he Spice Room, in every aspect, is really about Greg Couillard. By repeatedly challenging his skills and never exhausting his curiosity, the chef - in a somewhat negligible way - has influenced the way other professionals cook more dramatically. If nothing else, he's certainly being watched.

From his stint at The Parrot in the early '80s, the chef would continue to work the stoves at many of the decade's better restaurants. His own Stelle was a startling introduction to the chef's revelatory dishes built upon Jamaican essences, spicy reductions, and of course that much ballyhooed Jump Up Soup. Later, Charles Khabouth would nab him for his short-lived (but wickedly fun) Oceans, where even I worked (but on the floor as one of "the arrogant servers").

After that, every time the profligate chef changed locations, it would appear in the local papers as gossip-type tidbits: "Couillard Now at Sarkis," "Quixotic Chef Cooks at Amber" or "Chef Lands at Sassafraz."

Still, it was great news indeed when we all read that "The Bad Boy Chef Lands at Habitat." Food reviewers threw great praise his way during that lengthy (for Couillard standards) stint. His next showcase would be Mocca, slated to be near Peter and Adelaide, but never transpired. Couillard's own flighty trajectory has made many wonder if his Spice Room & Chutney Bar would be yet another pipe dream.