I remember when I first got into cooking. It was a part-time gig at the Bomb Shelter, back when the big Tim Horton’s on campus was called Ground Zero. That was 13 years ago, and a lot of weird stuff has happened since then, but the one constant has been cooking. Whether professionally, or for family and friends, I have always cooked. The first meal I ever cooked unsupervised was a meatloaf. I put pumpkin spice in it because I thought it sounded tasty. It was weird. I was about 10 years old.

My palate has improved since then, allow me to assure you of that. I suppose you don’t have to take my word for it. You could just come to the Boathouse and try the food. We were determined to create a menu that would be accessible, interesting and, of course, delicious. Even our meat entrées are vegetarian-friendly; in that, we were friendly to the vegetarian we turned into the entrée. Ah, cannibalism humour. Seriously though, there’s no long pork on my menu.

We have a chance to make something happen in Kitchener. We can give people back their extended living-room, upgraded with a new sofa, and a recliner, maybe a bigger TV, and one of those neat electric fireplaces that also heat the room. In other words: the same comfortable space, spiffed up a bit. I don’t plan on screwing this up. Hope to see you all enjoying the results of our hard work.

Tom Bryce-Hart, Chef