The challenge of growing up in a family of very talented people is finding a niche where you can shine, all on your own.
When Cindy Pawlcyn was eight, she started to cook. It was something she could do that was a gift for those she loved. At 13, she left her mothers side in the kitchen and started to take lessons. Shes never stopped learning. One of her early mentors was Julia Child, for whom Pawlcyn cooked at Childs 80th birthday party in Boston.
There are hints of Julia Child throughout Pawlcyns newest book, Cindys Supper Club: Meals From Around the World to Share with Family and Friends. With a teachers patience and a master chefs skill, she not only gives readers ideas of what to cook but how to do it. The tone of writing is not that of a celebrity chef which she is but of a woman who loves what shes doing and simply wants to share it with others. The warmth of her writing style matches her personalty, as we discovered at a recent dinner at CinCin.
Andrew Richardson, the new executive chef (after stints at Cioppinos, West, Sooke Harbour House and Araxi), paid Pawlcyn one of the highest compliments by preparing a dinner of recipes from the book (salad of broccoli rabe, arugula and prosciutto followed by chestnut and green olive port stew and limoncello soaked baba cakes for dessert.)
The dinner, hosted by Barbara-Jos Books to Cooks, showcased the breadth of Pawlcyns skill and while not all the dishes could be described as comfort food, there was something deeply comforting in how well fed you felt leaving the table.
