We've yet to do a press release or announce our opening date, so I was totally surprised by this article this morning! I guess it is time to start talking about this lil thing I've been working on for pretty much all of 2014- Bacon & Mason. 

I'm currently preparing for a tasting party in 2 days, so I'm in no space to pull together a full explanation of our vision, the menu, or my involvement in the project before the planned soon-to-come press release. The basic idea is a delicatessen - food, lots of good food, focused on in-house creations from local & seasonal produce and of course whole mfin pigs, my beloved red wattles, no less! I'll also say that I've been going fairly wild in the hot/spicy condiment arena, even have a private chile grower & grew some of my own this year!

Much much more, very very soon! Oh, and for the record - Bacon & Mason IS NOT connected to my Ethical Butcher projects, which closed with the publishing of my book & my traveling chef days in 2013. 

I'm getting rooted in a new city, a new country, learning a new language and pushing my culinary dreams to a new level. I've been neglectful of social media through all that, but as we come into the homestretch, I will surely be sharing more in the very near future. 

For now, find Bacon & Mason

@ https://www.facebook.com/bacon.mason.mtl

or check out all the progress from day 1 on my instaham

@chefbthebutcher

or come peer through our windows like the dude who wrote this!  

@102 St. Viateur Ouest, MTL

all about fall goodness. got to use a lot of the jams, pickles and fresh produce i preserved over harvest season...as well as the last few local tomatoes we've got kickin around.

i: napa and purple carrot okonomiyaki with seared bavette, sauteed maitake, shitake and king oyster mushrooms, and white carrot slaw with diced homepickled carrots

ii. tea-poached/seared pork belly with sage and cherry tomato corn relish

iii. seared duck breast with concord grape sauce on a rutabaga-thyme mash, with roasted delicata & green beans

iv. fucking perfect brownie drizzled in salted caramel sauce with crispy roasted pears and salt & peppered-black cocoa whip- 

whole thing dusted with rose petals. 

(traditional/dairy+eggs) *Basil (from my garden) Linzertorte (German Almond Tart)  *Brown Sugar Peaches & Cream (dairy/egg-free)  *Chocolate-Banana-Coconut  *Roasted Blueberry Coconut  *Lime & Raspberry Sorbet

Thank goddess for punks. This benefit show is going down in NOLA tomorrow and is organized by No More Fiction, a group that books shows for queer bands and girl bands. It is to raise funds for a Community Supported Kitchen, something every city needs more of. damn, i wish i could buzz down there for this!

Has she officially lost her mind? Nope. She’s just being honest.

DAMN. FUCK Paula Deen and her brother Bubba. She's not even denying this shit, and I've been hearing for years that her restaurants are Jim Crow-nostalgia zones. The kitchens of antebellum plantations were run by house slaves. The kitchens of post-war rich to middle-class southern whites were, too. And she has the nerve to wistfully share her desire for a return to that "impressive" era. FUUUUUUCK that utter bullshit. Thing is, ya'll know she's just gonna settle out of court, sweep this under the rug and keeping gettin rich off of the food culture that slaves created.

And THIS is why my next book is allllll about reclaiming black food cultures from across the Americas. Because fools like Paula and Bubba wanna capitalize on the shitty disgusting history that led us to create soul food from scraps. 

a few of the steps to my dish for Tuesday Night Dinner in Chi-town

fresh-picked chive blossoms; going over my menu while pulling petals; thrice-fired ham hocks- braised in tea with salsify greens, roasted in oven over lovage, diced and braised with greens & salsify root; prepping my pain perdu for duck egg custard; final plate: 

pain perdu a la printemps--