JIMMY Stewart (no, not that Jimmy Stewart) had what anyone would call a meteoric rise through the ranks in the kitchen at Whistler's esteemed Bearfoot Bistro: from dishwasher to chef de partie in six hours.
It's not as incredible as it sounds; he started at the restaurant's lowest kitchen rung on purpose, planning to work little, live simply, and snowboard in his time off. Personal issues, including a big break-up, had prompted the move from Vancouver to Whistler to live with his mom in the campground and RV park she manages.
He wanted time off from cooking, which had been all-consuming since he completed his culinary degree right after high school. In just four years the young chef - who was raised in Deep Cove before finishing high school in West Vancouver - had already worked at Lumiere and DB Bistro in Vancouver, spent a year in Gordon Ramsay's MAZE and the Ledbury in London, England and then a year in Toronto at Colborne Lane and Origin.
Six hours into that first shift at the Bearfoot Bistro, the chefs cooking on the line asked him to help plate some food. They knew he had kitchen experience, and although he was reluctant to fill in the details he agreed to give them his resumé, to "put on file." Once the scope of his background was revealed his dishwashing days were done, and six weeks later he was promoted to sous chef, second-in-command to the Bearfoot's award-winning exec chef, Melissa Craig.
With a history like that, being the youngest competitor on the second season of Food Network Canada's highest rated series, Top Chef Canada, was an inconsequential detail.
For Stewart, a more pressing problem was adjusting his cooking style to suit the Quickfire and Elimination culinary challenges that take place in each episode of the reality show.
He calls his style "modern Canadian . . . I've only ever done fine dining; it was probably one of my biggest hurdles. I was sometimes cooking for people with entirely different palates than what I'm used to. So I had to tone down the food because I wasn't cooking for the same audience."
It was a lesson he was forced to learn quickly. His dish for the first Elimination Challenge - which was to use his hometown as inspiration - didn't go over well with the judges. He landed in the bottom three with his re-imagined tuna casserole, because the judges hated his bread "foam."
"There was actually quite a bit happening in that dish, and they didn't care about anything else except the damn bread foam."
Being castigated on national television was terrible, he says. "I was shooting daggers at them the whole time."
He adds that he made the dish again last week for the tasting menu he and Craig created for the restaurant's screening of the premiere.
"I sent a photo of it to (head judge) Mark McEwan with a note that said our guests enjoyed it very much."
Did he serve it with the foam though?
"I certainly did not," he laughs. He did better in Episode 2, which aired this past Monday, when the chefs cooked in a Quickfire Challenge for meat-loving TV handyman Mike Holmes, and then at a barbecue for 100 Habitat for Humanity volunteers for the Elimination Challenge. Stewart's pork ribs earned rave reviews from the judges for being full of flavour and fall-off-the-bone tender. Again, lucky guests at the Bearfoot Bistro got to sample them as part of a special screening menu.
Watching it all play out on TV is riveting, says Stewart.
"It's funny seeing all the interviews, watching what people say during them. At the time, all we knew was the result of each challenge." And while he's comfortable in a kitchen, being in front of a camera was all new.
"I'm sitting in a room with five people staring at me while I talk, and they tell me to 'be more natural.' " It did get easier over time - though he can't say how much time, since he's not allowed to give any clues as to how far he made it on the show.
The other thing he's adjusting to is his new notoriety.
"I'm no celebrity. I'm still little Jimmy who grew up in North Van." As such, he hopes his hometown crowd will watch the show and cheer him on.
As the interview winds down, he is asked if there's anything else he'd like to add.
"Can I say hello to my grannies? They're good people - they both live on the North Shore."
Top Chef Canada airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on Food Network Canada.
Diners in Whistler who want to join in on the action can do so each Monday night at the Bearfoot Bistro where Stewart and Craig have created a weekly three-and five-course menu that will be served in tandem with the screening of the show, starting each week at 7 p.m. For more information or reservations, call 604-932-3433 or visit www. bearfootbistro.com.
