contributor
Islands Cuisine
There are days when my mind wanders. There are days when, like I know it is for many, that feeling of anxiety seems to accompany my every move. There are bad days and there are good days, and there is also the reality of life and the challe
Dec 18, 2025
Islands Cuisine
“What do you and Giulio do for fun? And I mean capital ‘F’ Fun, not just everyday fun?” asked our friend Bobbi Lee to my wife last winter. Over the following months, we seemed to often return to that same question, amongst each other and al
Sep 28, 2025
Islands Cuisine
In 2003, I found myself in London, Ontario, working in a little bistro called the Green Tomato. I was 23 years old, with little experience and a large enough ego that had me believe I was qualified to run a kitchen. And after the chef who h
Apr 13, 2025
Islands Cuisine
I was maybe 13 years old when I started my first business. I spent most of the summer of 1990 playing soccer on the beach and dreaming of Italy winning the World Cup. August was the hottest of the summer months, and all I really wanted was
Feb 22, 2025
Islands Cuisine
I have enjoyed writing for most of my life. While still living in Italy, I was planning to study journalism, until a beautiful French Canadian woman seduced me back to Canada to start a new life. From time to time, I would return to journal
Jan 17, 2025
Islands Cuisine
So many thoughts fill my head as I say my final goodbyes to family and friends during my recent visit home for my father’s 91st birthday: thoughts of war and the indelible memory it left in my father’s mind; thoughts of playing soccer in th
Dec 19, 2024
Gallivanting
If I told you to close your eyes and think of your favourite food, you would understand the assignment immediately. With your eyes closed, you would debate quietly for a few moments on the right answer - at least for that day. Then you woul
Nov 22, 2024
Islands Cuisine
There is a story Carlo Petrini shares at the very beginning of his famous book, Slow Food Nation, that I often think about. Carlo is travelling through Piemonte—the beautiful region in northeast Italy famous for its incredible culinary hist
Oct 10, 2024
Islands Cuisine
I had other plans for this week’s column, but they all got sort of hijacked by the reality that we all have a lot of zucchinis at this time of the year. Abundant and usually free (as are very few things in life), zucchinis manage to be chea
Sep 12, 2024
Columns
I speak often with friends (especially those asking about improving their cooking game) about the idea of listening to the ingredients you are cooking with, and so creating an opportunity to let them speak to you. While this advice might se
Aug 15, 2024
Columns
“I got heads for you!” Tom yelled, slowing down his truck just enough as he passed by the restaurant. Alex was standing beside me, and we were both amused by what seemed like a strange remark to make in passing. But then I remembered that t
Jul 30, 2024
Islands Cuisine
While prepping one of our most popular desserts — the now iconic Spruce Tip Key Lime Pie — I finally exhausted our coveted stockpile of frozen spruce tips from the previous year. But I was prepared. A freshly frozen batch from this year’s p
Jun 21, 2024