Written by Aldo Parise | 29 September 2010

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I think I sometimes become predictable. I don’t mean to. I just don’t see the passion that I assume should be in all of us. You see, every time we start to work on the Maverick Chefs issue, I get riled up. Our work takes me to a lot of kitchens — both physically and vicariously. You’d think that it would be easy to find mavericks. There are the young chefs coming in off the line or those who never had formal training — only a love of food. Then there are the established chefs who after years of pushing the envelope have finally broken through the seams of mediocrity. You’d think that these chefs would be easy to spot in a sea of second-rate dives and third-rate eateries. You’d unfortunately be wrong.

And this is why.

Too many chefs are being asked to make it easy on patrons. Don’t challenge their forks, lest they rise up. For most it is an easy drive to the centre of commercial avenue — sorry to those who actually have commercial avenues in their towns. Are the culinary boundaries being pushed? Sometimes chefs believe that by spelling out a long list of fancy ingredients, pushing a large wine list or by using minimalist plating tricks we can be fooled. They do sometimes think that we fervent restaurant goers are easily duped. We don’t know what good food is so they don’t put too much effort into it.

Is it laziness on their part or is it on ours?

Most patrons are better informed than chefs give them credit. At the heart of it we are not only eating at more diverse establishments — travelling the world with our utensils — we are also cooking quite a bit
more, searching for the right mix of this and that. Our palates are now truly making the rounds. But when was the last time you talked to an actual chef? From what I understand their doors are always swinging
open. Let’s let them know we are ready for the next dish — and for a surprise in the mix.