Gerry Goldwyre's North American Adventure

 

MasterChef winner, chef and architect, Gerry Goldwyre and his wife Susan are on a year's trip to American discovering all that's best about food and cooking along the way.

The Story So Far

Planning

One Saturday night in 2001, after everyone had left our restaurant, Susan and I sat down to enjoy a glass of wine and our usual debrief on the evening. We were chatting about the youth of today taking a year out before starting work and we thought about a career break in the future for ourselves. We decided there and then that we'd do it. And so here we are.

We initially discussed our idea with our regular dinner guests, principally to establish their thoughts on closing the restaurant. Would they come back to us? Each and everyone said it would not be an issue as long as they could book by email whilst we were away. Most of our customers thought that we would come back full of new ideas. This is now month 6 of our trip and the customers are right. We have lots of new ideas and we are taking bookings for next year from April onwards.

The First 6 Months

Going back to April this year, April 1st, Susan and I set off for the year. Maybe it was appropriate this was April Fools Day? I won’t mention the packing that could fill 3 pages alone. Starting off in New York we headed to Long Island, then the coast of Maine. They really know how to deal with shell fish in Maine - I had the best lobster roll made with soft, not overcooked, Maine lobster in a crispy whole meal roll. The lobster was thinly sliced and served with freshly-made chive mayonnaise. Accompanied by a glass of chilled Riesling, I can almost taste it again now.

From Maine we went overland to Quebec. I once thought the cold winds in Arbroath in January were bad, but I’ll never complain again. The wind in Quebec coming off the Hudson Bay, almost cut me in half. However, I also remember the French style. A wonderful fish soup that I had that evening. It was light and full of flavour with the smell of sea water. My toes warmed as I sipped and slurped the whole lot down.

From Quebec we went through Montreal, Ottawa and the gem in the crown for me, Toronto. So cosmopolitan and the whole experience made all the better with a contact from Discover the Taste, Adrienne Clarke. Adrienne hosted us for two weeks in a bohemian part of town, called The Danforth. She organised dinner party guests for me to cook for. The party size started small but grew legs as the days went on. It finished up on a balmy spring evening with 24 people being fed. A great time was had by all. Thank you to Adrienne.

From here we turned West and South through Illinois, St Louis, Oklahoma and Missouri. Here we were hounded by the constant threat of twister tornadoes. We didn’t hang about to see what they did. Food was a bit of an "eat and go" experience. We did stop off in a place called Hillsboro, long enough to spend a great night in the bar with the locals. They introduced themselves by sending a drink for us from the bottom of the long bar. Literally. I felt like an extra at the OK Corral. Fantastic.

As we travelled through Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson things began to heat up. The south western food, is my style of food. The pick of the Phoenix crop for me was the food from the chef at the Roaring Fork, Robert McGrath. Motto "As comfortable as your favourite boots". A tough looking cowboy, he looks as hard as nails and he runs a terrific restaurant. Dishes included ruby trout with slices of green apples, red onions and hot vinaigrette. Chilli macaroni and Pan de compo (a cornmeal sort of skillet-cooked pizza cooked in a wood fired oven). Best of all was his “Big Ass Cheeseburger”, steak served with roast corn and ancho (smoked) chilli butter.

From Phoenix we moved onto Tucson. Just when I thought it could not get any better, we met the delightful chef/owner at the Peppertrees Inn B&B in the University area of Tucson. It was not luxury style living, but this was the best place I have ever stayed in terms of food and ambiance. The owner had thought out every detail of quality, down to the CDs left out for guests to enjoy. It was made even better by the fact that the owner Jill McCormick was once head pastry chef at the Four Seasons restaurant in Chicago and often featured in glossy magazines and produced cook books. One of the best things I learned here was how to make crispy poached eggs. Watch this space.

A not so Urban Cowboy

We then spent a week cooking and painting on a Dude Ranch on the Mexican border before going to San Diego. The trip was halted in June when we had to come home. Susan’s mother suffered a serious illness from which, sadly, she never recovered. We returned a month later and began our travels up California’s stunning Pacific Highway.

What's Next?

We are currently in San Francisco and plan to move on to Oregon, Washington, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, California (again) Arizona, Texas and through to Florida at the end of the year. Then up the coast back to New York. That’s the plan, but on this trip, anything can happen. And most likely will.

Diary updates can be read in the Travels section of Gerry's website.