It was Tuesday, and I had a doctor’s appointment to look forward to. I had to be there at 3:30pm. My mother was coming to The Beech Tree (for the first time since opening). She would arrive for a 5:30pm reservation. We were winding down the last days before…

I’ve put a lot of thought into where my food comes from. I have written past blogs regarding eating seasonally, animal husbandry, ethical animal slaughter and the non-wasteful, nose-to-tail approach to cooking and eating meat. I have even written about vegetarianism on my old blog. I am not afraid to…

One of our servers, a certifiable beer geek and always one to selflessly volunteer for independent research, recently filled a shopping cart at the LCBO all in the name of science….well, not really, more like ‘Beech Tree Science’. Either way, he was searching for the next interesting brew to offer…

During a busy service a month or so back, Chef mentioned off-hand to me that perhaps it was time to retire our grilled steak dish for a while. It had been a regular menu item for a couple of months. Previously it had been a Thursday night (and sometimes Friday…

Chef didn’t like the idea of mozzarella salad. Not one bit… I felt slightly chastened, because I saw potential there. He saw a cliché. Maybe I had to explain myself a bit better. Negotiation would be required.   Many of our menu items are created by Chef alone. Creativity is…