Today`s post was delayed by awesomeness.

A few weeks ago I shared the news that a sustainable fish store was coming to Leslieville (near our home) in Toronto on our Facebook page.  I was – and am – very excited for the arrival of Hooked.

Toronto is an amazing city with ingredients from all corners of the Earth.  Finding fantastic fish – especially sustainably harvested fish – has been a challenge.  We have access to plenty of fish and seafood but the majority is of unknown origin and many people behind the counter are not familiar with the topic.

High-end restaurants have paid attention and started to bring awareness to sustainable fish and problems with how we harvest our last `mainstream` wild food.  Examples of this focus include Chef Martin Kouprie of Pangea (also and avid scuba diver) who only serves sustainably harvested fish and next Mondays 7-course 7-chef Sustainable Seafood dinner at Parts & Labor.

But finding accessible sustainable fish as a consumer has been difficult.  Hooked intends to fill that gap.

Without going into all the numbing details, I reached out to Dan (who owns Hooked with his wife Kristin) through their website.  Hooked sounded like something I`d like to get behind and support and we traded a few emails.  A few days ago I was almost knocked off my chair with a lovely invite to pop by the store today to get a preview, meet Dan and Kristin, have a quick tour and meet Chef Fergus Henderson and his business partner Trevor Gulliver.

I was able to see Chef Henderson present a keynote speech yesterday – the opportunity for a face-to-face like this couldn`t be turned down. If you are unfamiliar with the story of him or his restaurant, it`s worth some digging.  St John has changed fine dining across the world and raised a lot of awareness about to nose-to-tail consumption.

Thankfully work let me stay home and play a bit with my schedule.

I arrived at Hooked (which isn’t open for another week or two – details will follow) around 11:00AM.  I was greeted with giant smiles from Dan, Kristin and their fabulous friend Annette Bruley and an offer for a tour.  Even without product lining the fridge or shelves it was easy to see the vision and how different this place is going to be.

• There will be a small selection of prepared foods – including an AWESOME fish stock (both Dan and Kristin are Chefs).
• 3 custom fridges which have high humidity and 1-degree temperatures will store fish at the optimal condition over ice chips (Dan passionately explained to me that there are 2 keys to stores providing GREAT fish – the first is purchasing, the second is how they store it).
• There is a large cupboard that reminds one of your Grandmother’s kitchen – if your Grandma was the Incredible Hulk.  It’s simply massive and will feature a few products, books, a small selection of cookware specific to fish and the like.
• The back of the store is a small cooking studio and classroom.  It is designed for 8-12 people and will feature a setup common to most homes.  Lessons will teach you techniques which will be easily transitioned into your home cooking.
• Past the studio is a small door.  A courtyard follows which will sit 6-10 people and house a wood grill and smoker.  Room for lessons or perhaps a quick bite from the fridge.
• Dan takes me to the other side of the courtyard where an apparent shed opens into a giant walk-in cold storage, ice machine to make chips and scaling room that has been sealed to allow for a spray down at the end of the day.

We went inside and continued to chat and I learned more about the store.  It is so unique that I’m pretty certain that many of our viewers who are not in Toronto will simply find it fascinating and relevant and we’ll share photos and more about the store (and sustainable seafood) in the near future.

Four of us stood around chatting.  Itis clear that Anett, Kristin and Dan are close and I felt like anything other than an outsider.  The warmth of the room – and my hosts – was as easy to perceive as the lack of power they were experiencing (an upgrade was in progress to accommodate the equipment in the building).  Laughter was frequent and passion about food and wine was easily visible.

We traded stories about food, the fisheries in Canada and preserving.  Sometimes you simply meet people and things just click.  This was one of those times.

The guests of honour joined us after about an hour of awesome conversation.  They were escorted in by friend Malcolm Jolley and wine-expert (amongst other fabulous things ), Jamie Drummond.  The next hour was a casual sip and chat and informal sharing of excitement about food and all things related that slowly migrated towards a spread of Canadian cheeses, Kristin’s bread and an amazing smoked fish spread that she had assembled.

The two guests of honour were charming, smiling and engaged.  Laughter was frequent and passion around food (and life in general) was a common bond within the room.  There were no signs of pretense and conversations flowed in the room – sometimes one-to-one and then as a larger group as a whole.

The conversation alternated between food, family and generally fun stories.  There was plenty of laughter and it was very encouraging to hear how excited our guests were about what they have seen over the last 5 days in Toronto.

Rather than spilling into details of who said what, I’d rather paint the picture of a lovely morning and the feeling within the room.  Our lives are rarely remembered in quotes but often in memories that are bathed with emotional connection to a specific moment of time and the warmth of the room is what will long remain with me.  We didn’t all know each other and there was plenty of opportunity for awkward shoegazing or circular conversations with no middle ground – but that never happened.  Instead there was a bonding that commenced with a clinking of glasses and a genuine hour shared together that was truly together.

Great food and great projects (such as Hooked) are elevated when in the room with great people.  Today I was humbled and thankful to have been included.