Executive chef and entrepreneur Toben Kochman, owner of Toben Food by Design, presented a new pop-up restaurant concept, TWISTED.
From his travels throughout Asia, South America, and Europe, chef Toben Kochman’s street food inspired flavours and ingredients have hitchhiked a ride back to Toronto and onto our dinner plates.
In his new venture, he has brought a twist to the conventional fare in the creation of his signature dishes for Twisted that marry his French cooking background with international flavours; savoury and zesty dishes that immediately provoke fond memories that we probably had grown up with in multicultural Toronto.
Perhaps it’s due to his exemplary training, experience, and creativity that he is able to construct dishes with such complicated flavours that appeal to the North American palate. Chef Toben Kochman comes from a classical culinary background, graduating from the Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts in Paris. He worked at the two star Michelin restaurant, Apiscus before returning to Toronto to become Susur Lee’s sous chef at Susur. And most recently, Chef Toben Food by Design was the private caterer for the exclusive after party of OVO Fest hosted by Toronto’s own Drake.
While we’ve had Toben Food by Design’s catering at special events before, we were introduced to Toben’s newest creations by way of a four course tasting menu at 2nd Floor Events.
Appetizer
Jerk Seared Ahi Tuna (pictured above): Charred corn-compressed watermelon salad, crispy plantain
Zesty and delicate
First Course
‘Tastes’ of Heirloom Tomato: a palate opener
“‘Tastes’ of Heirloom Tomato” with Lemongrass-tomato water, mango Kim Chi, pickled cucumber, radish, cashew, scallion pancake
Second Course
Lime Leaf-Sesame Fried Chicken – all kinds of comfort food goodness found here.
“Lime Leaf-Sesame Fried Chicken” with Lobster mash, Khao Soy curry, bacon-apple heirloom beet slaw
Third Course
Korean Braised Beef Short Rib. A mix of different morsels that come together well.
Bibimbap dumpling, sweet & sour braised cabbage, fried hen’s egg, scallion-mint ‘Chimichurri’
Fourth Course
Mini Dessert Tasting: A satisfying end to a good meal including
- Chocolate-Peanut Butter Shortcake
- Banana brulee, peanut dust
- Green Tea Genoise
- Citrus curd, plum ginger compote, Chantilly cream
- Coconut Tempura Peach
- Vanilla bean ice cream , peach whisky coulis
Mini Dessert Tasting
Since the pop-up restaurant was a sold-out hit, there is clearly a demand for more from Toben Food by Design. We hope to see more from the team in the near future.
Catering inquiries and more info about Toben Food by Design can be found for your next event at www.tobenfoodbydesign.com
Photos by Nick Lee
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- “Jerk Seared Ahi Tuna”, Charred corn-compressed watermelon salad, crispy plantain
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- “‘Tastes’ of Heirloom Tomato” with Lemongrass-tomato water, mango Kim Chi, pickled cucumber, radish, cashew, scallion pancake
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- “Lime Leaf-Sesame Fried Chicken” with Lobster mash, Khao Soy curry, bacon-apple heirloom beet slaw
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- Bibimbap dumpling, sweet & sour braised cabbage, fried hen’s egg, scallion-mint ‘Chimichurri’
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- Mini Dessert Tasting
