Jen Agg sits on the patio outside her Bar Vendetta and, when a guy walks by asking her if the food here is any good, she says, “It’s OK. I think there’s a few good things on the menu.”
What Agg doesn’t do — what she never does — is pander, not to the press, not to her colleagues and not to potential customers. Agg is arguably the most influential, and most famous restaurateur in Toronto. Author of I Hear She’s a Real Bitch, Agg launched the Black Hoof in 2008 and has since launched Rhum Corner, Cocktail Bar and Grey Gardens. Along the way, she helped make Grant van Gameren, her original chef, into a star.
Today, sitting out on her patio over a glass of wine, Agg says the restaurant scene in Toronto is in dire straits.
“There’s no shortage of people who want to dine in restaurants right now, but there’s a huge staffing problem,” she says, mentioning the roughly 180,000 people in Canada who’ve left the restaurant industry since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. “If one person quits at any of our restaurants, we’re so close to the precipice that everything would fall apart.”
Calling it quits
There are reasons why folks are leaving the business. The bad behavior in the industry, most recently exemplified in the Buca empire — where bad pay, brutal hours and demeaning bosses were tolerated, if not exalted, for years — has cast a dark spell over the once-glamorous profession. In addition, the recent bankruptcy filings of major multimillion-dollar corporations, like the McEwan Group, show that restaurants aren’t really doing that well.
“Turns out, they’re not that good businessmen. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe the finance bros made some bad bets,” says Agg, who uses the term “bro,” dismissively, to describe the abusive culture and people she’s been rallying against for years.
“If a company is $46 million in debt, maybe they’re not that good at this, but the fact that they could blatantly get away with it for so long is proof of what we value culturally and the kind of people we’re willing to support and lift up. For a long time, it was white dudes — especially in this industry.”
The industry is no doubt going through changes, and this is both a response to COVID-19 and a changing of the guard. Popularized by Anthony Bourdain, who loved Agg’s restaurant and whom Agg loved — she can recite his writings by heart — the rock star chef created a new food culture. Agg benefited, as did Bourdain, but the imitators dragged restaurants down and brought with it — or made more pronounced — a toxic stench. Agg knows that culture shifts. Perhaps restaurants were always due for a comeuppance.
“How the art world dominated pop culture in the ’80s happened with restaurants in the early 2000s,” explains Agg, “but there was always going to be a time when people were rolling their eyes at chefs they used to think were cool. I’m rolling my eyes and have been for a long time.”
New trends will emerge
Heading into the holiday season in unprecedented times, Agg thinks the big dining trend will be luxe. She says her average bills per table are going up — “People are balling out on wine” — and although it brings her no pleasure, she says, to prophesize what’s next, she believes that neighbourhood spots are in danger.
“Fine dining is busier than ever. Grey Gardens is packed every single night, and rich people are still rich, maybe even richer, but it’s the smaller restaurants that are in trouble,” she says, citing the local pub or great Ethiopian place as smaller businesses who might miss out on the new dining trend. “I’m really worried about the casual restaurants, but I’m not worried about the chains — they’ll be fine, a few of those links will always stay floating around.”
Trends that Agg sees floating around in the Toronto dining ether are sweetbreads and less of an emphasis on vegetables. As she once made charcuterie ubiquitous in Toronto, she now says that overall food programs have evolved.
“Vegetables were ignored for a long time and then vegetarian food was cool and good for the planet and everyone’s serving plates of vegetables, which is wonderful, but it was a trend vibe and I feel like that’s waning,” she says. “This decade, we’re moving away from that and, sadly, I think luxury and opulence are the next big thing.”
What’s next?
As big things come and go, Agg remains dedicated to her passion, despite bad actors, for restaurants and food. Later this evening, she’s going to Scaramouche, Keith Froggett’s fine dining restaurant that she used to enjoy with her parents and where she hosted a reception after losing her mom. Restaurants still mean everything to her. She goes to Foxley and Imanishi, often by herself, and she sees opening places as her lifeblood.
“I don’t have active plans to open another restaurant, but I always want to open another restaurant,” she says, with a laugh.
Next up for Agg could be another book, another restaurant or shepherding in the next great food star, trend or pop culture moment. But she’s not changing her approach.
“Are there any other patios you could recommend?” the man in front of Vendetta asks her. “No,” she says, “Only this one.”
