After Horizons – A guest post from the owner!

We couldn’t resist asking the creative brains behind the Horizons restaurant ( and their wonderful books) about just where they are with their decision to move on from Horizons to Vedge.  We’re honoured to feature their thoughts here. We think it’s a very special way to wrap-up VeganMoFo 2011.

 

“After Horizons“. Wow, that title is certainly a dose of reality right now.

When I first heard about the “After Horizons” blog, I was thrilled and flattered. Of course, a bit sad too; at the time of this writing, our new restaurant, Vedge, is not yet open. In fact, I walk past the old Horizons building everyday on the way to Vedge, wishing we hadn’t left when we did so I could have kept cooking just a little longer. But who knew?

Kate and I have spent the last 10 years together building Horizons, and now Vedge. We learned so much during this time, moving from the Willow Grove suburbs to our downtown location. And for as familiar as Vedge will be, there will no doubt be a few signature Horizons touches that will remain only in the memories of our customers and on the pages of the Horizons cookbooks.

So how wonderful it is to have this blog that follows both Horizons cookbooks. It is truly moving for me to scroll through those recipes and remember how each one came together through our restaurant’s culinary evolution. I read back through these stories, the photos, the recipes, and I remember all the hard work it took to bring them together. Days off spent with the photographer, long nights spent editing and re-reading. But it was worth every second, especially when you have the honor of witnessing such results like Liz and Tami’s blog.

I especially love seeing the soups. Back in the Willow Grove days, making soup at Horizons was an everyday occasion for me. From stock, to the chopping and the garnishing – this was my morning routine… And the recipes just started to pile up. In fact, I have so many soup recipes in my head that Kate and I have talked about a future cookbook dedicated to soup alone!

I applaud Liz and Tami’s daily changes, creative liberties and last minute adjustments that make cooking through cookbooks an actual learning experience rather than just the mundane following of step by step instructions.

Kate and I are really inspired, now more than ever, to keep pushing on with our (half completed) third book.

There will indeed be a story in there dedicated to Liz and Tami.

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Vedge… opening soon. Hmmmmm. Soon feels like it was a long, long time ago.

It’s frustrating waiting for your new restaurant to open. I’m used to having complete control in my kitchen. Things operate on time, I get my list done, my staff gets their list done, if something goes wrong, we know how to fix it right away, and the plates go out on time and looking great. Contractors don’t operate like Chefs! But about 2 months behind schedule, the space is finally coming together. We have food in the walk-in, coffee beans in the grinder, glasses behind the bar. When we officially open the doors of Vedge for the first time, I will be thrilled to get back to cooking and excited to see how things continue to evolve After Horizons.

Until then…

Cheers