the camera. Since graduating, I have spent most of my career in relationship management and sales – I love getting to meet and talk to new people, it helps to satisfy my insatiable curiosity. Spotlight: You played field hockey for both the Carleton University Ravens and the U of T Varsity Blues. Can you tell us about your expe- rience playing varsity sports for both schools? How were you able to balance school and athletic activities? During your final year of CIS eligibility with the Varsity Blues, you and the team captured the CIS national champi- onship title. What was that experience like? What sports are you active in now? Yvonne Langen: I always prioritized aca- demics over athletics because there aren’t many paid jobs on the field hockey pitch. The School of Journalism at Carleton is highly regarded across the country and, at the time, I was convinced that I wanted to find myself behind the anchor desk at SportsNet after graduation. While I found success in the classroom in my double major, the outcomes on the pitch were a bit less dazzling. We had a lot of changes in coaching in my four years at Carleton and it was hard to build consis- tency with a rotating cast of coaches. To be honest, I don’t think we won a single match in my last two years as a Raven. When I pursued graduate school at U of T, I earned a spot on the starting line-up of the Varsity Blues, one of the winnin- gest programs in the country. After a few years of losing records at Carleton, it was a welcome relief to conclude my CIS career with a national championship ring. Spotlight: When did you start to become interested in Food & Cocktails? Where did the idea and concept for Taste & Tipple come from?
“I love getting to meet and talk to new people, it helps to satisfy my insatiable curiosity.”
Yvonne Langen: My parents were busy entre- preneurs and in the 90s we didn’t have the same kind of foodie culture that we have today. As a result, dinner at our house often default- ed to whatever was quick and easy. Each week featured the same rotation of dishes: salmon with rice, my dad’s famous spaghetti Bolognese (I can still devour an entire plate of this in less than 2 minutes), pork chops with apple sauce, and steak and potatoes. On days we didn’t eat at home, we would venture to my parents’ favou- rite fine dining establishment in Cambridge, where I first discovered a wider world of flavour possibilities, and I’d always get to order dessert (something I still do, even at business lunches). By the time I was 12, the menu at Chez Langen was getting a bit tired, in my entitled pre-teen opinion. I’m still shocked the Michelin Guide didn’t ask me to weigh in on the world’s best
restaurants with my sophisticated pubescent palate. Just before I went away to a sleep-over camp (an all-girls camp with UNIFORMS) for the first time, I unearthed an old paperback cookbook with 80s era sepia tone food photography and an inexplicable amount of cream cheese content. I was overjoyed. Being the total tyrant I was, I earmarked a few recipes and assigned my parents culinary homework to practice and perfect in my fortnight sojourn. When I returned home sunburnt and overstimulated, I learned they’d made only one of the dishes I’d assigned. I made no attempt to disguise my disappointment. So, when I finished sulking, I assumed the mantle and made the rest, with their supervision and swore, “When I grow up, I’ll never eat the same thing twice in a month.”
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JUNE 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2021
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