March 2013

John Gilchrist is a well-respected food and restaurant writer whose relationship with food and innate sense of what passes as good food emerged as a young child.

Those who have known him for years describe him as a man of integrity, fairness and honesty.

His approach to food is as practical as his appearance. He arrives for his interview at a local coffee shop comfortably dressed sporting khakis and running shoes.

Before being interviewed, he graciously refuses to be treated to a coffee and insists on buying his own.

John Gilchrist knows good food. “As I say, I’ve been eating all my life.”

He says his knowledge and expertise was largely shaped from experiencing the natural taste of food as a child and in turn developing a palate for pure flavours.

John grew up on a dairy farm in Wetaskiwin and was eating organic before organic was a word. His grandfather lived two miles away from the farm he was raised on and his uncle lived three miles the other way.

“If we didn’t grow it somebody else did.”

Leading up to his career as a food reviewer and writer, he pursued a career in theatre after graduating from the University of Calgary with a degree in drama and psychology.

He was the original manager of the Loose Moose Theatre, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary.

“I decided to work in theatre until I didn’t feel like working in theatre.”

He continued his career in the arts working at The Banff Centre, followed by The Glenbow Museum and Centre for the Performing Arts.

In 1980, his career as food reviewer and writer was born from the need to fill empty ad space at Interface, the former local arts-based magazine where he worked. Six months later, he received a call from CBC to review restaurants on the Eyeopener.

Since then, Calgarians have been listening to John talk about food for over 32 years.

He is considered a food professional and offers a vast knowledge of food and an objective approach when writing or giving a review.

As a food reviewer, John looks for the story of what the restaurant is trying to do.

Looking at it any other way would be “like going into a Chinese restaurant and complaining that they don’t have a grilled cheese sandwich.”

The glamorous part of life as a food reviewer entails invites to prestigious food events with top chefs from around the world and being on the judging panel for the Canadian Culinary Championships.

But John says there is hard work involved in doing the job right, and in some respects it looks more glamorous than it is. The solitary effort of sitting down at the computer and “banging out” articles isn’t necessarily his favourite part.

He considers it a great compliment when people mention that when they hear him on the radio they stay in the car and listen if they arrive at work early.

People often ask John about his favourite food. Although he maintains he doesn’t have one, some of his favourite cuisines are Cajun and New Mexican for the layers of flavours and work that goes into it.

“I would say if I only had one cuisine to live on for the rest of my life, I would choose Thai.”

He and his wife eat very simply at home because John eats a lot of diverse cuisine during the week. They buy market-fresh seasonal food, and John really enjoys experimenting with his new BBQ.

He says there is always room for a grilled cheese sandwich “as long as it’s good cheese.”

“It’s been a good life and I can’t complain.

“Like I say, it doesn’t pay all that well, but I get fed pretty good.”

Richard White, a longtime friend, says John is just as comfortable at a restaurant that is off the beaten path as a “high-class uppity” one.

“He’s not an urban kid who thought it would be cool and trendy to be a food writer.

“He’s a farm boy.

“He comes by it honestly.”

It’s fascinating to go out for dinner with him. His breadth of knowledge is impressive and he doesn’t take a single note, Richard reveals.

Richard and John along with their spouses have a monthly Sunday dinner “date night” at Brava Bistro, where they have their regular table waiting for them.

While some people shy away from inviting a food reviewer over for dinner, Richard says John and his wife are “just regular friends,” and they often go over to each other’s houses for dinner.

John is a good cook. He generally keeps it simple and lets the food speak for itself.

Catherine Caldwell, John’s wife of 29 years, fondly recalls one of their first dates.

They went to a Chinese restaurant on 17th Ave; a restaurant he was reviewing at the time. She remembers the delicious meal of cashew chicken and dumplings they shared.

It doesn’t sound fancy, but this was a time when cashew chicken wasn’t a mainstream dish, she explains.

“He gave me the leftovers, and I ate them all before I went to bed,” she laughs.

The benefit of being married to someone who reviews food for a living is the very same thing that can be considered the downside — the fact that they get to eat out a lot.

One of the highlights is getting to meet a lot of great people in the food and beverage industry, especially the mom and pop operations and the hard work of the family run restaurants.

The biggest downside is that people are often too intimidated to extend them an invitation to come over for dinner.

“We tell them we like Kraft dinner.

“We like hot dogs.

“We like everything.”

Catherine expresses that “food is a way of socializing and bonding with people and creating relationships.

“It is the sitting down and breaking bread with people that is most important to us.

“Food is only one part of that.”

One of John’s specialties is pie, after winning a cook-off against Pierre Lamielle.

Catherine shares a story of when she returned from a hike to find John wearing an apron and the kitchen resembling a crime scene.

It was the first time he made a cherry pie with fresh hand-pitted cherries.

“It was like a scene from CSI.”

Paul Rogalski, co-owner and chef of Rouge and the new Bistro Rouge, says he greatly respects John and his profession.

It is really cool that Calgary is so well respected for its food scene, and John has had a lot to do with that, he explains.

Paul says if he was ever to receive a less than favourable review, he would have to “take it off the chin.” John is very fair and “I know it would be the truth.”

“Food is his life.

“Food is his passion.

“He is 100 per cent business.”

Paul says that John makes an effort to research the restaurants he reviews in advance.

“He likes people for people.

“He likes to get to know more than just what’s on the plate.”