| Chefs are fast becoming the most talked-about celebrities of our time, even replacing rock stars and Hollywood’s glitterati as a type of who’s who that are scrutinized by the news media and gossiped about at the office.
Emeril Lagasse and Nigella Lawson grace the covers of magazines, buoyed by their own television shows and international reputations as superstars of gastronomy. Now, Calgary has its own chef-cum-celebrity: Michael Allemeier. The executive chef at Wrayton’s Fresh Market – a new 23,000 square foot indoor food emporium located at Northland Mall – he appears regularly on the internationally syndicated television show Cook Like a Chef.
During a recent interview at Wrayton’s, Allemeier says there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t get recognized in the store. The unlikely celebrity was asked by the executive producer of Cook Like a Chef, Chris Knight, to appear on the show last year after Allemeier appeared on another Knight-produced program, The Great Canadian Food Show.
"I guess he liked what I did," Allemeier says.
Cook Like a Chef is based out of a Toronto television studio, and Allemeier travelled there last year to tape 20 shows. He needed to be perky and telegenic for up to 12 hours a day, preparing everything from fresh game to pheasant while four cameras followed his every move.
"You wouldn’t believe how long six minutes can be," he says about the experience.
The six minutes Allemeier is referring to is the length of each segment before there is a break in the "live to videotape" process. The distinct sections are then packaged into a 30-minute long program. At first it was an unsettling experience for Allemeier, with cameras being poked into his face while he deboned a partridge or prepared a confit. On-air he appears to be relaxed, moving around the television studio with relative ease, but he admits he was feeling anything but calm.
"It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done," he says. "I feel nauseous every cooking show I do – it’s a degree of nervous tension."
Although preparing food in a television studio may be nerve-racking for Allemeier, cooking is something that’s almost second nature.
Born in Johannesburg and immigrating to Canada after a two-year stop-over with his family in Hong Kong, Allemeier has always had a passion for food.
"When I was 12 years old I baked a birthday cake for my mom," he says. "Cooking has always made sense."
In fact, it made so much sense that he started his culinary career at age 16, working part-time in the kitchen of the St. Boniface Golf Club in Winnipeg while still in high school. After graduating he joined the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg for his apprenticeship before moving on to be sous chef at Bishop’s restaurant in Vancouver, where he later became executive chef.
It was during that period that Allemeier was given the opportunity to cook for celebrities and international political figures. One memorable occasion featured a meal of Dungeness crab ravioli and fresh grilled salmon prepared for Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton, who were in Vancouver in 1993 for a summit (the so-called Vancouver Declaration).
"It was amazing being in the kitchen with the KGB, RCMP and the Secret Service," Allemeier says. "The sous chef from the White House was more of a security guy – he was the biggest human being I have ever seen in my life."
After leaving Vancouver and political intrigue behind, Allemeier was installed as the executive chef at Teatro, a favourite destination of Calgary’s own assortment of high profile foodies and out-of-town guests who seek its consistently fine cuisine, and remained there from 1998 until 2001.
"Jackie Chan used to come into Teatro all of the time when he was here filming Shanghai Noon," Allemeier says. "He would make a point of delivering the food to all of his people at the table."
Although Allemeier’s current position as the executive chef of Wrayton’s Fresh Market is arguably less glamorous than his previous positions at Bishop’s and Teatro, there are some advantages to being a chef who works days running a fresh food market rather than working nights and hobnobbing with movie stars and politicians.
"I can be home for supper," he says, chuckling.
Chef Michael Allemeier will be returning to the Cook Like a Chef studio for a week this spring to tape another 20 shows, which will appear next season on The Food Network. |
