2008-03-22 - TV Week Magazine
By: Anna Dupas

What’s Cooking?

With a new high-profile kitchen gig and another baby on the way, Iron Chef Rob Feenie’s plate is once again brimming

It’s an unseasonably sunny day in February, and Rob Feenie’s mood matches the weather. He emerges, all smiles, from the Cactus Club Café test kitchen in Vancouver, where he’s been working as the company’s new food concept architect for the past week. Cutting a ninja-like figure in a head-to-toe black smock, TV’s Iron Chef America champion has good reason to smile these days.

And that’s saying a lot, given his recent front-page food fight with former business partners David and Manjy Sidoo, co-owners and majority shareholders of the landmark Vancouver restaurants Lumière and Feenie’s. The problem? Last fall, the couple appointed Feenie’s 28-year-old understudy Dale MacKay as chef de cuisine, giving him carte blanche in the shared kitchen, and effectively undermining Feenie in his long-held role as executive chef.

Too many cooks clearly spoil the broth, so the culinary king opted to walk. As Feenie said at the time, “I’m no longer with the company because, most importantly, my role as chef was taken away.” So, after a painful parting from the two world-class restaurants he created from scratch, Feenie took a breather from the culinary scene.

“After that whole scenario, Meesh and I needed to take a bit of break,” he says, referring to his wife of three years, Michelle, a former Lumière server, with whom he has two young children and another one on the way.

Kicking back at his Kitsilano home, Feenie began considering his options. He knew he wasn’t keen to revisit familiar territory. As he puts it, “I could’ve opened up another fine-dining restaurant, but I think at this point in my career I’ve pretty much achieved everything I could have achieved at Lumière — and at Feenie’s, for that matter.”

Hungry for a new challenge, the perfect opportunity for him arose when Richard Jaffray, a long-time acquaintance and co-owner of Cactus Club Café, offered him a high-profile post at the restaurant chain.

By securing someone of Feenie’s stature, the company clearly scored a culinary coup. Some pundits questioned, though, if the deal was as sweet for Feenie — transitioning as he did from a high-end establishment to a casual, mid-market chain. He couldn’t disagree more.

“For me, it was just a good fit. What I like about Cactus Club is, first of all, it’s always abuzz, it’s always full and you’ve got a lot of different types of clientele you have to feed. And I think this is, in essence, the way food is going for the future. People are looking for more casual upscale places that have reasonable prices, really good food and a wine list to boot. We really feel we’re the best casual fine-dining restaurant in the country.”

Indeed, Feenie maintains his new job is even more challenging than his previous one. “It’s a real learning curve for me. I’m working with 17 locations. I’m working with 2,000 employees. I was used to having 30 or 40, in terms of my kitchen staff. And you have to understand, as a chef, when you’re working with foie gras and truffles and caviar and all that kind of stuff, being able to cook more casual foods on a consistent basis [in large volume] is a lot harder to do,” he explains.

The Burnaby-born-and-bred foodie also insists he’s a long-time Cactus Club fan, dating right back to the early ’90s when a branch opened in his old stomping grounds along the busy Kingsway corridor near Metrotown. Since then, the acclaimed chef — whose talents earned Lumière the prestigious Relais Gourmand and Tradition et Qualité awards — has been a regular customer. “Meesh and I go there quite a bit with the kids,” he says, adding that one of the reasons he accepted the job in the first place is because “most importantly, I like the product.”

Now that he’s on board, the product can only improve. But what, exactly, does a “food concept architect” do? “It’s a pretty vague term,” Feenie acknowledges, explaining he’ll have a hand in menu development and possibly even kitchen design. He’ll also be making the rounds at each of the company’s 17 B.C. and Alberta locations, so curious diners might want to keep their eyes peeled for future sightings of the celebrated chef.

But the normally outspoken culinary star becomes uncharacteristically coy when asked how the chain’s mid-market menu might evolve. “Nothing has been decided yet, so there’s really nothing to comment on at this point,” he says, skillfully mincing words like so many bulbs of garlic. “I think people can expect to see things in the next couple of months.”

Is it safe to assume that a sablefish dish, drizzled with maple syrup and sake, might make its way into the offerings? After all, a video clip of Feenie preparing the entrée was posted on the Canada.com site for several days in February. “Possibly,” he says with a noncommittal shrug. Or perhaps he plans to refine Cactus Club’s bite-sized burgers — a fan fave at Feenie’s — with his own secret recipe? “Maybe,” he says, grinning mischievously.

What he will say is that new items will be introduced on a test basis starting this spring at Cactus Club’s West Broadway and Ash Street location in Vancouver. After that, it will be up to co-owner Jaffray to decide if and when he wants to roll out the new dishes company wide. But, rest assured, the menu will bear Feenie’s trademark touch, complete with an emphasis on organic and sustainable products. “I’m not going to change my mentality in regards to the way I cook,” says Feenie. “That’s what Richard wanted me to bring to the table: my expertise.”

So, on a more personal note, how does the new gig affect Feenie’s family? The 43-year-old father of two says it means he’ll get to spend more time with his burgeoning brood. At least that’s the plan for the future. For now, he’s been slaving over a hot stove — often literally — for 50 to 70 hours a week, as he settles into his new position.

But that’s no sweat for a guy who possesses such an unbridled passion for cooking. After all, one of his favourite activities after a long day at work is to step back into the kitchen to prepare dinner for his own family. Once his schedule simmers down, he looks forward to resuming this tradition on a nightly basis.

Good thing he enjoys it, ’cause he’ll have another mouth to feed come July, when the newest family member is slated to enter the Feenie fold. As for the baby’s gender, he says it’s still TBD. “We didn’t know with the other two,” he explains, referring to four-year-old son Devon and two-year-old daughter Jordan. “So we don’t want to know with this one either.” There is one thing he’s sure about, though: “This is the last one!”

Really? “Oh yeah,” he says with a chuckle, brushing a hand through his spiky, honey-highlighted hair.

This prompts a tinkle of laughter from his publicist, who has been sitting with Feenie in a quiet corner of the restaurant, silently overseeing today’s interview. The goatee-sporting chef shoots her a smile then rubs his sore wrist, which up until a second ago had been encased in a sturdy black brace. Did he develop a case of carpal tunnel syndrome from stirring sauces, perhaps? “No,” he laughs. “I might yet, though. I broke it playing hockey.”

Broken bone notwithstanding, Feenie’s upbeat attitude leaves no doubt he’s in a great place these days. But we should have guessed that this Iron Chef — despite life’s occasional slippery patches — would always land on his feet.