By CAROLYN
ABRAHAM
Monday, March
11, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A1
A backroad Ontario purveyor of suckling
pig and home-grown squab has been ranked as one of the top 10
restaurants in the world.
Eigensinn Farm, the rustic eatery of
famed chef Michael Stadtlander, earned ninth place on a list of the
50 best dining establishments on the planet, according to a guide to
be released this week by the new British magazine Restaurant.
The nine-year-old Eigensinn, a revered,
but ramshackle Victorian farmhouse two hours northwest of Toronto,
seats no more than 16 people a night, serves six-course dinners
seasoned with herbs grown in its own garden, and game and livestock
raised on its own acreage.
"The reason we put it so high up is
that for something so far out of the way to be mentioned so often,
by so many people, we knew it must be something quite special," said
Restaurant magazine editor Chris Maillard.
The London-based publication slotted
Mr. Stadtlander's free-range venture in the company of culinary
giants Ferran Adria's El Bulli in Barcelona, ranked No. 1, and the
Gordon Ramsay restaurant in Chelsea, which took second place.
Mr. Stadtlander, who is currently
exploring the culinary culture of Japan with his Japanese-born wife,
Nobuyo, could not be reached yesterday for comment.
But the chef's 18-year-old son,
Christoph, an aspiring restaurateur himself, said his father would
be pleased: "I think he would feel success at being No. 9 in the
world; he would be proud."
Toronto restaurateur David Bowen,
proprietor of Monsoon and Brasserie Aix, said, "For a Canadian, for
a country with our small population, to get into a top 10 list for
restaurants of the world is pretty incredible."
Restaurant magazine based its list on
reports from a 100-member jury that included major newspaper food
critics, chefs, restaurateurs and bon viveurs, Mr. Maillard
said.
Mr. Stadtlander and his family of four
moved to remote Singhampton, Ont., near Collingwood, after 15 years
of crazy hours cooking in Toronto restaurants.
They named their farm Eigensinn,
meaning "single-mindedness" or "obstinacy," and "Here," Mr.
Stadtlander has said, "for the first time since I came to this
country, I feel like I am at home. Mostly, I cook what I raise and
what a few others raise."
Having grown up on a family farm in
Germany, Mr. Stadtlander has said that he has in a sense returned to
his roots, closing the gap between food on the plate and the farmers
and fishermen who produce it. "You can trace the chicken you're
served to the hen house over the road. Eigensinn makes great use of
their own fresh ingredients."
The magazine editor also noted that the
judges had been quite taken with Mr. Stadtlander's 1998 encounter
with the law.
The top chef was arrested after two
undercover police officers, posing as a married couple celebrating
their wedding anniversary, bought wine at the farm. The Stadtlanders,
who had believed they were providing the wine at cost (but
inadvertently made $1.50 profit per bottle), were charged with
selling wine without a licence. Police eventually dropped the
charges. |