Toronto restaurateur [Jenn Agg] reminds us to support older restaurants if we want them to survive
Toronto restaurateur [Jenn Agg] reminds us to support older restaurants if we want them to survive
by ResourceOk8692
32 Comments
ResourceOk8692
From the article,
“Despite persevering for more than a decade, Haitian restaurant Rhum Corner is struggling to stay afloat and facing a possible closure, according to its owner and Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, who penned an honest letter to the restaurant’s patrons last week.”
Hrmbee
I tend to frequent older restaurants more than newer ones… When I find one that works for me I usually become a regular (as much as one can be a regular anywhere these days). I find good restaurants are kind of like jeans – they’re nice and interesting when new, but they really get comfy once they get worn in a bit.
Tacks787
It’s sad but I don’t think it’s an “old restaurant” issue, it’s a cost of living & less discretionary income issue. The restaurants I frequent most are my favourite old ones which I can depend on for a good meal but I just generally eat out less.
Wandering_instructor
But Jen, we’re poor
Evening-Abies-4679
Her restaurants aren’t doing as well anymore because there is too much good competition.
Zestyclose_Wrangler9
Definitely a hot take, but if she didn’t blow her capital budget opening a new fine dining resto, maybe this one could have been saved.
staplerphonepen
Most overrated chef in Toronto. As expensive as the other hipster style restaurants that are excellent, but food is poor
tangmichael88
Oh no, anyways…
No_Acanthisitta_3603
I do support older restaurants, just not hers.
She overextended herself. Maybe just open one spot and do it really, really well instead of launching a plethora of them and pay scant attention to the quality of food and service.
faintrottingbreeze
I love Jen, but she didn’t need to open General Public. Since Ronald’s health scare, I no doubt understand how RC took a back burner. Why not reinvest in that space?
Kogre_55
She’s always whining about something
maplesyrupwinter
careful everyone who is criticizing her or she’ll blast you on her instagram
InevitableComb1202
She’s so entitled it’s crazy
cubansausagelinks
Incredibly annoying when the investor/asset-holding class paints themselves as poor working class folks.
I actually agree with Jen on many things but it’s something she and many in the industry do regularly. Everybody wants to be seen as the starving artist. Well, she’s not struggling to get by and it was her decision to put a boatload of money into her new spot versus support her existing ones like Rhum Corner.
On the other hand, there are hundreds of restaurateurs with single, OG spots that really do barely scrape by and the closure of their business means financial ruin. Support those first before Jen’s or other bigger names with deeper pockets.
Right_Hour
Welp, Jenn needs to persuade our good friend Tiff Macklem (I still can’t believe this is not a name of a Bond villain, but our BoC Tzar) to give us some money back that was taken from us a few years ago.
Meanwhile – we’ll cook at home. Most of us are also better cooks than a large number of Toronto Chefs.
People haven’t clued in yet that we are in recession and that things are about to get A WHOLE LOT worse. How out of touch you have to be to shame people into eating out more and at expensive restaurants, no less.
HelpfulTap8256
Thoughts and prayers restaurants for rich people. thr rest of us are suffering more.
circlingsky
Well i feel super ootl bc how do so many ppl know who this woman is lmao-
SleepWouldBeNice
Since the pandemic, my wife and I make it a point to eat local once a week. Never order from a chain restaurant, and we’ve definitely learned which restaurants in town are over priced and which are completely meh.
RumRogerz
I met her once. She was unpleasant.
NotoriousSUZ
Hey Jenn, read the room.
Turbulent-Priority39
People cook at home it’s way cheaper!
OpenWideBlue
It’s not my job to save your business
Erica2468
You guys are all hilarious. A) Does she have to be a chef to run a restaurant? B) To be in the restaurant industry and run successful businesses is absolutely insane. It is the most stressful and the costs and overhead are huge. C) My first restaurant I ate at in Toronto was The Hoof. She exposed me to many exciting and new flavours and it was very exciting to eat eclectic food at a more affordable price. It was edgy and fun and her brand took off. D) The Rhum Corner, Then the Hoof and The Cocktail bar was a trifecta of cool. For my birthday one year I went to each one and it was one of the best dining evenings. E) She is just balls to the wall trying to save one of her cherished restaurants. One of her OG restaurants. It doesn’t have to be so complicated. When you pour your heart into such a special place, why wouldn’t you do everything to try and save it. It’s such a cool vibe and the food is so dope. Just ask yourself if you want to go experience it and if you do before it’s gone, go try it before you knock it. F) I have mad respect for her. It takes something to do what she has done in this city and is ever evolving. I get that restaurant costs are rising. You can’t even order Uber eats without spending $60. If you go to the Rhum Corner you will get your money’s worth and invest in a good time.
thesupercoolmaniac
Yeh. Like I can afford her restaurants. I’m more interested in my own financial survival.
Putrid-Mouse2486
I checked out the online menu at Rhum Corner. No descriptions of the food or vegetarian mains. Why complain when you haven’t even tried to fix some basic things.
rungenies
Ah Jen Agg, charging pre inflation prices before inflation became a problem.
whatsinanaam
Why are so many people in Toronto so salty? This thread is so sad.
GreenerAnonymous
Yes, her post can come off pretty tone deaf / not aware of the realities of life in Toronto right now, and she is probably in a very privileged position as many posts in this thread are pointing out. Personally, I am willing to give this a bit more grace for two reasons.
If you look at this at the basic level of “Support the places you love if you want them to survive.” she’s not wrong. That’s always been true, but especially so the last few years.
She posted this on her instagram, aka. to people that follow her and presumably have an interest in her restaurants.
Like many people I am eating and drinking out a lot less than i used to, but if one of the dozen or so places in Toronto that I would miss if they disappeared posted this I might make a point of prioritizing them for my next night out. Revel Cider in Guelph was basically about to go out of business last year but posted something similar and people rallied to place orders and support them because they wanted them to survive.
knicksknicks
Shouldn’t we just eat where we want and if that’s not an older restaurant then too bad? Eating somewhere out of pity seems like an odd way to spend your money.
SteveyF80
I agree with those who say it’s perfectly fine for Jen to use her fame/name and do/say whatever to save her restaurant. However, why only “old” restaurants? All restaurants, old or new, should be supported.
That being said, lots of older restaurants survive – even higher end ones like Terroni, Enoteca Sociale, Bar Ravel and Jen’s own Grey Gardens, are still thriving; or ultra-expensive ones like Alo and Edulis are fully booked. So it’s not a matter of just pricing but rather what you get for the price that matters, and those that can’t compete eventually go under. The market decides.
Thatguyjmc
Great. I’ll get right on that as soon as I can afford to buy myself some winter boots after paying for food and gas for my family.
DriveSlowHomie
I didn’t know this person was so divisive.
My GF I dined at Le Swan during the summer and really enjoyed the experience. Wasn’t insanely expensive, service was good and the food was hearty.
32 Comments
From the article,
“Despite persevering for more than a decade, Haitian restaurant Rhum Corner is struggling to stay afloat and facing a possible closure, according to its owner and Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, who penned an honest letter to the restaurant’s patrons last week.”
I tend to frequent older restaurants more than newer ones… When I find one that works for me I usually become a regular (as much as one can be a regular anywhere these days). I find good restaurants are kind of like jeans – they’re nice and interesting when new, but they really get comfy once they get worn in a bit.
It’s sad but I don’t think it’s an “old restaurant” issue, it’s a cost of living & less discretionary income issue. The restaurants I frequent most are my favourite old ones which I can depend on for a good meal but I just generally eat out less.
But Jen, we’re poor
Her restaurants aren’t doing as well anymore because there is too much good competition.
Definitely a hot take, but if she didn’t blow her capital budget opening a new fine dining resto, maybe this one could have been saved.
Most overrated chef in Toronto. As expensive as the other hipster style restaurants that are excellent, but food is poor
Oh no, anyways…
I do support older restaurants, just not hers.
She overextended herself. Maybe just open one spot and do it really, really well instead of launching a plethora of them and pay scant attention to the quality of food and service.
I love Jen, but she didn’t need to open General Public. Since Ronald’s health scare, I no doubt understand how RC took a back burner. Why not reinvest in that space?
She’s always whining about something
careful everyone who is criticizing her or she’ll blast you on her instagram
She’s so entitled it’s crazy
Incredibly annoying when the investor/asset-holding class paints themselves as poor working class folks.
I actually agree with Jen on many things but it’s something she and many in the industry do regularly. Everybody wants to be seen as the starving artist. Well, she’s not struggling to get by and it was her decision to put a boatload of money into her new spot versus support her existing ones like Rhum Corner.
On the other hand, there are hundreds of restaurateurs with single, OG spots that really do barely scrape by and the closure of their business means financial ruin. Support those first before Jen’s or other bigger names with deeper pockets.
Welp, Jenn needs to persuade our good friend Tiff Macklem (I still can’t believe this is not a name of a Bond villain, but our BoC Tzar) to give us some money back that was taken from us a few years ago.
Meanwhile – we’ll cook at home. Most of us are also better cooks than a large number of Toronto Chefs.
People haven’t clued in yet that we are in recession and that things are about to get A WHOLE LOT worse. How out of touch you have to be to shame people into eating out more and at expensive restaurants, no less.
Thoughts and prayers restaurants for rich people. thr rest of us are suffering more.
Well i feel super ootl bc how do so many ppl know who this woman is lmao-
Since the pandemic, my wife and I make it a point to eat local once a week. Never order from a chain restaurant, and we’ve definitely learned which restaurants in town are over priced and which are completely meh.
I met her once. She was unpleasant.
Hey Jenn, read the room.
People cook at home it’s way cheaper!
It’s not my job to save your business
You guys are all hilarious.
A) Does she have to be a chef to run a restaurant?
B) To be in the restaurant industry and run successful businesses is absolutely insane. It is the most stressful and the costs and overhead are huge.
C) My first restaurant I ate at in Toronto was The Hoof. She exposed me to many exciting and new flavours and it was very exciting to eat eclectic food at a more affordable price. It was edgy and fun and her brand took off.
D) The Rhum Corner, Then the Hoof and The Cocktail bar was a trifecta of cool. For my birthday one year I went to each one and it was one of the best dining evenings.
E) She is just balls to the wall trying to save one of her cherished restaurants. One of her OG restaurants. It doesn’t have to be so complicated. When you pour your heart into such a special place, why wouldn’t you do everything to try and save it. It’s such a cool vibe and the food is so dope. Just ask yourself if you want to go experience it and if you do before it’s gone, go try it before you knock it.
F) I have mad respect for her. It takes something to do what she has done in this city and is ever evolving. I get that restaurant costs are rising. You can’t even order Uber eats without spending $60. If you go to the Rhum Corner you will get your money’s worth and invest in a good time.
Yeh. Like I can afford her restaurants. I’m more interested in my own financial survival.
I checked out the online menu at Rhum Corner. No descriptions of the food or vegetarian mains. Why complain when you haven’t even tried to fix some basic things.
Ah Jen Agg, charging pre inflation prices before inflation became a problem.
Why are so many people in Toronto so salty? This thread is so sad.
Yes, her post can come off pretty tone deaf / not aware of the realities of life in Toronto right now, and she is probably in a very privileged position as many posts in this thread are pointing out. Personally, I am willing to give this a bit more grace for two reasons.
If you look at this at the basic level of “Support the places you love if you want them to survive.” she’s not wrong. That’s always been true, but especially so the last few years.
She posted this on her instagram, aka. to people that follow her and presumably have an interest in her restaurants.
Like many people I am eating and drinking out a lot less than i used to, but if one of the dozen or so places in Toronto that I would miss if they disappeared posted this I might make a point of prioritizing them for my next night out. Revel Cider in Guelph was basically about to go out of business last year but posted something similar and people rallied to place orders and support them because they wanted them to survive.
Shouldn’t we just eat where we want and if that’s not an older restaurant then too bad? Eating somewhere out of pity seems like an odd way to spend your money.
I agree with those who say it’s perfectly fine for Jen to use her fame/name and do/say whatever to save her restaurant. However, why only “old” restaurants? All restaurants, old or new, should be supported.
That being said, lots of older restaurants survive – even higher end ones like Terroni, Enoteca Sociale, Bar Ravel and Jen’s own Grey Gardens, are still thriving; or ultra-expensive ones like Alo and Edulis are fully booked. So it’s not a matter of just pricing but rather what you get for the price that matters, and those that can’t compete eventually go under. The market decides.
Great. I’ll get right on that as soon as I can afford to buy myself some winter boots after paying for food and gas for my family.
I didn’t know this person was so divisive.
My GF I dined at Le Swan during the summer and really enjoyed the experience. Wasn’t insanely expensive, service was good and the food was hearty.