Branden "Newest guy but not quite new anymore" Olson

Sometimes, You just gotta let loose.... Branden has recently fallin head over heels for the song "blind" by Hercules and love affair. He has also been working 7 days a week for a month now (his choice) and sometimes one must take a break from making salamu and really let loose, drop all inhibitions and act a fool.

People, this is BRANDEN OLSON!

Enjoy!

And please crank the volume!

(ps.. i told you i would post it!)

Kitchen staff #3

This is Mike "agnolotti" Angeloni. He's probably the best looking of the kitchen bunch with his italian boyish looks and he's also the hoofs baker, pastry chef and pasta maker. He's spent the last few years at Splendido working under David Lee and although he's only in his early 20's, he is sure to make an impact on toronto's food scene one day soon. Like most italians, his food approach is to keep it simple and traditional. He has a tendency to sleep through his alarm clock and show up several minutes late in a cab outside the hoof cafe.

This is Guy "GingerHead" Rawlings. Guy just returned from Beijing where he spent the last 4 months discovering the food and culture and most recently was heading up the kitchen at Delux, before that he was the Chef de Cuisine at Cowbell, and has also spent time cooking in the UK. Guy is the craziest of the bunch and is generally always "outside the box" rather then within. He is currently seeking someone to fund his own restaurant but for now is cooking some badass brunch.

Kitchen staff #2

So this is Colin "C-Dub" Tooke, i dont even know what a Dub is but thats what we call him. He's my main man at the hoof. He takes care of everything if im not there and i know i can trust any part of my restaurant with him. He also just bought a loft right beside me, infact his bedroom wall is mine.... weird i know... but sometimes he'll walk my dog when im too tired... so i guess if works out for the best.

Anyways, hes hard as shit. Although he used to work at a restaurant called "Four" and apparently it didn't serve food over 650 calories (what the F$%@ is up with that?) Anyways, big change to the hoof, but he's got a natural talent with food and i guarantee you will see his picture in the paper one day soon. He's also single, and although he still dresses like a gangster he deserves a nice girl.

This is Thoshon, you may remember him. He was our stage for several months a while back. You know, the crazy guy who used to drive in from Niagara on the Lake? Anyways, i offered him a job a little while ago and he basically picked up his belongings and moved to T.O.

He replaced G-mo, our peruvian sous chef who is now in Peru discovering his cultures food to hopefully bring back some to Toronto.

But anyways, whats up with this picture thoshon?

Did you used to pose in Bay catalogues as a child? That dreamy smile just seems too rehearsed.

Anyways, This guys hard as shit too. He's pretty quite and way too polite. Infact it kind of freaks me out sometimes, but this guy can cook. From day one, he was killing it on the electric stove. I have never seen someone put such love into each piece of pork belly, suckling pig, or foie gras in the middle of the shits as this guy does. He never loses his cool and is completely focused. But for real, we need to get a new picture.....shits freakin me out.

Kitchen Staff part 1

The thing that makes the hoof so special is its staff. I often look at the crew at both restaurants and think to myself, where else can you find such a wide range of talented cooks in one place who just dont cook food, but live food. You can find anyone of our cooks, on there day off cooking in one of the hoof's kitchen, not because they were told to, not because they have too, (and definately not because they're getting paid) but because they want to. They are so important to the success of both hoofs that without them it might not be possible.

If you dont know who he is already, this is Geoff Hopgood , our head chef at the Hoof Cafe. He is the one responsible for starting your day off in the morning with a smile and a full (perhaps very full) stomach. Geoff and i met a few years back when i worked at Lucien. You see, Geoff is not only a cook but a forager as well. He came into lucien one day selling ramps. I am glad that i am paying 1/2 the price for ramps now that he works with us. If there is one person i would choose to be lost in the wilderness with, it would be Geoff. He even finds edible things in the back patio area of the hoof. He is originally from the east coast but spent a good time cooking in BC at C restaurant as well as Fuel. But his cooking really reflects the south and he generally thinks everything tastes better with a bit of his special bbq spice.

This is Brendon Olson....Brendons new.... i dont know much about him yet, so i cant go into much detail but i can tell you he has worked most recently with Thomas Keller at TFL, Bouchon , and most recently a year and a 1/2 at Adhoc. Working in the keller kitchens, his work ethic and skill level is as sharp as my knifes used to be back in the day when i had time to sharpen them. He is the newest addition to the team and brings new knowledge to our already primo team.

More cooks to come.