One by one, students arrived at the Auberge Willow Inn in Hudson, Que., for a one-of-a kind field trip, featuring a special guest.
Renowned Montreal chef Danny Smiles, who’s the general manager and executive chef of the inn, took the teens on a tour of his world.
It started in the courtyard, where Smiles spoke about food sustainability — the importance of cooking with low-waste, healthy food that’s ecologically responsible and accessible.
He also shared how food can help build communities.
“It’s super important to be together and to cook. It’s something that I love that I’m still passionate about after all these years,” said Smiles. “And I love teaching.”
The 30 students, from Philemon Wright High School got the chance to visit the inn through the Cheese4Change, a youth program founded by Tre Stelle Cheese, which educates and rewards schools and students for sustainable eating efforts.
Smiles took students to the inn’s garden, where they got a chance to hear and see what the restaurant grows and how it’s implemented into the menu, which their teacher says will come in handy, since the students have started cooking on site and even planted a garden on school grounds.
“Our students have taken over our free lunch program at the high school,” said Susie Leaman. “We provide lunches for students in need, between 40-60 kids per day. We do curries, sandwiches, soups, and lots of baked goods.”
The piece de resistance for the students was clearly being able to taste the fruits of Smiles’ labour.
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They got a behind the scenes look at the chefs prepping their lunch — a very cheesy grilled cheese with a fresh salad, and a Tiramisu with mascarpone, with ingredients from the restaurant’s garden.
“Learning more recipes, more ingredients and stuff to put in to change up the flavour — because one or two ingredients can change up the whole meal,” said Aisling Mcgoey.
Smiles hopes he fuelled an interest in cooking sustainably at least for a few chefs in the making.
“The message for me, for them was just do a bit. If we all do a bit, we’re gonna get there,” he said.
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