Ciao! Feb/Mar 2019 CIAO_FebMar2019_Digital | Page 10

inthekitchen inthekitchen trust the chef Chef Randy Reynolds’ surprise menus excite the adventurous, and push cautious diners out of their culinary comfort zone. by Carly Peters Chef Randy Reynolds sets down a plate on which pink smoked salmon is neatly stacked as a square tart, just warm enough to be offset by a smear of cool, fresh sour cream, sprigs of dill, and cucumber. This amuse bouche is typical of the sort Randy would serve to prime the palate for what can be a three-hour dining experience at Beaujena’s French Table. In this case, though, it is a tasting with Ciao! He presents another dish, again without any descriptors. The vibrant stalks of asparagus, curls of yellow lemon zest, and orange fi sh roe which top the thick housemade pasta are instantly identifi able. As the noodles begin to unfurl off the fork, a new taste and texture emerges. Randy smiles as the guesses come. Some kind of fi sh? Octopus? “Close,” he says. It is sous vide calamari, a technique that he perfected after tasting the perfect octopus in Baja, Mexico. All of Randy’s culinary skills are self-taught. In fact, being a chef and restaurateur isn’t actually his full time job; he’s a fi nancial planner from 9 to 5, four days a week. But on Friday and Saturday nights, he is head chef at one of the city’s most unique culinary gems. For almost 10 years, this fervent chef has been dreaming up and executing French and Mediterranean inspired seven-course, prix fixe dinners as his passion project co-owned by and named after his wife. Tucked in a quiet St. Boniface neighbourhood, Beaujena’s 8 ciao! / feb/mar / two thousand nineteen