Chef Chris Parasiuk of Manitoba in Mile-Ex Talks Deluxe Campfire Cuisine and Deer Heart Gravlax

In the latest "My Montreal" profile for Urban Expressions in The Gazette, Manitoba chef Chris Parasiuk expounds on his "deluxe campfire" cuisine at the Mile-Ex restaurant.

Our most fun ingredients are things we pick ourselves. I went apple and squash picking with my wife and daughter and I picked up this kind of grass, a weed that grows in fields. My sous chef, Rebecca, brings a bag with flowers and herbs that she picks up from behind her house.

The chef also talks about deer heart gravlax, a dish that has become a signature of sorts and which Parasiuk complements with sunflower seeds and fried lichen.

I heard about someone doing it. The first thing I tried to do was to marinate it with gin and panfry it. In the end, deep-frying was the tastiest way to cook it, and gave the best texture.

Later in the interview Parasiuk endorses the likes of Maison de Seoul in N.D.G., Dispatch Coffee, cocktails at Le Ballpark, Paltoquet bakery and pastry shop in Outremont and fellow chefs Jason Nelson (Olivieri), David Pellizzari (Lili Co.) and Jean-Michel (John Mike) Leblond (Tripes & Caviar).