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The romance is gone. Let’s just open this place already
Part of the reason why it has taken so long to build this restaurant is that I romanticized the whole process. I envisioned myself coming home from Europe and building Union with old friends, bringing...
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A taste of the food to come
My last stint in Italy was in Siena. I got into town at 3 p.m. and found a dingy little hotel room, then stopped at an enoteca (wine bar). I had brought my A game, so I was talking to everybody in...
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Butchering with the big boys at Cumbrae’s
While Union is being pieced together, I’ve been taking apart whole lambs and pigs at Cumbrae’s. I go in on Wednesdays because it’s the day they get the bodies in—that’s what they call the animals...
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Smoking my way to a unique charcuterie plate
The cold weather makes for good smoking, so I’ve been in the farm’s smokehouse a lot lately with duck breasts and suckling pork bellies from Cumbrae’s. I’ve been experimenting with Union’s future...
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The first Ontario farmers’ dinner party
The way I see it, I am only as good as my last dinner. Thesedays, however, as I wait for Union to open, I guess I am only as good as mylast blog post. So here goes: I cooked the first farmers’ dinner...
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Getting good birds in your kitchen
My brother, Chase, and I dropped by JoAnn the Chicken Lady’s farm last weekend. We were picking up a bird for me to kill, clean, pluck and eat for a photo essay Chase is working on for school. After...
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At any moment, something great could happen
While I was digging around salvage places looking for the finishing touches for Union (like sinks and mirrors and dishes), I came across some lights that used to hang in an old theatre in Collingwood....
View ArticleThe detestable, wonderful celebration of brunch
I'll pass on brunch, thanks “I don’t do brunch.” That’s what I tell people when they ask me if I want to eat out at midday on Sunday. Brunch just doesn’t work for me. Maybe what makes it unenjoyable is...
View ArticleWhat it takes to open a restaurant
When I walked up to the restaurant on Monday morning, the only thing that greeted me was a dead pigeon, whacked on the porch, bloodied and broken. Nobody was working in there; it was dark, cluttered...
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Making a menu for Union
Teo Paul mulls his menu (Photo by Robert Brodey) My friend Ten Gallon asked me the other day how I was holding up. I said, “I am getting nervous, but I’d be more nervous if I wasn’t nervous at all.”...
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Bread is the thread
In Paris, even the dogs know good bread (Photo by Amy Paul) The barn floors are in, and Union is feeling like a French tavern. There is something about the way Paris eats and feeds itself that I’ve...
View ArticleRaised and devoured
I’ve been pretty low and overwhelmed dealing with the final crunch. My head is so full of fumes and anxiety that I haven’t been able to write anything worth posting here. I’ve been so focused on trying...
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Almost
The interior of Union, May 1, 2009 (Photo by Teo Paul) We were hoping to be open by May 5, at the latest, but the usual happened. One guy held up another guy from finishing his job, so yet another guy...
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Union opens tomorrow, and I’ve lost my lucky stone
The interior of Union, last month (Photo by Jessica Darmanin) I am opening Union tonight and I’ve lost my stone. I lost it a while ago, sometime in the middle of preparing the restaurant. It was a half...
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State of the Union: Teo Paul talks about opening his Ossington restaurant
Come together: after nearly a year of delays, Union opens on Ossington Avenue (Photo by Davida Aronovitch) Inside Ossington Avenue’s long-awaited Union restaurant, diners find a Parisian oasis. The...
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