The DiLauro Dossiers

Last week saw Part I of my interview with Ottawa’s Randy Little. This week, the final installment of our chat, conducted at the quaint and comfortable Bohemian Kitchen, turns to Facebook, money, cars and guitars.

I think I’ve got the title for this piece… Facebook is a Blackberry… I love that!
But, no disrespect of course.

Oh no, no…
But you know, Facebook’s not as smooth… I’m always going, “Hmm, why is it doing that?” And I’ve never owned a BlackBerry, because when I pick one up, it’s the same thing… I it up and think, “Oh it doesn’t do what I want it to do.”

I think we’d better steer the conversation back to your profession and ultimately to money… And the question is this, what would you say is the biggest issue—or maybe misconception is a better word—that people have about money?
I don’t know if I’d call it a misconception… maybe a perception, or a reaction, and it’s that too many people want to be like an ostrich…

How so?
Too many people don’t want to pay attention to their planning. I think that could be a big problem… And a lot of people fear the decisions they’ve already made, or maybe they feel guilty about some of them. Or because they don’t understand the decisions they could be making, they’re afraid to even look at planning.

So do you think then that a lot of that inattentiveness, that passivity, is based on fear?
Yeah, and it’s fear based on a lack of knowledge.

Right.
And I’m a strong believer in… the more you know, the better you’ll do. And too many people just don’t know enough, and it makes them uncomfortable and they can’t make decisions.

If there’s one thing—and just one thing—that you’d like people to do, what would it be?
I wish they’d build a habit.

A habit of what?
Planning… at whatever level, whether young or not, I think people should find a dollar amount they can earmark for planning and that they’re willing to commit to… You know, just build a habit.

Are you, in a way, referring to the ideas espoused in the Wealthy Barber, or even back further than that… I don’t know if you read the book the Richest Man In….
…In Babylon, yeah I have.

Well both those books tell us to take 10% of our earnings and to salt it away…
Yeah, that’s right ….

Does that fit into what you’d consider planning?
Yeah, principally that’s right. And that is a habit, but of course, it also comes down to each individual’s goals… so if you’re a modest individual and you have modest expectations then your habit will, of course, be a modest one.

Right…
But if you’re someone with big expectations, then your habit needs to be more aggressive. But all of those principles still come down to it starting with a habit, you can express it in different ways, but essentially that’s exactly what it is, developing a habit.

Nice, nice… (changing gears again),,, So listen, I know you’re a guitarist…
Sort of… I have a guitar—I brought the guitar!

You brought it?          
Yes, I went home and I have it. I’m not playing it.

Oh come on… You brought it, really?
Yeah, yeah.

OK cool… Now am I right that you’re sort of a buyer and seller of guitars?
Out of necessity.

Out of necessity?
Well I know that you play, and I know you don’t have this problem, being you’re not left-handed. But if were to go into any local guitar shop—they only stock low-end left-handed guitars. So to pick up anything that you’re actually going to like and get excited about, you just can’t do it.

Oh, I see
But to get around that problem I bought a guitar on eBay, then I bought another one. I played both of them for a bit, chose the one I liked best and sold the other one.  Then I bought another one… Played both of them for a bit, chose the one I liked best, sold the other one, bought another one…. So I think I’m on guitar… oh maybe, number eight.

So what have you got now?
This particular one… while I did all that buying and selling, I was researching woods, construction and all those things, and I picked this guitar cause it seemed to fit what I wanted, and I finally found it in a leftie.

So what kind of guitar is it? (Maybe we should explain to any readers out there that guitarists love talking about guitars).
This one’s a Breedlove.

Oh, I don’t know those guitars very well…
Do you know Taylor guitars?

Yeah, I had a couple of those…
Well, Larry Breedlove is one of their designers, and Kim Breedlove, who builds the one I own, is, I believe, his brother.

Right… So how long have you been playing?
About seven years.

Aw, and here you are telling me ’I’m not a real guitarist’?
Yeah I’ve playing that long, but I’m self-taught. So, that’s seven years of sitting on the floor with a laptop and a guitar and just figuring out how to play chords…

That’s a bit of work…
I’m a good guy to play with, if the other player’s a real guitarist… You know, I’m great at playing behind someone,

You don’t like to solo?
I can’t solo (laughs)… That’s why I’m not a real guitarist.

Aw no, don’t sell yourself short…
I can do all the rhythm stuff—put a song together. And besides I’m a drummer by trade.

Yeah, yeah, I saw that on Twitter… So what kind of stuff do you play?
Almost anything…. But I guess I’m a folk-acoustic-rock fan… Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson. It was actually Jack Johnson that made me decide to buy a guitar.

OK… So let’s put the music and your profession together.  What I’d like you to do is complete this sentence…  “If I had a million dollars.”
I’d be rich? Hey! I can write a song about that… oh, wait…

Hmm, too late! Well, a remake maybe?
No, maybe not… So, if I had a million dollars?  Let’s see, I have some close friends I’d want to help out.

OK, nice start!
I’d travel with my family…. Um, buy a nice car? (I have a feeling you’ll be interested in that).

Who me? So we’re both car guys and guitar guys…
Hey, you know what else I’d do?

No tell me.
I’d buy a ridiculously unreasonably expensive guitar…

Do you have one picked out already?
Actually Taylor has a second line

You mean R. Taylor?
Yes, R. Taylor, and Lauzon Music right here in Ottawa has the guitar I’d want.

Now it wasn’t a lefty, was it?
No it wasn’t, but I’d call Taylor and say, ‘Make me one of those.’ Can I tell you what blew me away about Lauzon Music?

Sure, go ahead…
I’ll tell you exactly what it is. It’s what differentiates that store… When I walked into Lauzon for the first time—and I know the quality of guitars that were hanging on the wall—I’m thinking, “ OK, I’ll stand ten feet away, I’ll take my jacket off, I won’t breathe.”

Oh I know what you mean, those expensive instruments can be intimidating…
But the sales guy came up, and he saw me looking at this $10,000 guitar, and he’s like ‘Grab it.”  And I said, ‘I don’t think you get who I am here…’

Oh, that’s hilarious…
But he took it down, and he handed me a $10,000 guitar and said, ‘Just play on it.’ That blew me away that they were wiling to do that, and I think they deserve all the credit in the world.”

Great customer service, isn’t it? And it reinforces how someone who offers incredible customer service recognizes it in others…
Now in addition to guitars, (and you said I’d probably bring it up), I know you’re a car guy…
Well I like cars, but I’m not a petrol-head, where I’m going to tell you the compression and the hard numbers of every car. But I appreciate design and technology, and I’m very opinionated on cars. But I drive a minivan right now. So though I don’t own a high-end car, I certainly study them, and form my own opinions about them, and I’m more than happy to discuss them.

OK, so what to you makes an ideal daily-driver—money no object?
I did think about this, and it’s a very tough question… But, if I were to buy a car, today, cost no object, I’d probably buy a Nissan GT-R.

That’s not exactly a family car….
Oh, I think you can throw a couple of kids back there. Now if we were to throw practicality and price out the window… I saw a Carrera GT parked outside Brookstreet last week, now that’s always been my favourite car….

So how about both cars in the driveway, does that work for you?
Well then I’d have to get a different house, change neighbourhoods… No, we’re pushing it.

Too many complications uh?
Right, right.

Alright, let’s forget about that… Hey, we’re almost done… So, what I’d like do is ask you a few very short questions, and you can only give me a one-word answer
Oh that might be hard… I’m a talker.

Well you’re not allowed more than one answer. Sorry.
Oh, alright…

OK, first one (and I’m pretty sure I know the answer) four wheels or two wheels?
At the end of the day… Hmm. At the end of the day—Four.

American or import?
Import.

V8 or turbo four?
Turbo four…

Oh really? That’s interesting…
Oh yeah, turbo four…

Canucks… Stanley Cup; Yes or No? (Note to reader… remember that this interview was conducted in May)
No… As much as I like them, I don’t think they’re playing well enough.

Acoustic or electric?
Acoustic.

Six or twelve strings?
Six.

Beer or wine?
Oh that’s tough…

You can only pick one….
OK then. Wine.

Red or white?
Red.

Back yard BBQ or fancy restaurant?
BBQ.

And that, dear reader, just about wraps things up.

Before we go, though, and even if he said he wouldn’t, it turned out that Randy didn’t need much convincing to play a little something on his guitar. Come to think of it, it didn’t take any convincing at all; guitarists can’t keep their hands off of guitars!

So have a listen and tell me what you think. Pretty good playing, eh?

 

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It was March when I first mentioned that I enjoy chatting with self-employed people. Whether they’re business owners, whether they’re professionals, whether they’re truck drivers or software engineers–it doesn’t matter. If they’re self-employed, and if they’re not, as I explained in that March piece, stuffed full of self-importance, then our discussions are always enjoyable. They’re always lively, they’re always entertaining.
And so, following my March meeting with Paola St-Georges of C’est Bon Cooking, I knew right away who I’d interview next. His name is Randy Little. He’s a financial planner I met on Twitter. And so, last May, Randy and I had a sit-down at the Bohemian Kitchen, out in Bells Corners, and we dished. We talked of business, of Social Media and of… well you’ll see.

 

Early in our meeting, I asked Randy to describe his work and to explain what made him decide to go solo. In his reply, he used a phrase that intrigued me. He said, “I cut ties with the corporation.”  I, right away, needed to hear more about that, so I asked him to elaborate. Here, in his own words, is his explanation.

So tell me, what do you like about what you do? You already mentioned independence and calling your own shots…
Yeah, but that’s more along the structure of what I do…

Oh, OK.
But the reasons I’m doing what I do…. Well, I have a genuine care for people. I also feel that the part of the population that isn’t wealthy doesn’t get much attention from our industry. And so one of my areas of focus is to help the folks who are just starting out, or those who have done a measure of planning but yet, don’t really understand the decisions they’re making.

Right, right,
So I really want to help that segment of the population. I want to help them understand the thought process behind the decisions they need to make, or that they have been making. They may be on the right track but they still don’t fully get it. And those are the people I want to spend time with.

What about aggravations, either about the line of work you’re in, or about being self-employed, being on your own.
I’m aggravated by what our industry has done to date…

Oh! That’s interesting…
Let’s face it this is a sales industry, right? So we’ve got an industry that’s been very pushy in the past. You know, through telemarketing, or the door knocking that’s been going on…  And the approach has been less of a ‘by the way, I exist, let me help you if I can’, and more of ‘you need to buy, and here are the reasons you need to buy.’
So there’s been a lot of pressure and for those of us who genuinely want to help, when we approach someone new, there’s often a wall there. And we have to get around it. And that aggravates me…

Yeah, I can see how that can be unsettling…
Because I’m not the type of guy that you need to put a wall in front of. I’m pretty laid back. I’m not pushy. So, yeah, that aggravates me about the industry and about the perception that’s being created.
Otherwise on the self-employed side, that fear is still there. You wake up and you wonder, “where’s my next source of income going to come from.” And if you don’t do anything, the revenue doesn’t come, so that fear, that stress stays with you until you’re well established. But you know, in spite of all that, it’s still fun.

Now that’s one of the things I’ve learned about you, and I think it’s rather unique… What I mean is that you make it a point to actually go and physically meet people who follow you on Twitter…
Yeah I do…

And that’s so different… You know there’s this guy I follow on Twitter, he’s from New York City, and one day someone tweeted something about meeting him and he replied, “You mean we actually have to meet?” So you know to him, Twitter replaced that physical element. But here you are, the exact opposite of that.
I think it’s hard to build any sort of relationship if you keep it strictly digital. I use the expression that you want to see the whites of the eyes, and I think it’s fair that people should know who the “real person” is. When you meet someone you get to see if they’re one way behind a computer and another way in real life. And, besides, it’s fun meeting people.

Yeah sure, I can see that…
But there’s something else.

Oh yeah?
My followers on Twitter are, for the most part, all from the Ottawa area.

Really?
Yeah. With very few exceptions, only people from Ottawa follow me and I don’t follow anyone, with few exceptions, outside of Ottawa.

So for you it’s all about meeting all those tweeps?
Yeah, it is.

Well that’s a rather unique way to use Twitter… For most people, it’s, you know, wherever in the world you happen to be… great… let’s follow each other…
Well that might morph over time. But right now I’ve got 1364 followers…

And most of them in Ottawa?
Probably 1300 in Ottawa.

I find that incredible.
Yeah, and today I met my 392^nd person …

Ha ha, don’t tell me your goal is to go out and meet all of those 1300 followers?
Well, my goal is to be regular… I threw it out on Twitter about 3 months ago, I said, ‘By the end of 2011 how many people do you all think I should meet?

Yeah, I saw that tweet…
The common answer was 500 people. So I’ve still got about 110 to go for the rest of the year…

That’s cool. That’s really cool.. Which reminds me of something else… uh, it’s not about Twitter, but it is about Social Media… Now I know you’re on LinkedIn
Yeah?

And when I saw your profile on LinkedIn I noticed it was short and to the point. I loved it in fact… Your profile simply reads, “I help people.”
Right.

So the first thing is that most of us have these long elaborate profiles that include everything we’ve done under the sun. And yours is so short, so sweet. And my question is, what does that mean, “I help people”?
Again I think it’s my way of meeting people, it’s about that initial interaction… I don’t want it to be a pitch. In sales we’re told to have our elevator pitch ready. In my opinion, until I meet someone, I doubt we’ll be doing business anyway, so if they’re meeting me in a digital format, I want my message to be simple.

Right, OK
And really that’s what I do. I help people. And I’ve actually received messages through LinkedIn where people asked me, like you, what does that mean?

OK… But there’s also another element, isn’t there? It seems to me that you go out and help people in many other ways, ways that are not business related. I mean you make connections, you offer to help others… Wasn’t there someone with a dead battery and you offered to go over with booster cables?
Well, I’m from small-town Northern Ontario, and back in those small towns, you had the guy who owned the corner store. Everybody did business with that person—everyone wanted to know the guy who owned that store. And that guy usually did a lot more for the community than just run the store. And that’s how it is in small towns… people just help each other out. And when we get to the cities… people sometimes lose some of that.

I can’t argue there…
And I think those are the two biggest things that helped me be successful on Social Media—getting out and meeting people face to face, and just be willing to help out where I can.

Next week: Part II of our interview, where Randy shares his views on Facebook, money and music. Next week’s interview also features a very special musical surprise!

 

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A short post. A redirection. Literally and figuratively.

Last week, I was the interviewer.
This week, the table’s turned.
Visit this link to read Jessica Subject’s site and her interview of yours truly.

And please leave a comment on Jessica’s website. She’s a super writer doing a super job supporting other writers. And I’m sure she’d appreciate a word (or two) of encouragement. Plus, she’s got a lot of goodies to give away too. And who doesn’t like a freebie, right?

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Last week, I posted a a youtube video that introduced Paola St-Georges of C’est Bon Cooking.
This week’s post reveals Part II–the part with, uh, (and pardon the pun) all the meaty morsels–of that interview.

One thing you will, no doubt, notice is this week’s interview is in text format. No video to be found.
How come?
Well, many reasons.
And here, in increasing relevance, are just three.
1) It would have made for a long video
2) I’m a better writer than a videographer.
3) And the last thing is, um, well you see… It’s just that… uh… the damn batteries on my Flip died. (Whereupon, one learns an important lesson in the art of video production… Bring spare batteries for the camera! Stupid).

But enough of that, right?
Right.
Now, where were we?
Oh yeah…
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Paola St-Georges!

Can you describe C’est Bon Cooking?
C’est Bon Cooking provides three services: Food Tours; Cooking classes; Team Building.

I took one of your tours last year, can we talk about that first?
Sure.

Well, on that tour I couldn’t help getting caught up in your enthusiasm, in your obvious love of the Byward Market. I mean, you’re really in your element.
Thank you!

What do you like about bringing clients on food tours?
I love seeing the wheels turning.

The wheels turning?
Yes, I love watching my clients fall in love with the area we’re touring. I love that moment when “I lose them”.

OK, you’ll have to explain that bit about losing them.
What I mean is I can see them drifting away, realizing that maybe they’re seeing a neighbourhood––the Byward Market, say––for the first time. In the Market, that experience especially happens in the little courtyards that we visit.

Nice. What else, do you think, your clients experience on your tours?
I think these tours ignite their excitement about food. The tours offer an opportunity to go out and discover something new. And I enjoy watching people begin to feel at home in the Market. And, for a little while, during out tour, it’s like all the cares of the world disappear..

So, is that what it’s about? Is it all about “the moment”? That point where, as you described it, you “lose them”?. Is that when you know you delivered a successful tour?
Well it is that, but there’s also the feeling that I’m taking people on a tour of my home. You know? Beechwood Ave, the Market, those are areas I grew up in.

You grew up in Ottawa?
Yes I did.

Ah. OK, let me ask you this… Is there a misconception of Ottawa, a stereotype that people still carry?
Ottawa has a reputation of being a beige old government town. It’s well earned.

Well earned?
It was well earned.

So Ottawa was a beige old government town?
Yes, absolutely.

But no longer?
No longer, no.

Why not?
Certainly not in terms of the food scene, I’ll tell you.

Can you explain?
When I was growing up, if you wanted a special meal, you booked at The Canadian Grill, which was the dining room at the Chateau Laurier, or Le Café at the NAC. In other words, you went to the “institutional places.” It’s true there were some stand-alone restaurants… Henry Burger, Chez Jean Pierre, Clair de Lune…

All on the other side of the river?
No, Clair de Lune was on this side, in the market…

Oh, my mistake.
But definitely, L’Orée du Bois, Les Fougères… They were around then too, so yeah, it was, often, on the other side…. Now, it’s 180 degrees. We have so many stand-alone restaurants that are absolutely incredible. And now, people are forgetting The Chateau Laurier and Le Café and the more institutional places.

So, a more vibrant food scene?
Yes, and it’s being noticed. That “beige Ottawa” story comes from a piece in La Presse that appeared last summer. It said, “Gone are the days of beige old Ottawa.”

Oh, really? La Presse said that?
Oh yes.

Well, that’s an achievement.
Yes, and then, we’ve had food bloggers, journalists, coming in from Toronto… And of course there was that famous article in The Washington Post that referred to “Cool Ottawa.”

Yes, yes, right.
And then we reacted so “uncool”. (Laughs)

What? We only had it for one day?
We were cool for a day, and then every local media outlet started calling the poor journalist, asking, “We’re cool? Really?”

You like us? You really like us?
Exactly.

So what triggered this food revolution? This elaborate transformation? Can you put your finger on it?
There were a lot of factors that contributed…

Such as?
Well, Le Cordon Bleu arrived in Ottawa in the late 80s; early 90s. And that started things, because, initially, students were coming here, getting their training, and then they were leaving. Now they’re getting their training, working in local restaurants, but they’re staying and opening their own places. So we’ve got a whole generation of sous-chefs, right now, or chefs de cuisine, that are working under our well-known Ottawa chefs and eventually they’ll have their own places too. So Cordon Bleu was definitely a factor.

Right, OK.
Then there’s Domus Café. John Taylor took over Domus in 1995, and it was funny, because he came around with these crazy ideas…. Changing his menu every six weeks. And it was off-putting for some people. You know? They expected to go the restaurant with the big book, expecting their favourite dish; knowing that every time they went to that restaurant they could have that dish.
So it was a little off-putting, But now we don’t even think about it. If you’re not changing your menu at least seasonally… Well, what are you doing. Right? So that was another factor.
And I know some of the purists will raise their eyebrows if I mention this, but I will mention it––The Lone Star (Laughs).

The Lone Star?
Oh yes. They arrived on the scene, again in the late 80s, early 90s, and they brought in entirely new ideas in terms of food… Fajitas, which we never heard of… This Tex-Mex grill thing… Salsa made with fresh tomatoes… Home-made tortilla chips… you know… this idea of grilling meat over mesquite to get a different flavour.

Mmmm
The line-ups, at the original Lone Star….. people waited for hours. I waited for hours… And it was an entirely different kind of cuisine. It was more like a family restaurant. It wasn’t your fine dining, but they were part of this awakening that happened in Ottawa that made us say, “Hey, wait a minute…” You know? “We don’t have to settle for… um, soup that comes in a can.” …And they just throw a couple of things in it… not that everyone did that… but you know.. So there’s another factor…

Right. OK, here’s another question (and I’m going in a completely different direction)…
OK…

C’est Bon Cooking’s a fun business. But It’s still a business, a company. At some point businesses are about planning, about the bottom line… about finances. So the question is, how big an influence does cash-flow, the dollars and cents––all that stuff––how big an influence does all that have in the way you make decisions, your plans about…. New tours, growing your business...
It is important. And when I got into C’est Bon Cooking I lined up with a lady who I knew to be an excellent businesswoman.

Ah, OK.
You know, we’re not doing volunteer work. We’re working very hard to build a business that will be very successful. So it’s very much about the experience, on the one hand, because the services we offer are about the experience.

Right.
But business won’t continue when you’re losing a pile of money.

(Laughing) I have a client, and years ago one of his favourite lines was, “ We’re here to have fun and make money, and we’re half-way there.”
Cute!

Guess which half he was talking about.
But that’s the other thing I find amazing about Andrée, in that she’s very much an entrepreneur. So what she brings to the table in terms of experience––as I mentioned––I had never started a business before. I had a lot of energy, a lot of passion…

How scary was it for you?
Very!

Yeah?
Oh yeah, very scary.

In what ways? Do you remember?
For one… Where do we start?

What do you mean?
Well, Andrée and I work differently. Andrée gets an idea and she’ll sit down and get everything on paper, with flowcharts, and the spreadsheets.

Really?
Oh, but she hates doing a business plan… As much as I do. But she’ll get it done.

People hate doing business plans? Really? I had no idea!
(Laughing) I, on the other hand, when it came time to organize the food tours… It was all in my head. I’m more tactile, more experiential, maybe. So I’m working on the tour, and I’m getting the feel of it, and I’m thinking, “OK, this stop was one too many…” Or, “OK, I’ll change the route to go this way.” And then by the end of the summer, I’ll feel the need to write it down. But when I write it down, the work’s all done…. So, you know, the business plans, the market research… uh…

Not your most fun thing?
No, not really, no.

If we could narrow down your role, and you had to choose between marketing, operations, finance… If we narrowed it down to just those three, what would yours be?
Well, I…

And, sorry, but you’re not allowed to say “Food Tours”
I do a lot of the logistics… For me it’s being in contact with people… Meeting people… In effect when I’m conducting my food tours I’m marketing much more than C’est Bon Cooking. I’m marketing the Byward Market. I’m marketing the businesses there… It’s very much a partnership…

Oh, I like that…
Well, that whole process… It really brought the two together… The logistics, the relationship building.. I’m meeting the business owners, getting their buy-in. That whole side of things is a lot of fun.

Yeah, I can see that…
Did I manage to not answer the question?

(Laughing) Well, you may have avoided it. I’ll have to look… see if it’s in there somewhere…
(Serious now) For me, it’s all about the people…

OK, well… No, that’s great… Let’s move on….
OK.

So, what’s next for C’est Bon Cooking?
Well, um, Andrée’s got to move into her new house..

Not exactly what I had in mind…
(Pensive).. You know, it’s almost daunting, because there is so much.. As I was saying earlier, with food there’s just no limit… So now we’re starting to get requests, “Oh we want you take us to Montreal.” (Animated) OK! I won’t say no, right? But each new tour requires work, there’s planning, logistics, and all that stuff…

Right…
For sure we’re going to continue the public cooking classes at CA Paradis…. We’re going to do so much more-––we had so much fun with that class we just did at Nicastro––it was such a success, and we’re doing more of those… The second season of food tours is starting in May, and one of our objectives is to line up with the Tulip Festival…..

Oh that’s cool.
And through the summer we plan on not only offering the Byward Market tour, but to offer regular tour of the other neighbourhoods as well, and expand all that.
There’s another trip to France, in the spring. and hopefully another in the Fall.

Yikes! lots on the go…
Then there’s a farm tour. We want to do a farm tour. And then there’s my good friends at Savour Ottawa. I want to do a special Savour Ottawa tour…

Yeah? That sounds great…
There’s so much… We’re thinking of doing a restaurant tasting tour.. Right? Go to four or five different places in one evening… Which, again, would be a special event.

You certainly have a lot plans, a lot of ideas…
It’s food! There’s no limit! But that’s it, at some point we kind of have to slow down…. Oh! Which reminds me, in terms of business… one of the things we did… I went and bought one of those desk-top calendars––you know, like a blotter, with those sheets?

Right?
Well, we threw them all up on the wall.. I mean it’s great, we’ve all got Outlook or iCal, but in terms of planning six months ahead…..

Oh, I get it… The big picture.
Yeah, we just did that in the last few weeks.. We both came back in January saying, “OK we don’t want to lose track of leads, because there is so much happening.” So now we have it all up on a calendar on the wall… It’s so much easier now to see what’s coming. So, we’re preparing our official schedule and our plan.

OK, great stuff…. I’d like to change the topic a bit..
Uh oh

(Laughing) If you’re going out for dinner, or maybe you’re staying in, and you’re having a really nice meal
Yeah?

What kind of music’s playing?
(Pensive) Wow…. Oh my. it could be a million and one things.

Really? so there is no, for you, ideal dining music?
It could be anything… It could be opera… Or it could be rock.

Because, for you, the food is the experience?
Well, it’s also the whole ambience. It is the whole experience, but the food is the central thing…. It’s rare that I’ll find that music is taking away from the experience… But there is one exception. (Laughs)

Ah, we’re getting there…
Well, I just remembered.

OK….
We’re sailing in the Caribbean, and we’re on this little island called Bequia––it’s in St Vincent, in the Grenadines––and we’re eating at the Fig Tree restaurant, it’s right on the water, and they’re playing this God-awful… Muzak!

(Laughing) Ah, so it’s safe to say that muzak detracts from the experience?
Oh yeah.

Well, I guess everyone hates muzak…
That’s not true.

No you’re right, not everybody….
So imagine, I’m sitting there in the Caribbean, with the palm trees, and the water, and I’m looking out onto this bay and they’re playing this music… And I wanted to die.
So we went up to the owner and I said, “Can’t we have something more, like, Calypso? Something a bit more…. Island-y? I know, I’m a tourist..

Oh I like that, “I know I’m a tourist..”
And you know what? The owner was offended because… “It was dinner music.”

He wasn’t a music lover, obviously.
Oh clearly! But for me, he played some Calypso. And I felt much better afterwards.

Nice. I like that…. OK, I guess we should wrap it up.. I’ve got a few questions, but I just want a one-word answer.
OK, shoot.

The first one is… Wine or beer?
Wine

Red or white?
(Clearly unhappy) Hmm, but that goes…

You can only pick one.
OK, red.

New York or Paris?
Oh….. Paris (pronounced the French way… Paree).

Mais oui, Paris…… Steak or chicken?
Steak.

Coffee or tea?
(Laughing) Coffee, she says, while sitting in The Tea Store…. Though this tea is very good!

(Laughing along)…. Just for the record of course… OK, next one…. Breakfast, lunch or dinner?
Hmm…  That’s a tough one, I like all three, It’s food, come on!

Sorry, just one.
OK, lunch then.

Lunch? Really? That’s interesting..
There are some amazing lunch menus….

Fish or fowl?
Fish.

And last one, Rock n’ Roll or Folk?
Oh… (almost pained)… Rock!

OK, that’s it! We’re done.
Now, what does all that mean?

I have no idea, but it was fun.

I hope this interview gave you sufficient insight, not only into what C’est Bon Cooking‘s all about, but also into the inherent enthusiasm and energy that defines Paola St-Georges.

But you know what? You best best is to discover all that for yourself.  If you live in Ottawa, or the next time you visit, take a food tour, attend a cooking class or, maybe, schedule a team-building event.

Trust me. You’ll love it.

 

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