Hey, batter batter
Comfort food meets community spirit at the Heartbreak Chef
“Everyone knows any food that’s fried is better!” So proclaims Jerome Robinson, a.k.a. the Heartbreak Chef, the progenitor of the truly fearsome Big-Ass Chicken Sandwich at his Dundas West restaurant. “If you’ve only seen it online, you might think it’s a camera angle or exaggerated,” Robinson says of this absolute beast. “That isn’t the case when you see it for yourself. We serve comfort food, and comfort food has to come from the heart. We put everything we have into our food, and we want our guests to feel that when they take their first bite.”
There is a sense of fun in everything Robinson does, from the food names (there’s also the Dutty Chicken Sandwich and the Mac & Charlie) to his hilarious Instagram Stories cooking segments. “When you walk into our restaurant, you can tell how much myself and the staff love being there, and I feel that’s reflected in our food,” he says. “We don’t just want you to have a meal — we want you to have an experience.”
Robinson’s perennially upbeat attitude is particularly impressive given that he opened the Heartbreak Chef at the beginning of the pandemic. Being a takeout and delivery joint has been a huge help, he says — and so has the community around him. “It’s been tough, but we just try to keep a positive attitude and push through. We get tons of support from our community and try to work with and collaborate with as many people as we can, not just in the food industry but in fashion, art and music too,” Robinson says. “Restaurants aren’t the only industry going through this — everyone is. So it’s important to us that we try to support everyone where we can, and they have been doing the same for us in return.”
The restaurant has run a program where all kids eat for free and has donated meals to both hospitals and essential workers. “It’s important to us because we feel we’ve been getting so much support from our neighbourhoods from day one,” Robinson says. “We just want to make sure we show our appreciation as much as we can.”