THIS WRITER CAN TAKE THE HEAT
Restaurateur Agg to speak at LitFest
You need only look around the Edmonton dining scene to see the challenges facing women in restaurant kitchens everywhere. With notable exceptions including local chefs Lindsay Porter, Doreen Prei and Shelley Robinson, there are precious few women in charge of the line cooks. Fewer still are in ownership positions, and even those tend to be in business with their life partners.
Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, the owner of that city’s The Black Hoof, Grey Gardens, and Rhum Corner Cocktail Bar (and Agrikol in Montreal) stands apart in the male-dominated restaurant field. Now, she’s written a memoir revealing her experiences, and her secrets, which she’ll share at the popular LitFest panel, Food Matters, on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the Varscona Hotel (8208 106 St.).
Food Matters (which also highlights the food-focused works of Indigenous chef David Wolfman, author of Cooking with the Wolfman, and science writer Bob Holmes of Flavour: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense) is just one of the many fascinating conversations held during LitFest.
Some 50 non-fiction authors are in town for the 11th annual event, which attracts some 4,000 fans of literary truth. Headliners include Scaachi Koul (Oct. 16) the Buzzfeed celebrity, journalist and author of One Day We’ll All be Dead and None of this Will Matter, a collection of essays exploring her Indian roots, and Michael Adams (Oct. 17), author of Could it Happen Here: Canada in the Age of Trump and Brexit.
There are author readings, plus writing workshops, and live performances from now until Oct. 22. The full festival lineup, tickets, and passes are available at litfestalberta.org.
But back to the kitchen. I asked the outspoken and refreshing Agg to share her insights on women in the restaurant industry. The interview has been condensed and edited.
Q What were you hoping to accomplish with your memoir?
A On the one hand, I wish that I had had more women in the industry to look up to, and to break down the barriers that were firmly in place in this very male-centric business. I have an obligation in some ways. But I want to be a free and independent thinker, and I don’t want to be judged by different standards than my male peers. The point of my memoir was not necessarily to be a manifesto. It’s a story. It’s my truth.
Q When did you know you wanted to be a restaurant owner?
AI was a server and a bartender as a teenager and I wanted to get to the top of it. And I always wanted to figure out a way to not have a boss. This is one of the few industries where you can get to that if you are determined and scramble some money together.
Also, I’m a little bit stubborn and single-minded and I think my ideas are the best ideas. What’s interesting is that I’ve become much less single-minded as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve become more collaborative in my businesses. I’ve hired people I respect enough that I will accept it when they say “no” to me. This is important for people starting out in business. You have to have your equals, or betters, around you.
Q You tell a joke in the book about how to make a small fortune in the restaurant business. The trick is to start out with a large fortune. What’s your key to success in this field?
A There are different definitions of success. Mine happens to be “don’t run out of original ideas and try to forge new paths.” But there are other ways to be successful. There is a level of (restaurant) mediocrity accepted by the public and it doesn’t matter if the food or the service isn’t that great. My key is that I do make restaurants for me, and where I am at in my life. It doesn’t mean I don’t want other people to enjoy them, but I want to build a place where I feel comfortable, as I’m going to spend 12 to 15 hours a day there.
Q You say in the book that you “can’t teach a vibe.” But how do you make your restaurants a draw for customers?
A Vibe is a lot of things. It’s how the space makes you feel; the energy in the room. It’s the lighting. People need to look their best, you can’t have weird shadows. I like side lighting — sconces are the best. It’s dim without making it impossible to read the menu. It’s also the music.
I do all the play lists for all the restaurants. Last night at Grey Gardens, we started with breezy soul and moved into wacky Twin Peaks stuff that was fun and then hard ballads, true, deep, cheesy ’80s and ’90s ballads. It really works in the room.
Q Why do few women find themselves in leadership roles as chefs or restaurant owners?
A It’s difficult for any women, let alone strong-willed women, to get ahead in the restaurant industry. It was hard for me to assert my power. I’ve had to collaborate with male chefs, and I will definitely feel like I am giving someone a polite, direct order and they don’t want to take it from a women, and you know it’s happening. This is not all men. But it’s really a thing. So you really have to really f---ing want it. And you have to ignore so much hurt and ugliness.
Q What do women, generally speaking, do better than men in the restaurant industry?
A Without painting with too broad a brush, I think that women are extraordinarily big picture and detail-oriented. There is a natural inclination to take care of people, and whether that’s genetic or learned, we are ingrained from a young age to be that way. And I think that’s a really important concept in the business, in the front and the back of the house. But I know men who are incredibly nurturing, too. I want to emphasize that the balance is important. You want as diverse a team as possible.