat right now. Outstanding stuff.
What’s the key to finding beef that makes the grade for your hotel?
Toronto has become quite the steak town, with lots of hot new steakhouses doing well. It’s raised the bar for quality – you just have to have those signature meats on the menu. MSA grading we can get on product from Australia is really helpful to make sure we’re serving great eating quality every time.
Tell us about that “bonus station” at the event you hosted… a brisket ssam? We’ve definitely been seeing Korean cuisine popping up all over.
Yes! We were working with that beautiful Aussie beef, so I made it a challenge for my excellent sous chefs, who happen to be Korean. They made their own ssamjang; that fermented, spicy condiment for leaf-wrapped snacks known as ssam. After a couple of days in a gochujiang cure, the Aussie brisket got a fairly straightforward 14-hour smoke. Guests got to put together their own little adventures with brisket wrapped in betel leaves, the ssamjang, and a scallion kimchi. So good!
Great stuff chef! Can’t wait to see (and taste) what you get up to next…
