Foodies in Ottawa Mourn [General]
2009 Apr 19
He was a mench ( yiddish) for a good person. Helped me a lot when I first came to Canada. Both he and his wife raised a lot of money for the Humane Society of Ottawa. I had the pleasure of working with him as a volenteer at his annual fundraising party. I also mourn the loss of Jack Smith from Jack Smiths kosher catering who passed away on the eve of Passover, in a 2 week period we have lost 2 very respected men in the culinary world, may they both rest in peace.
2009 Apr 20
Cakelady - Jack's passing was sad too... I read about it in The Citizen, and having known the Smiths now for several years and having worked with them on various fundraisers, I can say "that is one H3LL of a family"... sad to see another go. Indeed Ottawa is a lot poorer for it... he's left behind some mighty "big" shoes to fill (pun intended).
Food&Think
For more info, see the article in today's Ottawa Citizen
www.ottawacitizen.com
and Ron Eade's Blog Omnivore's Ottawa
communities.canada.com
This is a huge loss for the Canadian Food Scene which he passionately promoted and our city.
I last saw Kurt at the Ottawa Food & Wine Show back in November, he was sitting at the other end of counter at Merlot's Food & Wine Pairing. He was joined by Johnny Leung of the British High Commission, the two of them were in great spirits and having a good time. While we were enjoying our meal, he joked with Executive Chef Steven Gugelmeier... the mood was light banter and very friendly. During the course of our hour sit-down, Ottawa Citizen writers Gay Cook and Rod Phillips, stopped by the say hi to the two chefs. It looked like it was a great day for Kurt, enjoying food & wine, surrounded by friends.
So sad... feels like just yesterday, can't believe he's gone.