by Mary Bailey
That’s right, 30 years, 180 issues.
First up is our love letter to the food community, Gamechangers. I interviewed over 50 people for this article—humble, hard working, taking nothing for granted. We are so lucky to have all these individuals creating beautiful food and opportunities for others in our city.
Brad Smoliak was a gamechanger. His food, his mentorship, his work with the University Hospital Foundation. We experienced first-hand his enormous capacity for friendship, his terrific food, his joie de vivre. Brad died August 11. How lucky we were to have known him. The November/December issue is a tribute to Brad, we will share memories and reminiscences and some of his most loved recipes.
We talked a lot about farms in the early days of The Tomato and we will do so again. What’s happening on our local farms and rural lands needs our attention more than ever. After all, to quote Wendell Berry, “eating is an agricultural act.” This issue launches a semi-regular column by Johanna Wasilyk on Chatsworth Farm.
Daniel Costa, another game changer, shares his favourite quick seafood pastas. Daniel’s recipe are our most searched recipes on the web site, for good reason.
We welcome Judy Schultz back with a column about her favourite subject—food.
Our Beer Guy, Peter Bailey (yes we are related, no, he is not my husband), shares his faves of 30 years of Alberta beer.
Wine Maven recommends two very different Italian wine producers and talks about a new Alberta Vodka.
We give thanks to our food and drink community: the culinary—from the grizzled, raspy-voiced, bad-backed veterans, to the fresh-faced newbies right out of culinary school, to the delightful front-of-house men and women who make going to restaurants worth leaving the comfort of home for—and let’s not forget those who toil in the dish-pit, probably the most critical position of all. The farmers and producers; purveyors, wine merchants, farmers’ markets, business owners; our wonderful writers, our contributors, our advertisers; and, especially, our readers. Without them, what would be the point?
Without them, we would not be a community.
This community grows more diverse, more confident, more personal and more interesting by the minute. Don’t let it pass you by—go to a new restaurant; don’t forget your old faves entirely, but try something new. Take a cooking class, especially to experience a cuisine you know nothing about. Go to an on-farm experience; a long-table dinner or a wine dinner; check where those potatoes are from. Participate in our unique food culture, you won’t regret it.
We have an amazing group at The Tomato, headed up by art director Jan Thalheimer, whose unparalleled design sense and dry sense of humour keeps us sane. Copy editor Daniela Zenari catches all the errors and typos and flow issues that could slip through. She also keeps us entertained with stories of her forays in stand-up comedy. Mary Lynne Meiklejohn is our crackerjack sales team of one. Webmeister Gunnar Blodgett keeps the web edition humming along as well as the BITE, our weekly e-newsletter. The print masters at Web Express are always on time, and S.A.R.G.E.’s distribution team gets it on the racks.
My first question to the Gamechangers was this: ‘what were you thinking when you decided to…’ My answer to that question is: I wanted to tell stories about the people who create community through food and drink.
Whether or not I succeeded is up to you, dear reader. Let me know.
