The paper has come down off the windows of Fusion and Relish has been unveiled, but the man behind Fusion seemed to have disappeared.
“I felt like when I sold Fusion I just sold it and didn’t do a going away party. I just did all the paper work and did my own thing,” said Jamie Hertz chef and former owner of Fusion. “I think it was because I was way beyond burned out.”
Since the restaurant switched over to Relish, Hertz has been hearing a lot of questions about his whereabouts.
“I just wanted people to know I’m alive and well and I’m in Nelson, and I have a bunch of little businesses on the go – I always have my finger on something,” he said.
After several months away from cooking, Hertz is ready to get back to work.
“I just got the domain name set up yesterday: I want to do Nelson Underground and it’s going to be nelsonunderground.ca,” said Hertz.
It will be Nelson’s first underground restaurant.
At a undisclosed location, Hertz will serve a five course meal to a small group — from six to 10 people — for the set price of $65.
“The idea is to give a really high quality, high end experience where it’s somewhat of a cooking class and it’s a show,” said Hertz.
Nelson Underground was essentially born out of Hertz’s love for food and the kitchen.
“I really really miss cooking,” he said. “For the first little while when I sold the restaurant I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cook any more. I felt dead. I just went through all that Top Chef stuff and I did a bunch of media stuff. But now I’m itching to get back to it.”
Another project Hertz is working on is an educational website teaching people to cook, including various dietary restrictions like celiac disease and sugar free.
“We’ll teach people how to cook and actually not be afraid of cooking,” said Hertz. “There will actually be a video recipe. It won’t just be images and words.”
Hertz ownered of Fusion of seven years and during that time received both Canadian and US fame through the TV show Top Chef Canada.
“I really just wanted to thank Nelson,” said Hertz. “I never really got a chance to thank them. I’m not leaving town and I’m not being run out of town. I just decided that after seven years it was time to step back and do other things with my life. “
Stay tuned to {vurb} for the launch of Nelson Underground and more with Jamie Hertz.
