Project boosting Black owners in culinary world
‘There are not many people of my skin colour that get to these positions’
Michelle Berryman never thought owning a restaurant and becoming a chef were in the cards for her.
A realtor and mortgage agent, Berryman ended up unexpectedly taking over Jamrock Irie Jerk in St. Catharines a few years ago and has been serving up some of Jamaica’s staple dishes, such as jerk chicken, curry goat and roti, ever since.
She operates one of a handful of Caribbean restaurants in the Niagara region, of which she said there could be more.
“I would like to see much more Caribbean restaurants, on the whole, right across Canada,” she said.
As a Black restaurant owner and head chef, Berryman is one in an under-represented cohort in Canada’s culinary world — which a new non-profit initiative is hoping to change.
The Re-Seasoning Coalition, launched in late September, is looking to boost the representation of Black Canadians in the food service industry — and break down barriers preventing those in the industry from succeeding at higher levels.
The initiative is led by Elle Asiedu, a food entrepreneur and private sector strategist, and Philman George, who’s been in the industry for 20 years and is a corporate chef at High Liner Foods, with support from Restaurants Canada.
George and Asiedu said they’ve began working on the idea in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, which sparked a widespread cultural awakening around about how deep anti-Black racism runs in society — including, in this case, in food service.
“There are not many people of my skin colour that get to these positions,” George said of his current role.
The pair approached Restaurants Canada about an initiative to address this inequity shortly after they met. They began to develop the project over the course of two years, focusing on gathering research to highlight the scope of the problem.
“It was really important to us that we got it right,” Asiedu said, “that we weren’t going to this large organization looking for performative action.”
In order to have the research to back up their efforts, she said, the team partnered with consulting firm Technomic to publish a report in May on racial inequalities in the Canadian food service industry.
The report found Black employees in the food service industry are more likely to experience witness racial discrimination at work, with 50 per cent of Black employees saying they dealt with this, versus 29 per cent of employees of other races.
Part of this is driven by the lack of representation in the industry, to which George said he can attest.
“When you are the only Black cook or chef in a restaurant, it’s challenging,” he said. “You have to pick and choose where you can spread your wings.”
The coalition will focus on sharing its research results with restaurants and food service organizes across Canada, creating awareness of the equity gap, and working with businesses of every size to help them make their spaces welcoming for Black chefs, employees and diners alike.
“I’ve got to work in those structures,” George said, describing the mainstream culinary establishments, “but at the same time, they don’t really want to see my cuisine.”
Before becoming an executive chef, George said he never saw a version of himself in a higherranking role.
“I never thought I’d be a corporate chef,” he said. “I want the next generation coming up to be limitless in their dreams.”
Berryman is certainly someone who wants to see Black restaurateurs reach unprecedented heights. Caribbean cuisine, she said, primarily exists as takeout spots (like hers), with fewer opportunities to offer it at dine-in spaces.
“I want to bring it to another level, like fine dining,” Berryman said.
“If I have to work toward that to be the first one, I will.”