#jen agg

[hardtoreadings]

at 199 Augusta Ave Toronto, ON CANADA

[hardtoreadings]

[hjs257]

Clams and Mussels by Renée Suen 孫詩敏 Via Flickr: Clams and mussels in an herb broth with charred onions and bread, $22

[canadianbooks]

I Hear She’s a Real Bitch by Jen Agg

... from Doubleday Canada ...

Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, the woman behind the popular The Black Hoof, Cocktail Bar, Rhum Corner, and Agrikol restaurants, is known for her frank, crystal-sharp and often hilarious observations and ideas on the restaurant industry and the world around her.

I Hear She's a Real Bitch, her first book, is caustic yet intimate, and wryly observant; an unforgettable glimpse into the life of one of the most interesting, smart, trail-blazing voices of this moment.

Published in 2017.

[stuffmomnevertoldyou]

How Jen Agg Is Smashing the Food-World Patriarchy One Plate at a Time

The Canadian restaurant impresario on the battle of being a woman in charge.

Can we be friends?

[hazlittmag]

Female Authority and the Male Leadership Myth

Being a boss is hard, and it’s even harder when you’re saddled with a vagina. My female designation was never a choice, although I would choose it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore dick (a specific one for ten years now), but I wouldn’t want to have to lug all that around—despite the managerial advantages it brings. All the hard decisions you have to make, all the people you have to say no to: as a man, it just gets wrapped up in your Leadership Myth. But, and we’ve heard it thousands of times, when you make tough calls as a woman, people tend to take it personally. If you don’t hire them, it’s got nothing to do with their incompetence and everything to do with you. They appear to take it well, but then you’re out at a bar and the poor un-hired girl’s best friend is sleeping with your line cook and he tells you how much so-and-so hates you. For nothing. For not hiring them.

Keep Reading

[hazlittmag]

Pour Me Another: Mixology’s Tipping Point

The more seriously people took bartending, treating it with a sort of rhapsodic reverence (it’s drinking, pals), the more it turned toward self-parody. But it makes sense: after frothing at the mouth over monosyllabic chefs, lionizing bartenders was the logical next step, tossing them up there on slightly smaller pedestals to wax poetic about the latest artisanal, small batch bitters.

Keep Reading

[morevanilla1]

Sundays just got better..

This is what I remember brunch being like, this is why I used to love brunch. Apparently The Black Hoof used to do brunch. I had never been but upon hearing about their return to the weekend tradition, I decided to check it out.

Hosted from Hoof Raw Bar, next door to The Black Hoof, this quaint and cozy room is the equivalent to lounging in your well lit loft in Paris or New York over your Sunday breakfast. Having wandered into the Raw Bar for the first time last summer on my way to a concert, I sat at the bar and remember thinking how right Jen Agg had gotten it. I love this room, it feels right. Simply appointed and warm, every aspect of the space is directed towards one end - enjoyment. One cannot help but relax in this room and focus on two things alone - food and company.

The blackboards that hang from the wall listed all things offal. Brunch has become special again. Nothing has done more damage to 'brunch' as a concept than thousands of restaurants serving the same eggs benny in consistently dwindling quality. There is a resurgence of a proper nod to the laziest meal of the week in some fantastic Toronto spots - and this is one of them.

The offer of french press coffee was enough to make me want to order champagne in celebration. Good coffee is as fundamental to brunch as horses are to rodeo. The coffee at The Black Hoof is worth the minutes you wait before making the plunge. Choosing from the menu was more difficult than I expected. I don't often find myself wanting everyting available. The blood pudding mcMuffin was a must. I grew up eating blood pudding and if it is done well, it is divine. The idea of it in this classic breakfast sandwich as the 'ham' was as playful as it was brilliant. Arriving on a flip tray, wrapped in checkerboard paper, this is the best mcMuffin I have ever had the pleasure of. The Hoof should prepare for a line up of desciples looking to take these babies out each weekend.

Heart 'n' eggs. This is even more involved and incredible than it sounds. Not only is the sous vide and seared heart delectably dressed with a salsa verde that sings in perfect harmony with the meat but there is more.. the eggs are scrambled with marrow and served in the bone. Perfectly cooked eggs have become harder to find at brunch than Hoffa. The eggs here are not only the right texture but the addition of bone marrow brings a little heaven to earth.

A few weeks ago I was crowing on Instagram about my decision to add duck fat to my homemade waffles and once even top them with pulled pork... I thought I might give up ordering waffles when out because of it. Well, the Black Hoof makes fried sweetbeads and waffles that will have you wondering why they were ever served with chicken. Chives, jalapeño butter and a Sriracha maple syrup, a truly excellent blend of flavours.

It cannot go unsaid that the price at The Black Hoof's brunch, is right. We have all been gouged and taken advantage of while partaking in brunch in the city. What a surprise and delight to eat so well, enjoy so fully and smile when the bill arrives. Also, Ms. Agg works the room like you want to see all owners or managers when you eat out. You know things will go well for you when the captain is steering the ship this well. Top off all this with a brunch staff that is clearly not miserable to be serving you, hung over and angry to have to be working on Sunday at this hour. Seamless service with a smile.... The Black Hoof should teach brunch.