Bouquet Garni brought French cuisine to Cambridge

I had just finished the first eight months of my apprenticeship at the Hotel Vancouver and had my first time off since I began my first cooking apprenticeship.

It was time for my first holiday pay and it included a Canadian Pacific rail pass.

The next day I got my coach ticket and caught the train back to Galt for some well deserved rest and relaxation.

For the next two months I only had to complete the written part of my costing and administration theory before returning for the second year of learning.

My rail pass was just a coach seat and the best thing was the Canadian Streamliner, which did have the dome and bar car.

After leaving Vancouver behind, the scenic mountains were soon in sight and at Hope BC I could see the snow capped Rockies.

Chatting with some of the travelers on board passed the time quickly while sitting and staring out the windows looking at the many rivers and lakes as we entered the mountain tunnels. It was quite the experience seeing all this from the dome car.

Soon it was pitch black outside the window and as the train crept slowly through the switchbacks. The passengers were all trying to get some shut eye as the car fell silent. 

I must have slept off and on throughout the Revelstoke spiral tunnel mountain passes because the next time I opened my eyes we were in Saskatchewan to switch trains.

Another 36 hours and I would be back home. I sure was looking forward to being with my friends again.

I arrived in Kitchener and a good friend picked me up at the station and lent me his car so I could get around. At home mom was still working three shifts at Newlands Textiles and Ralph at Rankin Strite. Dad was still cooking in the kitchen at the Iroquois Hotel but the fine dining was now replaced by a pub beverage room menu.

It was sad how now I saw my dads cooking career in a whole different way as his past 35 years of fine dining cooking at the Iroquois Kitchen were behind him and the future of the hotel was not how my dad saw his final years ending.

To cheer things up, we got all dressed up and Deluxe Taxi drove dad, mom, my brother Ralph and me to Preston to this new French restaurant called the Bouquet Garni.

I was told by other cooks that Chef Franz was a well known Kitchener celebrity and I thought it would be a great place to catch up with the latest happenings, some great food and conversations about the past year while I was away.

The restaurant was housed in the old button factory built in 1858 at the foot of Shantz Hill on Fountain Street that still stands there today.

It was first a stagecoach stop on the Huron Trail and since that time was home to a button factory, rooming house, the Knotty Pine Food Groups head office with my new test kitchen. Later on it became the Jerry Van Dyke Travel and now it's new business offices.  

The French Cowboy and Bouquet Garni were part of the Shantz Group out of St. Jacobs.

New owners Franz, Carlos, Franco and Alfredo, all related to each other, worked in fine Toronto restaurants and later at the Black Walnut Inn and Benito's in Kitchener, impressing many local diners. Later they joined together and moved to the Bouquet Garni where the team served the classic styles of continental cuisine.

The restaurant quickly became a very desirable eatery and the food being served was top notch. It was the first area restaurant that featured dishes like Coquille St Jacques, escargot, oysters Rockefeller, peppercorn steak, duck breast, crepe Suzette, Dover sole and Chateaubriand with table side made caesar salads and cherries jubilee dessert.

The food served was perfectly executed and they soon outgrew the building. Soon they were expanding and opening in the old Fortes Grocery Store on King Street West in Preston and renaming the place Greystones.

It quickly became the area's number one place for fine dining.

But back to that night out with my parents, we soon were all talked out and ready to dine. 

Dad started by ordering a bowl of Bouillabaisse which was shared by us all. It was the first time we all could agree that this was the best soup we all enjoyed. We then each ordered an entree enjoying samples from each other's choice.

I asked Franco to bring us all a creme brulee which we never tried before. He made a great share plate with some decadent pastries. It was a great ending to share with my family and later I made several trips to Greystones over the years, enjoying the fine cuisine this team of restaurateurs had brought to Waterloo County. 

Here is a great recipe if you like to experience bouillabaisse, a classic French fish soup at home.

Bouillabaisse

Fish and seafood:

1 lb fresh white fish (such as cod, seabass.

2 cups shrimps 

1 lb blue mussels

For the soup:

1 yellow onion

1 small fennel bulb

1 leek 

5 saffron threads 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

4-5 tomatoes 

1 tbsp tomato paste 

1 lb potatoes 

1 tbsp fennel seeds 

3 bay leaves 

1 orange 

1 liter fish broth

Fresh parsley

(Optional) Star anise to replace Pastis Licorice Liqueur.

Instructions: 

Prepare the vegetables, thinly slicing the onion, fennel, and leek. Cut the tomatoes and potatoes into cubes. 

Sauté the vegetables In a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Now add the onion, fennel, and leek. Sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the fennel seeds, saffron threads, garlic, tomatoes, and orange zest. Stir and cook for a few minutes to release the flavors. 

Deglaze and simmer. Pour in the fish stock. Add the potatoes, bay leaves, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. 

 Add the seafood: Rinse the mussels and cut the fish into cubes. Add the fish, shrimp, and mussels to the pot. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the fish is cooked, shrimp are pink, and mussels have opened.

Remove any unopened mussels. Pour the bouillabaisse into a large serving bowl for all to share and garnish with fresh parsley and side with fresh baked crusty french baguette. 

Chef Wayne Conrad Serbu writes monthly for CambridgeToday. The former executive chef also shares recipes and memories from his more than five decades in the hospitality industry on his blog, the kitchenman.