{"id":5714,"date":"2017-05-08T07:40:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T11:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheeseloverca.wordpress.com\/?p=5714"},"modified":"2017-05-08T07:40:24","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T11:40:24","slug":"kennedy-boys-to-serve-their-fathers-famed-braised-beef-poutine-at-tgccf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/2017\/05\/08\/kennedy-boys-to-serve-their-fathers-famed-braised-beef-poutine-at-tgccf\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy boys to serve their father’s famed braised-beef poutine at #TGCCF"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chef Jamie Kennedy elevates poutine to a fine-dining experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When your father is one of Canada\u2019s most renowned chefs, a passion for food and an appreciation for the restaurant industry come naturally. Nile and Jackson Kennedy grew up around the celebrated kitchens of their father, chef Jamie Kennedy, Canada\u2019s first celebrity chef and a pioneer of the local food movement. But being the chef\u2019s sons earned them no special treatment, as they worked their way through various positions within Kennedy\u2019s restaurants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working with my dad for a really long time now,\u201d said Nile, 22. \u201cWe started by going to events and doing small jobs to just get a sense of what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nile got his start in the family business at age 17, working in coat check during private events at the Gardiner Museum, where Jamie Kennedy then ran the venue\u2019s fine dining restaurant and catered on-site weddings and other special events.<\/p>\n

From there, Nile worked his way up to become an event server at the Gardiner and then an a la carte server at Kennedy\u2019s Gilead Caf\u00e9, the chef\u2019s last Toronto restaurant, which closed its doors in 2015.<\/p>\n

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Nile and Jackson Kennedy will serve J.K. Fries in addition to braised-beef poutine at #TGCCF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working in his father\u2019s restaurants taught Nile a great deal about the industry and allowed him to spend plenty of quality time with his dad outside the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with my Dad has always been great,\u201d said Nile, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really like a typical working relationship. We would be cracking jokes with each other, and it was really positive. I\u2019ve learned a lot working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past two summers, Nile and his brother Jackson, 26, have operated J.K. Fries<\/a>, a mobile French fry kitchen they run at events and farmers\u2019 markets around Toronto. J.K. Fries offers Chef Kennedy\u2019s signature double-fried French fries, made with local Yukon Gold potatoes, fresh thyme and sea salt. The fries are always made entirely on site, for the freshest, crispiest snack possible.<\/p>\n

This summer, J.K. Fries is setting up shop in Prince Edward County, offering its famous fries at events in the region all season long. For Nile and Jackson, this means a break from city life, and a chance to slow down and take a well-deserved break at the Kennedy farm in the County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer will still be about work, but we also wanted to take a step back, get out of the city and go to our farm,\u201d Nile explained of the move. \u201cWe\u2019ll work up there, and also take up any projects and hobbies we\u2019ve really wanted to do. It\u2019s an exploratory summer in that sense and we\u2019ve both been excited about it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chef Jamie Kennedy works his magic in the converted barn on his farm in Prince Edward County.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The brothers are looking to discover new interests outside the restaurant business, including learning to craft handmade utility knives using wood and metal found around the family farm. With the help of YouTube, they plan to teach themselves to build a forge and try their hands at knife making during their down time.<\/p>\n

The Kennedy brothers will bring a special version of the J.K. Fries stand to The Great Canadian Cheese Festival on June 3-4<\/a>, with a braised-beef poutine, an artful take on the iconic, indulgent dish that his father made famous when he became the first Canadian chef to introduce poutine on a fine-dining menu.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an elevated version of the classic Quebecois poutine,\u201d Nile explains. \u201cWe use braised, tender beef in a thick, salty, flavourful gravy and in place of cheese curds we\u2019re using an aged cheddar from Monforte Dairy<\/a>, who make a really nice cow\u2019s milk cheddar.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kennedy boys will be serving up the braised-beef poutine and the fries at the Festival\u2019s Artisan Food Court<\/a> on both Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jamie Kennedy is hosting a fabulous feast at his Prince Edward County Farm on Saturday evening as part of his popular Summer Dinner Series<\/a>. Award-winning cheesemakers Jean Morin<\/a> and Marie-Chantal Houde<\/a> will be among the lucky 55 guests\u2014with their fromage featured on the cheese plate.<\/p>\n

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Jackson Kennedy tosses double-fried French fries, made with local Yukon Gold potatoes, fresh thyme and sea salt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he\u2019s not slinging their much-loved poutine dishes to hungry festival-goers, Nile is eager to explore what\u2019s new at this year\u2019s Festival. He\u2019s attended the past few years both to work and to observe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s great about the Cheese Festival, especially with all these local producers coming, people can taste all these amazing cheeses and it gives them ideas about what\u2019s possible,\u201d Nile said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more these days, people are interested in sourcing locally, but they might not realize how much is available and how many varieties are available so close to home. The Festival is great for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Phoebe Powell, senior roving reporter at CheeseLover.ca, is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Her last blog post was on <\/em>La Moutonni\u00e8re: Happy sheep make award-winning\u00a0cheese<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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When your father is one of Canada\u2019s most renowned chefs, a passion for food and an appreciation for the restaurant industry come naturally. Nile and Jackson Kennedy grew up around the celebrated kitchens of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,168,182,199],"tags":[416,422,439,449],"brand":[],"class_list":["post-5714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chef-jamie-kennedy","category-fromagerie-du-presbytere","category-fromagerie-nouvelle-france","category-great-canadian-cheese-festival","tag-artisan-cheese","tag-canadian-artisan-cheese","tag-great-canadian-cheese-festival","tag-quebec-cheese"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5714"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=5714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}