BVD
AUTHENTIC FRENCH CUISINE
Located at 4590 NE 2nd Ave in the Buena Vista area of Miami, BVD brings a breath of fresh French Selections, and delicious pastries.
The Food and Wine Festival 2016, Miami Beach FL
Kathleen Apaid and her daughter Patricia Pilorge are the team behind WonderGrain, a revolutionary
sorghum product now available in markets around the country. WonderGrain is now present at all the major food fairs in the US; their distributor
is making it available nationwide to both the retail and the prepared food
industries. Kathleen and Patricia participate in perfect presentations direct to
chefs in the industry, securing accounts by combining their passion for
their work and savory dishes like the WoderGrain Paella they provide at
each interview.
Once you meet Kathleen and Patricia you are captured by their passion and charm. I met both today at the SOBE Wine and Food Festival in Miami Beach. They sponsored the FIU booth along with the Badia Spices Company. The booth, run by culinary students from FIU, served Kathleen's WonderGrain Paella with a base of Badia broth created by Michael, the executive chef at the FIU Culinary Department.
Kathleen runs both a successful Real Estate practice and her company WonderGrain. She attended culinary school at Cordon Bleu and completed a very successful internship at Emeril Lagasse’s restaurant in Miami Beach. ‘It was an incredible experience for me; I came with absolutely no restaurant experience but convinced the then Chef de Cuisine, a passionate chef to take me in as his apprentice. Try me for two weeks, I am a sponge! You will not be disappointed, I told him’ said Kathleen. 'What followed was the most exiting culinary relationship of my life; the young chef and I connected and every morning he would call me to prepare the special of the day. I still remember making the Banana Cream Pie; I now forgot how to make it but it was delightful for me to be there and I remain grateful for the opportunity I was given.’ she concluded.
Kathleen has since transferred her passion for cooking to
her company WonderGrain which she refers to as ‘her baby’; one feels the
passion in Kathleen’s voice as she talks about the grain, ‘It is not a gentle
vulnerable grain’ she tells a visiting chef to her booth; ‘It likes to be
ruffed with!’, she concludes with her bright smile that has become a staple
among chefs in the industry; along with her charming accent. Kathleen and her daughter
Patricia have a French, English and Haitian heritage that brings a charming and
engaging sophistication to their presentations.
Privately Kathleen and Patricia live a warm family and
social life they praise; they are both workaholics sharing intense passion for
their product. They both combine family and work smoothly and seem to have time
for all the heavy demands launching their company into the national market
requires; which includes constant travel, cooking and direct presentation to
prospective clients. Kathleen is the creator of many recipes she developed to
introduce her product to chefs and industry people around the country. She
expressed her passion for recipe development and has created a cooking booklet
they make available to prospective clients. One of her future
projects is a cookbook 'to bring WonderGrain to the general
public and to every home in America’ she explains.
I tasted the grain and I was immediately convinced by the excellent ‘bite’ which can only be compared to the best imported pastas I know; ‘The grain
can be cooked ahead of time, frozen and used as needed for any dish combination’
explains Kathleen. She and I got together earlier to prepare a lamb dish that
was in my estimation one of the best Middle Eastern dishes I have ever had.
Kathleen is passionate and happy in the kitchen and watching her cook that day while
she listened to Julio Iglesias ballads made me want to become active and
creative in my own kitchen.
WonderGrain is available at Fresh Market, Milam's Market in Miami, and online
at their website www.wondergrain.com. For
information about this nutritious Gluten-Free grain you may contact them
directly. You will find contact information in
their website. WonderGrain is certified Kosher, GMO Free, Cholesterol Free and is a good source of fiber and Iron. It also has 5g of protein per serving.
