Interview with Brad Lazarenko from Culina
“A while ago I was talking to someone who had gone to culinary school, where they charge something like $20, 000 for tuition and I asked her, “Herea€™s a $20, 000 question, what are the four basic tastes?” She was taken aback. She got them eventually, but it really made her think. Sweet, sour, salty and bitter. These are key in cooking. You can teach a monkey how to cook from a recipe, but once you learn how to use the four basic tastes there is no going back.”
Brad Lazarenko has a visible passion for his job. He began work in the food industry when he was 18, working at a pizzeria in Vancouver. Soon he found he loved the lifestyle. During the day he would work delivering garage doors and in the evening he flipped pizzas. Mama Rosa, the mother of his boss, taught him to cook. Brad remembers constantly getting into trouble and having Mama Rosa correct him. Coming a long way from a pizza boy, Brad now owns a 4 restaurants including Culina in Edmonton.
1. Who have been some of the instrumental people who have really supported you through the starting and maintaining of your restaurant?
Peter Johner. I worked for him for eight and a half years, and really learned the business side of the industry. Food costing, efficiency in labour, and budgeting. He was really supportive and treated me well. Then, while I was working at Packrat Louie I met my business partner Paul LaGrange. He financed Culina as he really believed in me. I gave him a percentage of the business and the rest is history.
Since then I’ve tried to maintain his pay it forward attitude by helping other people start their own businesses. An example of that is Soulsoup, owned and operated by Carla Alexander and Sal Dimaio.
2. What have been your most significant joys and struggles of being an independent restaurant owner?
Struggles are the financial stress of course. The long hours and hot kitchens, but if I didn’t love it, it would be tough. What I love about it is all the interesting and weird people you get to meet. Staff is paramount. I try to make my restaurants a great environment for staff so that they feel invested in the restaurant.
3. Where do the ideas for your food come from?
Thievery. Yeah, I go out a lot so I take ideas from other restaurants for sure, such as interesting ideas for design, service, ingredients, food combinations, plateware, music, lighting, etc. Culina was my interpretation of my favourite past restaurant experiences, basically like making my favourite cassette tape compilation.
Generally I use the four basic tastes as a basic guideline. When I make a dish, I’ll look at what I’m making and distinguish the basic flavours. Then I will add contrasting flavours to balance it. Sweet, sour, and salty are like the 3 primary colours, they are great flavours on their own, but used together the possibilities are endless.
I’m always learning, always an apprentice. Just the other day one of my dishwashers showed me a better way to peel shrimp.
4. How are you involved with the community around you?
As much as possible I support local businesses. Independent small businesses, like Cally’s Tea or Greens, Eggs and Ham Farm, because I started small too, so I like to help out other people starting out.
5. Where does the restaurant’s name come from?
Culina is Latin for culinary, the art of cooking or the oven to cook in. My father also comes from Kalyna Country which is a region northeast of Edmonton. Kalyna means cranberry in Ukranian. I thought it was fitting.
6. What are some of your interests/hobbies outside of the restaurant?
Lately I don’t have time for them. Dining out, traveling, is drinking red wine a hobby?
7. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Negative people get on my nerves. That’s a big one. I mean, everyone gets down, but people who see the worst in everything. I don’t know, not too much bothers me. Waiting in traffic really pisses me off.
