Rustic Grill Highlights Chef vs Cook Distinction

A good friend of mine recently threw a surprise birthday party for her husband, and in the process introduced me to a potential haven, if only we could get the chefs on board.

This gathering was held at an extremely unique and elegant establishment called The Rustic Grill. Anastasia Maracle decided this would be a great spot to surprise Billy with a 25-strong group of his friends, and in the balcony we launched one of the best surprise attacks he's ever been glad to receive.

I could go on and on about the one of a kind antiques adorning the place, or the welcoming and warm feeling of the structure, or the sheer elegance this combination exudes. What I want to focus on though is the food. I mean, that's what would keep me coming back, right? Since we were early to arrive we spoke with the waiter and had him relay our meal criteria to the chef. We simply explained we were vegan, and would like the chef to prepare us a cruelty free meal without the use of any animal products. This is the key to my little rave, the difference between a Chef and a cook. A Chef knows how to combine ingredients based on their individual characteristics such as texture, color, nutritional content, and taste. A cook makes a dish the same way every time because that's what management told him to do. So by giving the Chef as much flexibility as we did, we allowed him the opportunity use his creativity in preparing our meal. This is probably not something that Chef's in general get to do very much, but by what we were served, I could tell the situation was appreciated. I should note at this time that although there is a head Chef, our later discussion with Clint informed us that they actually employ a team of Chefs in their meal preparation.



The dish consisting of a large onion ring filled with cubed spiced sweet potatoes, grilled organic enoki mushrooms, and rosemary roasted peppers topped with steamed asparagus all drizzled with a balsamic glaze was a pleasure for all the senses and we enjoyed it very very much. This is something they should put on the menu we thought, which is why we would like to encourage others to try out the The Rustic Grill, and ask for something special from the chef, and oh by the way make it vegan. You'll not only get a great meal, you'll be doing something good for your body and helping to raise awareness in the community that us 'veg-folk' really enjoy the art of dining.

-Raylon