David McMillan - The Art of Living According to Joe Beef

Some of the recipes in this book include raw eggs, meat, or fish. When these foods are consumed raw, there is always the risk that bacteria, which is killed by proper cooking, may be present. For this reason, when serving these foods raw, always buy certified salmonella-free eggs and the freshest meat and fish available from a reliable grocer, storing them in the refrigerator until they are served. Because of the health risks associated with the consumption of bacteria that can be present in raw eggs, meat, and fish, these foods should not be consumed by infants, small children, pregnant women, the elderly, or any persons who may be immunocompromised. The author and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from the use or application of the recipes and information contained in this book

Text copyright 2011 by Meredith Erickson, Frdric Morin, and David McMillan

Foreword copyright 2011 by David Chang

Photographs copyright 2011 by Jennifer May

Illustrations copyright 2011 by Frdric Morin

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Labour/Le Travailleur for permission to use an excerpt from Joe Beef of Montreal: Working Class Culture and the Tavern, 18691889 by Peter DeLottinville (Labour/Le Travailleur, 8/9, Autumn/Spring, 19811982, 940). Reprinted by permission of Labour/Le Travailleur.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:

Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum: train illustrations, . Reprinted by permission of the McCord Museum.

All photographs are by Jennifer May with the exception of those noted here: by Eric Deguire; and end sheets from a painting by Peter Hoffer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

eISBN: 978-1-60774-077-3

v3.1

P eople ask me all the time what my favorite restaurant in the world is, and I always give them the wrong answer. My favorite restaurant in the world is Joe Beef.

The first time I went to Montreal, I reported immediately to the bar at Martin Picards iconic Au Pied de Cochon (PDC). During my dinner, everybody kept asking me, Have you been to Joe Beef yet?

The name Joe Beef sounded terrible to me. I was thinking, like, What the fuck is Joe Beef? Do they serve Sloppy Joes? I kept seeing images of Sloppy Joes, of ground meat in ketchup, and of hairnets. Or, even worse, could it be one of those red velvet and dark wood steak houses? I imagined it was something really poorly done, but then who doesnt like to see a train wreck?

When I finally got to Joe Beef, it felt like it was on the outskirts of Montreal, certainly not the city center, and certainly not any place chic or hip.

I sat down at the bar where a big, burly guy was opening oysters, and the place had this really amazing vibe. It reminded me of a couple of important New York restaurants, like a male version of Prune or of 71 Clinton Fresh Food back when Wylie Dufresne was cooking. I loved the wine list and the menu. Both are only available in chalk on the wall, and if you cant read them, theyll probably just tell you youre old. The dcor had a rustic, lived-in feelthe kind that makes you never want to leave.

It had personality. It was alive. Those are rare and typically fleeting qualities in a restaurant.

I ordered a ridiculous amount of food because it all sounded amazing. I asked the bruiser in the Expos hat behind the bar for a gin and tonic and a dozen oysters. At the timeI feel this is important to note, because I look like a desk jockey now I still had cooking scars on my hands and arms and all that.

I put in a classic Hey, Im a restaurant person, too order with Dave McMillan, who looked at me and asked, with real malice in his voice, Are you a narc?

At the time I didnt know who he was. Joe Beef had been open about a year, and I didnt know anything about Montreal restaurants except for PDC. And this guy was questioning what I was doing. It was weird and unsettling. His tone escalated, Who the fuck are you?

I am a big guy, but Dave could kill a bear with his hands. I was totally taken aback. What did I do? Hes like, Are you a cook? Who are you? What restaurant do you work at? Are you that fucking guy David Chang?

At that point, I didnt know up from down, and as I am beginning to let out an apologetic uhhhhhh, a drink is suddenly put down in front of me and Dave is shucking an egregious excess of oysters that I will clearly be eating and at the same time talking to himself out loud: Chang doesnt know shit. Like in Montreal, we dont fucking know whats going on in New York. Then he turns to me and says, Im in New York every year, I go to your restaurant, I love it. You come in, try to sneak in and order food without even fucking telling us?

We start talking and I start eating a torrent of oysters. A white-wine glass appears next to my cocktail, and Dave and I are splitting a bottle of wine. I know the nights gonna be good because hes outdrinking me.

Once Im convinced hes the genius behind the place, he says, You know what? This restaurants not about me, its about Fred. Hes doing the cooking. I just shuck oysters. Thats all I do. I met Fred that night, too, and he immediately starting giving me shit, so I immediately liked him. He introduced me to his kitchen crewan amazing group.