Chef Victor Barry is a busy man. Not only is he the chef de cuisine at Toronto's Splendido restaurant, he is also its co-owner after purchasing it in 2009 with Carlo Catallo. On top of serving for full houses on Saturdays, the young chef is engaged and like many soon-to-be grooms, he's on a diet. Globe Life caught up with him to talk about what food he manages to squeeze in to his busy schedule.
9 a.m. – I woke up and had a bowl of oatmeal and raisins. There was about a half-cup of dry oatmeal, two tablespoons of raisins and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Then I was out the door and at work by 10 a.m.
4:30 p.m. – It was a crazy day on Saturday. I didn't manage to eat anything until I had to sample all of the stations. Once the staff meal is ready, everyone leaves with it so I can go through all of the stations. I taste everything, that's why I'm so fat. I tried the confit turnips, the boiled potatoes, the cooked-off Swiss chard. I tried all eight sauces at the sauce station. I tasted the foie gras parfait, which is delicious but when you try it every day it gets to be a little much. I ate a little piece of all of the breads we make: The brioche, the French country white, the rye caraway and the potato rosemary. I looked at the cheese board, but I won't taste it, just smell it.
4:50 p.m. – When I was done this, I had some of the staff meal, about half a cup of it. It was a baked pasta with a really thick and rich béchamel sauce on it. It was just too heavy for me. Right before service I don't like to eat anything too heavy, so I was going to get one of my guys to make me a piece of fish and some veggies, but we got too busy.
Between 5 p.m. and midnight – All through service, I am constantly tasting things. I tasted the linguine religiously; it's my favourite pasta. It's spicy, it's lemony, it's garlicky, it's salty. All four of those things need to be in balance. It's a really great pasta when it's done properly which is why I test it. I also drink anywhere between two to three litres of our in-house filtered water during service.
2 a.m. – I had a glass of champagne at the restaurant. Then I went across the street to the Harbord Room for a few pints of Guinness. Before, I would usually go out for late-night Chinese food but my fiancé has got me on crackdown. I've got to lose some weight. So I just went to bed around 3:45 a.m. My exhaustion ended up beating my hunger.