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The Battered Fish eyes expansion By Jonathan Zettel, assistant editor
MURPHY’S MERGES WITH AMBASSATOURS
ROOTS, RANTS AND ROARS 2014
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FEATURE: Navigating the waters of sustainable seafood.
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HALIFAX—A fast casual seafood franchise is set to launch more than 20 locations across Canada within the next two years. Halifax-based The Battered Fish has seven locations in the Halifax Regional Municipality and has inked a distribution deal with Gordon Food Service that will help supply franchises nationally. Ryan MacIsaac, president and chief executive officer of The Battered Fish, said the company has a production facility in Halifax and is a registered supplier with GFS. The facility makes nearly 20 branded products including dressings, batter, breading and sauces to service the company’s franchise expansion plans. “The biggest stress of my life is consistency in my product and in our service,” MacIsaac told ARN, adding that the ability to prep and control many of the products used by franchisees via the production facility takes a lot of stress away. According to MacIsaac, the first step out of the province could see a store open in February 2015 in Toronto, with other franchises to follow in Amherst, NS, Yarmouth, NS, and Moncton, NB. “Ever since I started the business, I had a vision to franchise,” said MacIsaac. The franchise fee is $25,000 with a five per cent royalty fee and a one per cent marketing fee.
Ryan MacIsaac.
The average footprint of the locations is about 1,100 square feet with 20 seats. “It’s not really your traditional fish and chips company: it’s more of a modern take on it,” MacIsaac said. “I really just wanted to put a whole new spin on the category,” he said. The franchises have a “clean, modern design with high-end finishes and state-of-the-art digital menus,” he said. “It’s really warm and welcoming.” While the menu is seafood-centric
Fishing season at NS’s South Shore LUNENBURG, NS—The South Shore Fish Shack opened on July 8 for its inaugural season at 108 Montague St. in Lunenburg, NS. The seasonal operation offers counter service with 60 seats on two outside decks and an additional 30 seats inside.
with lobster buns, scallops, clams and made-to-order fish and chips deepfried in trans fat-free oil, the eatery also offers burgers, poutine, salads and tacos. MacIsaac said the restaurant also serves glass-bottle soda and a branded Battered Fish Root Beer. The average check per person for fish, chips and a drink is around $10 According to MacIsaac, when he was looking to start the company, he noticed many of the categories, including pizza, burgers and Mexican
The South Shore Fish Shack.
food, were already saturated in his area. “I was just trying to find a niche in the market and everything just seemed to be overdone. Then one day, it just hit me: no one is really doing seafood and chips,” he said. “I thought it was a good opportunity to take something small and grow it into something big and special.” “In five years I hope to be right across the country,” MacIsaac said, adding he also hopes to open U.S. franchises. “I was truly blown away by how much people love fish and chips. There were days when we sold 500 pieces of fish and had three-hour lineups,” owner/operator chef Martin Ruiz Salvador told ARN. Although the fish shack will close in October, Salvador said there is opportunity for winter pop-up events— to be broadcast through social media networks—depending on the supply of local fish. The eatery offers one, two and three-piece haddock meals, scallops, deep fried clams, steamed clams, steamed lobster, lobster buns, fish sandwiches and clam rolls, with an average check around $12 to $15. It also offers local craft beer from Propeller Brewery and a selection of red and white wines from Jost Vineyards. Within the first week of business, an additional fryer was installed to keep up with demand. Continued on page 5
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Murphy’s merges with Ambassatours HALIFAX—Murphy’s, operator of The Cable Wharf restaurant and local tour boats, has merged with Atlantic Canadian motor coach and tour company Ambassatours Gray Line. Ambassatours Gray Line president and chief executive officer Dennis Campbell and Murphy’s CEO Jeff Farwell made the announcement in mid-September at Murphy’s waterfront restaurant at 1751 Lower Water St. Chief operating officer Mary Dempster, who previously managed the Delta Halifax and Delta Barrington hotels, and Sean Buckland, co-founder of Valley Wine Tours and former sommelier of The Five Fishermen Restaurant and Grill, are minority shareholders in the new company. Along with The Cable Wharf, Murphy’s also owns a fleet of vessels for Halifax harbour tours, including Theodore Tugboat, Harbour Hopper, Mar, The Tall Ship Silva, and the Harbour Queen. “We’ve been doing a dinner cruise product for years, but recently put out a discount offering to get more locals, which gave us a great uptake and tripled sales,” Farwell told ARN. The Murphy’s restaurant, tour boats and gift shops will continue to operate under their respective brands. The Cable Wharf employs between 100 and 150 staff members in the kitchen, restaurant and banquet facilities, and the combined company will have more than 400 employees.
Ambassatours Gray Line operates tours throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, including Peggy’s Cove sightseeing tours, Halifax’s Big Pink doubledecker tours, and cruise ship shore excursions, as well as customized charter bus services across Canada and U.S. “In the future, the merger will allow us to have more of a focus on our restaurant and its quality, as well as the customer experience from the moment that they walk down the wharf,” said Farwell. The Cable Wharf is a 5,000-square-foot, 450-seat restaurant open year round. It targets tourist traffic in the summer, although the merger allows for expansion and leverage into offseason local business, Farwell said. A patio that was renovated two years ago with cedar sliding windows and a retractable sail awning allows the restaurant to use the 150-seat space in the winter. Built in 1913, the former home of the Cable Ship Ter-
minal, the boathouse-style restaurant on the Halifax waterfront has a lobster tank, where diners can net their dinner from among 300 crustaceans, and a touch tank with native aquatic creatures. The seafood-based menu features lobster rolls, fish cakes, lobster thermidor and Green Lane Farm seafood chowder, which combines locally sourced organic vegetables and herbs with haddock, scallops, shrimp, salmon, lobster and clams. Murphy’s was founded by Captain Gerard Murphy, a native Haligonian who purchased the fleet’s original ship The Mar from Pusser’s Rum Company.
Dennis Campbell and Jeff Farwell.
P.E.I.’s Gahan House pours into Halifax Salvador takes on third NS project
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and across the country because that’s what people are coming into your pub for.” Alongside the Gahan taps, offerings from Garrison Brewery, Propeller Brewery and Picaroons Traditional Ales will also be available. In May, the Gahan four pack launched in the LCBO in Ontario to join Alberta, British Columbia and all of the Atlantic provinces where the beer is available. “We’re extremely happy with how the beer is being received and we hope to see it in every province,” Smith said. The menu for the new venue will be identical to the menu offered in Charlottetown with sustainable seafood and as many locallysourced options as possible. Menu items include nachos, brown-bag fish and chips, a lobster club sandwich and an IPA barbecue pulled pork served on ciabatta. Over the summer, the Gahan House— alongside its sister brewery the PEI Brewing company—celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference, opening a popup restaurant to coincide with festivities. Smith said the group is always on the lookout for new opportunities for expansion. “We’re definitely open to the possibility of more restaurants in Halifax,” she said.
Salvador admits next summer the eatery will have to streamline the process to reduce wait times. “It’s been fantastic; we didn’t expect it to be this busy,” he said. The Fish Shack is the third Lunenburg, NS, project for Salvador and his wife Sylvie. The couple also operates the Fleur de Sel Restaurant et Maison—which is open from April until October and offers overnight packages—and the Salt Shaker Deli, which is open year round. Salvador said there is a dramatic 30 per cent drop in sales between August and September, adding the December sales for the Salt Shaker Deli only accounted for three per cent of the restaurant’s annual sales. “The Salt Shaker Deli is opened year round, certainly not for financial reasons, but basically to keep our staff and for local people that quite enjoy eating there,” Salvador said. “Labour is key, that’s the killer here. It’s very difficult to staff,” he said. According to Salvador, some staff are working longer hours in the fall than the summer tourist months because many employees have left to return to university, creating a labour shortage. In 2013, Salvador won the Halifax Gold Medal Plate with his East Coast breakfast dish, which included pig’s head mortadella, a fried quail’s egg, cured pork jowl, and honey and ginger poached edamame. While there are currently no expansion plans or project launches, Salvador hopes to add a raw bar to the Fish Shack menu next summer with freshly shucked oysters and scallops. “We’ve had some incredible response from locals,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier.”
1869 Upper Water St., Halifax. (902) 444-3060 halifax.gahan.ca, @gahanhalifax.
108 Montague St., Lunenburg, NS. (902) 6343232, www.southshorefishshack.com.
Gahan House in Halifax.
HALIFAX—The Gahan House has brought its Charlottetown-based beer to Halifax, opening a sister location on the habourfront on Sept. 5. The 300-seat Halifax location will brew some seasonal selections on site, with the majority of the pub’s beer shipped in from Charlottetown. “We’ve been thinking about it for a while— expanding into the Halifax market—and we were approached about this space on the waterfront and it just happened to be a really great time for us,” Vanessa Smith, spokeswoman for Murphy Group of Restaurants, told ARN. The location took over the old Hart and Thistle Gastropub space and is the group’s first venture into the province. The company also operates eight other brands in Charlottetown including Sims Corner Steakhouse and Oyster Bar, The Brickhouse Kitchen and Bar, Ise’s, Fishbones Seafood Grill, Merchant Man and Pizza Delight, Dooly’s and East Side Mario’s franchises. The Gahan series of beer includes 1864 Blueberry Ale, Premier George Coles Cream Ale, Colonel John Hamilton Gray Brown Ale and Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale. “The craft beer market is just huge right now and it’s definitely big in Halifax,” Smith said. “We thought it was really important to not just offer our craft beers, but also beer from other breweries from around the region
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AT L A N T I C R E S TAU R A N T N E W S
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The additive effect
pop up restaurant in Britain is offering diners a chance to choose their fish options—fresh from a can. Tincan restaurant, which operates without a chef or a kitchen, serves high-end artisan fish products such as Icelandic smoked cod livers and Galician urchin caviar. Based on similar concepts in Spain, founder Maximilano Arrocet told The Guardian, he aims to “elevate the tin to an object of desire.” For those of us weaned on late British author Enid Blyton’s books of post war British rationing and the exotic joys of tinned peaches at a picnic, the concept seems intriguing, but a bit odd. At a time where an awareness of hyperlocal and seasonality is growing among diners and chefs, we’re also seeing a conscious return to some elements that recent generations eschewed. Big box companies are marketing themselves as real food and distancing themselves from chemical additives, while small operators are experimenting with nitrous oxide, soy lecithin and other elements. The irony is that many additives—designed to mimic natural flavours and properties—are now being added back into these selfsame ingredients even when the real thing is available. Items such as MSG have found
their way back, not just onto menus but, as in the case of Danny Bowien’s Mission Chinese in San Francisco, purportedly onto the table itself in a salt-shaker format for diners to add to meals themselves. It’s an inimitable equation: at the same time additives are being used to enhance flavours in food, some chefs are subtracting major parts of their menus in favour of promoting their connection to nature. Famed French chef Alain Ducasse made headlines in early September by paring down most proteins from one of his restaurants in Paris, a move that was seen as a warning shot across the bow of both traditional French cuisine and meat production in general. “The planet’s resources are rare, we must consume more ethically and equitably,” said Ducasse to Agence France-Presse. Turning toward more fish and vegetable options on his menu, Ducasse wanted to promote what he calls “naturalness” in cooking and ingredients. Here in Canada, chefs are tackling these ethical consumption issues in their own ways, driven not only by the desire to do right but also benefitting by getting the best ingredients. “My personal definition of sustainable starts with purchasing what’s on my door-
step,” Mallard Cottage chef Todd Perrin told assistant editor Kristen Smith in this month’s sustainable seafood story (turn to page 10 for more.) “Cooking a piece of fish that’s super fresh is the easiest piece of cooking that you’ll ever do,” Perrin says. By placing restraints on the fish they receive and adhering to sustainable standards, chefs can use their purchasing decisions to add to the overall quality of the final dish. How, then, do we balance this equation between the addition of artificial and fresh elements when it seems as if the culinary world is heading in two opposite directions? Perhaps the solution lies in the current bounty of choice spread before us. Due to the availability of fresh ingredients on a level that was previously inaccessible to past generations, today’s chefs feel free to play with additives in a way that their forefathers may have been required to in order to mask substandard items. As a result, these chefs have the unfettered ability to choose to use tinned fish or chemical substitutes without worrying about opening a culinary can of worms. Leslie Wu Editorial Director
Atlantic Restaurant News (www.atlanticrestaurantnews.com) Volume 16 · No. 5 · October 2014 Atlantic Restaurant News is published 6 times a year by Ishcom Publications Ltd., 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ont. L4X 2W1 T: (905) 206-0150 · F: (905) 206-9972 Toll Free: 1(800)201-8596 Other publications include the Canadian Chains and Buyers’ Directory as well as:
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Bi t s Burger King merges with Tim Hortons in a $12.5B deal OAKVILLE, ON and MIAMI, FL—Tim Hortons agreed to a $12.5-billion deal to be taken over by quick-service giant Burger King on Aug. 26. According to the companies, the deal had been in the works for months and will form a new global company based in Canada where the majority of the combined business is located. Burger King will keep its Miami, FL, headquarters and Tim Hortons will maintain its offices in Oakville, ON. In a teleconference call, Tim Hortons president and chief executive officer Marc Caira told member of the press the deal would not impact the quality or kind of service Canadians have come to expect. According to a joint statement, both brands will operate independently with no crossover plans with their core products. Burger King chief executive officer, 34-year-old Daniel Schwartz said the deal was not tax-driven. “Burger King has and will continue to pay taxes in the United States and Tim Hortons will continue to pay taxes in Canada,” he said.
Diamond and Kirkwood merge NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON—Diamond Estates and The Kirkwood Group announced in September the companies have merged operations to form Kirkwood Diamond Canada. The merger was expected to conclude on Oct. 1. Diamond Estates will consolidate the partnership’s financial results into its quarterly and annual results. The Kirkwood Group is a privately held
a nd
company specializing in the marketing, sales and distribution of leading beverage alcohol brands within the Canadian market. They are based in Oakville, ON, with sales representation in all markets of the country. Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits is a domestic producer of VQA wines and an importer and distributor of international beverage alcohol brands. The organization has offices in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Toronto. “This merged organization will combine the best features of two great companies and will create one of the largest marketing and sales organizations in Canada,” Gord Haist, chief operating officer of The Kirkwood Group, said in a release. Murray Souter, Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits CEO said the partnership will double business and allow the companies to combine efficiencies. “An organization of this size gives us the ability to invest in our suppliers’ business, helping them achieve accelerated growth and better results within the Canadian market,” said Souter. Kirkwood Diamond Canada will be headquartered in Oakville, ON, and the Diamond Estates Winery will continue to operate independently of the partnership and will be headquartered in Niagara-onthe-Lake, ON.
New Canadian McCain president TORONTO—McCain Foods Limited announced on Sept. 25 the appointment of Shai Altman as president, Canada, effective Oct. 20. Altman will assume full responsibility for the Canadian retail and foodservice business. According to a release, he brings to McCain more than 15 years of leadership experience in both mature and developing markets with expertise in the development and
Bi t e s direction of growth strategies. Altman joins McCain from Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, where he has held increasingly senior roles since 1997. He started his career in sales, moved through key account management and customer marketing, and then went on to lead the consumer marketing team. He worked as general manager of Wrigley in Israel and India from 2002 until 2009, at which time he took on the position Wrigley Canada president.
Hennessey joins Imvescor MONCTON, NB—Foodservice veteran Frank Hennessey is Imvescor Restaurant Group’s new president and chief executive officer, in a move announced Sept. 8. “Imvescor has some very iconic brands in the province of Quebec and the Atlantic Maritimes. Regardless of restaurant concept, you have to continually evolve and find ways to drive value and drive guest counts,” he told ARN in mid-September. “Imvescor is heavily franchised and establishing good relationships with them is critical.” Hennessey will be based out of the Montreal office, spending his first 30 days “running a diagnostic, looking at the restaurants and talking to the people involved,” he said. Hennessey was most recently president and CEO of Markham, ON-based Bento Nouveau, a 400-unit sushi chain with locations throughout North America. He led the sale of that company the last seven months he was at the company from a private equity firm back to the original owner of the chain; a deal that concluded in May. Before that, Hennessey was at Cara Operations Limited for 11 years, as president of Harvey’s Restaurants and senior vicepresident of guest experience, as well as an 11-year stint at Darden Restaurants.
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How German chefs and winemakers are interpreting terroir.
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lthough German cuisine—like the food in many European countries—is intensely regional, a common misconception categorizes everything in terms of heavily sauced and breaded schnitzel, sauerbraten and sausages. Adapting and shaping those preconceived notions is key for chef Michael Uberall, who serves his take on German cuisine out of Checkpoint Germany, a food truck in Moncton, NB. To deal with his customer’s need for portable, takeout friendly options, Uberall adapts traditional dishes such as leberkäse, a pork meatloaf usually served with a pan-fried egg, coleslaw and mashed potatoes to a handheld sandwich with meatloaf sourced from a local butcher and topped with an egg.
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Uberall, who trained as a chef in Germany, often finds a need to make small concessions to local tastes. “Here in Canada, everybody likes to have relish and sauerkraut on bratwurst. I originally put my hands up in the air and said there’s no way I was doing it, but the customers demanded it,” he laughs. “But I try to keep it as much traditional German as possible so that people can have an idea of how we live in Germany.” A good part of the difficulty in translating German cuisine to the Canadian diner is the portion size and a perception of heaviness, says Ruthie Cummings, chef/owner of Toronto’s Das Gasthaus. Cummings avoids serving heavy brown sauces, instead garnishing traditional German/Austrian dishes such as schnitzel with
1. Smoked eel, blackcurrant and cucumber at Freundstück at the Ketschauer Hof in Deidesheim. 2. Hilde Mailahn demonstrates dessert at Fachwerk im Eulengarten restaurant. 3. Martin Korrell, a sixth generation winemaker at Weingut Korrell. 4. Salmon dish at Frankfurt’s Heimat restaurant. 5. Part of the gardens at Fachwerk im Eulengarten. Next page: 6. Apfelwine at Frankfurt’s Apfelweinwirtschaft Wagner restaurant.
jagersauce (mushroom sauce) with lemon, dill and caper compound butters in the summer to lighten it up. A simultaneous thought process is occurring across the pond, with German chefs looking at lighter ingredients and modern techniques in terms of cooking, plating and wine pairing. Internationally renowned chefs such as Mario Lohninger at Restaurant Lohninger and Gregor Novak at Heimat restaurant in Frankfurt play with Asian ingredients such as shiso, watermelon broths and tomato waters, and at Michelin-starred restaurant Freundstück at the Ketschauer Hof in Deidesheim, Daniel Schimkowitsch uses molecular technique for dishes such as nordseekrabben (a brown shrimp), with carrots and lemon and ginger emulsion to elevate traditional 1 2
1. Red elderberries and its flowers, as well as other fruits are used in yogurt and cordial drinks, such as this dessert from Fachwerk im Eulengarten. 2. Saumagen: A pork stuffing encased in a pig’s stomach, similar in texture to a coarse sausage. A dish often served throughout the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. 3. Handkäse mit musik: The lyrically named “Hand cheese with music” is a regional specialty of the Frankfurt area. A low fat, handmade cheese is served with chopped onions and caraway, sometimes accompanied by vinegar and oil. At Fachwerk im Eulengarten, guests add butter to pureed handkase, which is served as a spread with onions on whole rye toast rounds. 4. Bread: Germany has a rich baking tradition, with hundreds of brown breads produced within the country. Visitors to Kleinsägmühlerhof can work with a master baker to learn the effects of local rye and water on texture, crumb and crust.
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and sturdy ingredients to a new form. Meanwhile, local restaurants and cooking schools are striving to infuse traditional dishes with modern sensibilities. In 1975 when Hilde Mailahn and her husband purchased Fachwerk im Eulengarten, an inn and restaurant, there was no electricity or hot water and the roof leaked. The couple opened a cooking school on the property in 2004, which offers students the chance to create modern interpretations of what Mailahn calls “rheinhassen tapas”: small plates reflecting the local Rheinhassen region. In terms of the evolution of German cuisine, she regards change as occurring on a higher-end dining level, much more so than local and regional restaurants, which are still very traditional. “German food is very much lighter than it used to be, with more locally grown food being used in restaurants,” she said. “There are less heavy sauces with flour, cream and butter, and we’re moving away from the freezer.” Mailahn sees German proteins, produce and traditional cheeses being used with international twists, such as influences from Chinese and Korean cuisines. Chef Markus Buchholz runs Der Kaiserhof in Guldental, a hotel, restaurant and cooking school using local and seasonal ingredients. From housemade wild garlic spaetzle to beef broth from local beef with liver dumplings and ravioli, Buchholz and his team coach visitors to appreciate the food and wines of the region. Guests are invited to record their thoughts on a plaster wall in the dining room after the meal and try Mirabelle schnapps made by Buchholz’s father. The restaurant offers wine from family-owned vineyards processed by winery Königswingert. For those looking to explore the Rheinheissen terrain more closely, “herb witches” Karin Mannsdorfer, Christine Moebus and Martina Schmitt from restaurant and foraging company Siefersheimer Kräuterhexen take the connection to the land one step further by ushering visitors out into the field for herb walks, where they describe culinary and medicinal uses for regional fauna. Goose-
foot, an herb native to Germany, was used in place of flour during periods of famine in households, as well as a source of livestock feed, says Moebus. The sisters, who all live on the property, host “Witches’ nights” celebrating Celtic culture at the beginning of summer. “It’s a combination of old knowledge with new things,” says Moebus. Christine and Michael Moebus also run Moebus Winery, which produces dornfelders, rieslings, spatburgunders, and others, offered at the winery tasting room daily. Taste of place is also manifesting itself in terms of a growing organic movement in Germany. At biodynamic farm Kleinsägmühlerhof in Altleiningen, on the northern edge of the Palatinate Forest, a community of people with intellectual disabilities and their caretakers work in agriculture, an onsite bakery and dairy and the farm shop, which supplies restaurants in the region with baked goods, eggs and milk. More than 30 employees, 15 of whom live in a dorm on the farm, are raising livestock and working toward cultivating about 100 hectares of grassland and arable land. The farm uses solar energy and firewood for heating, and is working toward complete self-sustainability. Kleinsägmühlerhof is part of the international organization Demeter, which oversees and supports biodynamic agriculture. “If restaurants want to be part of the Demeter organization, they must have 60 per cent Demeter products and the other 40 per cent organic,” says Friedemann Wecker, supply chain manager from Demeter. “Chefs should be with the product from the slaughter to the kitchen. It’s all about mindset, which is really important.” In the certified-organic Hofgut Ruppertsberg restaurant, chef JeanPhilipe Aiguier oversees locally produced goat cheese from nearby village Erdesbach, as well as specialty varieties of turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers and other organic produce. The restaurant also offers a number of organic wines. “If you look at 20 years ago, organic wine growing was something unusual,” says Wecker. “Now, the younger generation is com-
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ing back to the winery from university and immediately changing over to organic and biodynamic.”
Newfoundland food council to help shape policy
Changing the German wine conversation
ST. JOHN’S—The St. John’s Food Policy Council held its first public meeting this summer in an effort to bring together key organizations and individuals doing work related to food issues. At the meeting, attendees discussed the committee’s role and what it will look like when officially formed. Kristie Jameson, executive director of the Food Security Network NL, which is chairing the council, said they will be putting the call out for people to apply to sit on the council in the fall. “I think we would definitely be reaching out to get some restaurant representation on that committee. They have a really im-
“Consumers that are engaging with wine will want to know about Germany,” says Ted Kalaboukis of Wines of Germany Canada. “It’s approachable because of the low alcohol, and high in acidity, but not astringent, which makes it very good to pair with food. Due to the low alcohol, people don’t feel that after one glass, they should stop, which is an upsell opportunity for the restaurateur.” The organization has just concluded its annual 31 Days of Riesling promotion and contest with 60 Canadian restaurants, which encourages operators to spread the word about riesling. This year’s winner was sommelier Lorie O’Sullivan of One Room at the Fifth, and currently with TOCA restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Air Canada Centre’s Platinum Club. Kalaboukis recommends that operators use German wines as aperitif opportunities or to pair with small plates. “It’s not just riesling: pinot noir, pinot blanc and pinot gris are very important varietals in Germany,” he says. At Weingut Korrell, a small, family-owned winery with 25 hectares of grapes in the Nahe region, 65 per cent of the wine goes to German restaurants in Hamburg. Martin and Britta Korrell—the winemaker/manager couple that run the winery—are the sixth generation to do so, dating back to 1830. The winery’s local philosophy extends to a regional caraway, poppyseed, wine and bacon bread resembling a winemaking stamp, that is made for the winery from local bakery Heintz, located 100 metres away. At Das Gasthaus, where German varietals are part of the regular wine list, Cummings finds that approaching the customer directly is an important part of engaging them with German wine. “It really is a hand sell,” she says. “If people are pairing their wine with their meal and ordering a rich entrée, I tell them they’re better off to go with the sweeter riesling, which is a very traditional pairing in Germany with dishes such as schnitzel if you want something light and fresh.” Although she notes that it is hard to source a wide variety of German reds, she has a range of pinot noirs that range from “light and fruity to Burgundian, with a lot of mushroom and earth in the nose, which is a great pairing with venison.” Lighter-style German pinot noirs can be paired with schnitzel or, in the case of spätburgunders, are a natural match to fish. In many cases, Cummings needs to challenge a customer’s preconceived notions of German wine. “The first thing that people know is Black Tower, which is very sweet and appealed to a different customer,” she says. The Winechangers, a group of 12 young vintners from villages near Neudstadt Weinstrasse, are hoping to change that image of German wine. “It’s not new winemaking, it’s a new attitude for wine. It’s a lifestyle product, but it should be a quality lifestyle product,” says Michael Braun, winemaker at Braun Winery in Meckenheim. Winemaker Laura Julier from Pfarrgut Deidesheim Winery—which was gifted to a group of young winemakers by parish priest Bernhard Braun—sees her peer group as more experimental in their wine choices, and with a different perspective in choosing wine. “More and more people want to be entertained with wine,” she says. “You need a story and an interesting name when you want to sell product.” This trip was sponsored by Wines of Germany Canada.
White Wines
Riesling Müller-Thurgau Silvaner Kerner Bacchus Scheurebe Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) Gutedel Elbling Gewürztraminer (Roter Traminer) Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc
Red Wines
Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) Portugieser Trollinger Schwarzriesling Lemberger Dornfelder Regent Saint Laurent Wines of Germany USA.
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portant role in helping to advance this dialogue and action,” Jameson said. She said the council hopes to see involvement from a number of groups: producers, processors, distributors, retailers, restaurants, farmer’s markets, butchers, delis, institutional foodservice, non-profits, chefs, food artisans and local food advocates as well as people involved in urban development, waste and recovery, food education and government at the municipal and provincial levels. “Food is such a complex issue when we start thinking about everybody who’s involved in the process of producing, dis-
tributing and selling food. But it’s also such a personal and simple issue because everybody has to eat,” Jameson told ARN. “It’s important when we start thinking about developing policies that will help us to build a healthier food system and ensure that everybody has access to enough healthy food, that the people who are involved in all of those different stages can participate in the discussion to inform healthy and appropriate policy that would actually function.” Along with the sustainability of the province’s food system, access to and affordability of healthy food, is an issue that brings people to the table, she said.
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E H T G N I T NAVIG A F O S R E T A W E L B A N I A T S SU D N A G N I H FI S . G N I M R FA
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nown in the foodservice community as a passionate supporter of sustainable seafood, Ned Bell cycled across Canada this summer, reaching out to local champions across the country and holding 24 events to bolster awareness. The executive chef for the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver’s YEW Restaurant kicked off the ten-week tour in St. John’s in July, travelling more than 8,700 kilometres to Vancouver. The idea for the non-profit organization Chefs for Oceans was born at a Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) annual conference in Halifax three years ago. Bell notes that West Coast and East Coast chefs are often highlighted in conversations about sustainable seafood because of their proximity to the oceans. “But what I recognized is that we were having similar conversations across the country about healthy lakes, rivers and oceans, all of us,” says Bell. “We just weren’t having these conversations on a national scale.” He says each event was unique but the message was always the same. “My very audacious goal is to have sustainable seafood accessible to every Canadian within the next decade and, while doing that, we’re trying to launch a sustainable seafood day on March 18,” says Bell. “I learned Canadians really do concern themselves with where their food comes from,” he says. “I live in Vancouver, where maybe it’s a highlighted conversation, but people are curious coast to coast to coast.”
From the source According to Ocean Wise, the Vancouver Aquarium’s sustainable seafood program, overfishing is the greatest threat to our waters today. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the ocean’s predatory fish is already gone. A 2006 study in the journal Science predicted the world’s fisheries would collapse by 2048 if fishing rates continue apace. Martin Kouprie, chef and co-owner of Pangaea restaurant in Toronto, spends a great deal of time scuba diving in oceans and lakes. With so much life underwater, Kouprie says it’s hard for him to ignore that there was a time when there was even more marine life. Kouprie says chefs go through a metamorphosis in their career, first learning how to work with ingredients, then asking questions about the ingredients themselves: where did it come from, who harvested it? “You have to look for the story behind the ingredient, whether it’s seafood or a vegetable, and if the story isn’t good, or you can’t get the story, then you know it’s not a product that anybody takes any pride in whatsoever and you don’t want to serve it,” he says. Kouprie sources Pangaea’s seafood through
Ocean Wise, which he says removes the guesswork for restaurants while sourcing. “We buy local first before we buy organic and it’s the same with seafood,” says Kouprie, who always has trout, pickerel and Lake Erie whitefish on the menu when in season. Kouprie is on the Ocean Wise advisory board and says the program has opened the foodservice industry up to new, interesting and tasty species, such as lingcod, sablefish, spot prawns, lake whitefish and sustainable trout fisheries. “There are some new fish that we’re more aware of than we were ten years ago or twenty years ago, and there are some fish that we’re very comfortable with eating that are being farmed better,” he says. At Mallard Cottage in Quidi Vidi, NL, chef and owner Todd Perrin uses a lot of seafood, including Atlantic cod, halibut, scallops, turbot, farmed mussels, mackerel and herring when available, capelin and, of course, lobster. “The long-term viability of the restaurant is directly linked to the sustainability of the ingredients that we use,” he says. “As good fisheries live or die, so do restaurants.” Perrin gets his fish through a broker from
small-scale fishermen, and for him, sustainable must start with local. “Our basic premise is we try to go as direct to the source as we can,” he says. “We deal with guys who are in 45-foot vessels who are catching a variety of species though the broker that we deal with.” As it stands, Newfoundlanders cannot buy directly off the fishing boat, but NL Fisheries Minister Keith Hutchings is considering allowing people to buy directly from fishermen, which was recommended in a 2010 report. At press time, no cabinet decision had been made.
Different words, same message Perrin notes some people would say some of the species Mallard Cottage serves aren’t sustainable, but it’s not that cut and dry. “It’s a bit more complicated than just saying sustainable or not sustainable, I think,” he says. “It’s not sustainably caught by everyone who is catching it, but there are people out there who are catching it line-caught or trapping who leave as small a footprint on the species as possible, while still harvesting a legitimate quota,” says Perrin, adding he prefers the word “stewardship” over “sustainable”. “My personal definition of sustainable
starts with purchasing what’s on my doorstep,” he says. Perrin says the way Mallard Cottage defines sustainable and properly stewarded, often also means the best quality fish available. “Cooking a piece of fish that’s super-fresh is the easiest piece of cooking that you’ll ever do,” Perrin says. Ocean Wise’s species recommendations are based on four criteria: abundant and resilient to fishing pressures; well managed with a comprehensive management plan based on current research; harvested in a method that ensures limited bycatch on non-target and endangered species; and harvested in ways that limit damage to marine or aquatic habitats and negative interactions with other species. “Examples of species that are considered abundant are sardines or mackerel, which have relatively short life spans and reproduce quickly,” says Theodora Geach, Ocean Wise account representative for Western Canada. Geach says she often gets asked, “What’s stopping us from decimating the population of recommended species? “That’s where management plays a really important role; we want to make sure that
regulations are in place,” says Geach, adding this includes total allowable catch for the year, observing fishing seasons when species are more plentiful and not spawning and types of gear which limit bycatch and preserve habitat. “Depending on the type of fishing gear you’re using, you can have varying amounts of impact on the surrounding habitat,” says Geach. “If you’re fishing with some line or pole, rod and reel, you’re just catching an individual fish at a time and you’re really not impacting the surrounding habitat,” says Geach. High Liner Foods adopted the United Nation’s Brundtland Report definition: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” High Liner Foods corporate director of sustainability Bill DiMento says, “Sustainable supply has increased substantially over the last four years.” The company made a commitment to source all of its seafood from certified and responsibly and sustainably sourced fisheries and aquaculture in 2009. Last year, it hit 99 per cent of its goal. The company purchases from Marine Stewardship Council certified fisheries, but also from those in the process of assessment or involved in credible fishery or aquaculture improvement projects. “We learned early on that High Liner shouldn’t be out there red-listing suppliers. What we needed to do was engage suppliers and the best way to engage suppliers is to continue buying from them as long as they made a commitment to help drive the improvements needed to move toward using best practice and ultimately move towards being certified and being sustainable,” says DiMento.
Seasonally speaking Shaun Strobel, co-founder and fisherman for Skipper Otto’s community supported fishery (CSF) in Vancouver, grew up fishing with his father and has seen the industry change. He and his wife were inspired by farm shares and applied the notion to the fishing season. “It was a new way of doing things in fishing, but it wasn’t a new idea to consumers,” says Strobel, who launched the CSF for the 2009 season. It has grown since then from 40 people to more than 1,000. The fishing season gets started in May with spot prawns for six to eight weeks, then moves into salmon in June through October. Tuna shows up in Canadian waters around September and many fishermen catch halibut around their other fishery. “Part of our mission is to get people to understand the seasonality of things more,” says Strobel. He says sustainability is dependent on species and is complicated; it comes down to knowing how fish are harvested and when. For example, Pacific salmon is harvested near the end of the life cycle, which is marked by spawning and if there aren’t many spawners, know to hold back in four years. Halibut are fished mid-lifecycle and are on a quota. “What we really like to do is inform people about how different types of fish are caught and what might be a better choice,” says Strobel. “For example, people really like shrimp and I try to, even though the cost is higher, steer people towards B.C. spot prawns or some of the humpback shrimp, which are caught
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during our short trap season as opposed to some of the other shrimp, where they drag the bottom.”
Consumer interest Ron Walters, director of marketing for High Liner Foods’ foodservice division says the company’s research tells them consumers have a good or very good understanding of the term local, but consumers are less familiar with the term sustainable, with less than one third of respondents confident in their understanding of the term. “Local isn’t necessarily sustainable,” says Walters. “We work in a globally traded industry; if people want something like warm water shrimp, that just doesn’t grow in Canada.” He says many clients are asking for both local and sustainable products, which for seafood may mean from Canada and options include scallops, sole, mussels, lobster, crab, fresh water pickerel and cold water shrimp. “Seafood is different than other proteins; people really like to go out for seafood. It’s often, our research shows, a special occasion when seafood is in the mix. It’s not a convenience choice. People will drive by other restaurants to get to their favourite, craveable seafood dish,” Walters says.
Farmed: Not a four-letter word Walters sees aquaculture as a big area of growth in the global industry. He expects wild capture to remain steady at about 100 million metric tons annually, but with better managed and healthier fish stocks. Aquaculture accounts for about 40 per cent of the overall mix, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations statistics. “In the next 10 to 20 years, I expect aquaculture will actually outpace wild capture species as a food source,” says Walters. Geach says the take home message when it comes to aquaculture is that farmed doesn’t necessarily mean unsustainable. “Especially on the West Coast, it’s kind of become the culinary f-word because of farmed
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salmon,” she notes. “It really depends on what you’re farming and how you’re farming it. In some cases, farmed seafood is far better than its wild counterpart. Shellfish, for example, are really great farmed options,” says Geach. “When it comes to finned fish, that’s when we want to see these farms come onto land. We want to see land-based, closed containment systems for finned fish, such as arctic char, trout, salmon,” says Geach. “By bringing these farms on land, you’re eliminating a lot of the risk associated with open net pen farming.” Kuterra, a closed-containment on-land fish farm owned by ‘Namgis First Nation near Alert Bay, BC, on Vancouver Island, brought its commercial salmon to market this year. Josephine Mrozewski, Kuterra communications director, says with a large number of fish farms on their territory, the ‘Namgis asked the question: “How do you grow aquaculture sustainably?” and took on the task of trying to raise land-based Atlantic salmon in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). “There was a lot of discussion about whether the ‘Namgis would be growing Atlantic salmon on the Pacific Coast, and the decision was made because—if we want to compare this technology to the existing Atlantic salmon aquaculture—we have to be comparing apples to apples,” she says. “If we’re trying to present a sustainable way to grow aquaculture and a sustainable aquaculture alternative, we have to do it with the species that’s the dominant species on the market.” The $9-million project received funding from Tides Canada Aquaculture Innovation fund and Sustainable Development Technology Canada. “We have a mandate to share our information,” says Mrozewski.
Cooking outside the box Kouprie says there are as many ways of presenting fish on the plate as preparing vegetables, noting one of his cooks at Pangaea has smoked lingcod, turning it into bacon. “It just takes a little bit of imagination like that to get the full potential out of these fish,”
says Kouprie. “The one thing about sustainable seafood is it sometimes costs more, marginally more, but at the same time, you’ve got a fish that’s being handled better. It’s not being brutalized by rolling around in nets. It’s being hand caught and taken off the hook by hand,” Kouprie says, adding the flesh is not pulpy. “Even though you pay a little more, you actually get a better yield and a longer shelf life.” Geach says there are a number of inexpensive sustainable options, such as mussels, sardines and mackerel, and some items operators should expect to pay more for, such as halibut and salmon. “I don’t think we should be devaluing our seafood; we expect to get a lot of food really cheap, but I don’t think that should be the case because it does take a lot more effort. I think once people realize why they are paying a little bit more, they are willing to pay a little bit extra for a sustainable seafood option,” she says. David Adler, manager of Off the Hook CSF, in Digby County, NS, says if small fishermen are beholden to market price, they often can’t cover their expenses. The CSF puts price-setting in the hands of the fishers, but Adler notes it’s a unique customer who values the product enough to pay more with less convenience. Through the CSF, fishermen are given the same price per pound regardless of species and members get what is caught, which eliminates pressure to top-grade. “Canadians interact with seafood in restaurants more than any other place unless you live in a fishing village. Chefs have a really important role to play in terms of telling the story, knowing what types of species are available in Canada, the seasons they are available, the way that they are harvested,” he says. Photos: 1. Martin Kouprie, chef and co-owner of Pangaea in Toronto. 2. Ned Bell, executive chef for the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver’s YEW Restaurant. 3. Todd Perrin, chef and owner of Mallard Cottage. 4. Salmon dish. Photo by Kuterra. 5. Pacific halibut dish. Photo courtesy of Ocean Wise.
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P.E.I. gets shucking
Musicians play atop a root cellar. Left: Chef Anthony Walsh.
Roots, Rants and Roars in NL ELLISTON, NL—Celebrating the province’s culinary scene and the cultural heritage of root cellars, the Roots, Rants and Roars Fall Festival took place in Elliston, NL, dubbed the Root Cellar Capital of the World for its more than 130 cellars built into the hillsides. The festival kicked off with the Cod Wars on Sept. 19, in which half a dozen of the province’s chefs faced off. Festival-goers voted on their favourite dish, and Chris Chafe, executive chef at Doctor’s House Inn & Spa in Green’s Harbour, NL, was crowned the 2014 King of Cod. Chafe prepared fried cod with sweet corn and bacon veloute, with chili pepper fritter and
black bean tomato jam to earn him the title. On Sept. 20, the Food Hike along Elliston’s shoreline saw chefs from across Canada serve dishes inspired by local products, including Dale MacKay, chef and owner of Ayden Kitchen & Bar; Matty Matheson, Parts & Labour chef; Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants executive chef Anthony Walsh; Jessica Pelland, Charbar Restaurant and Rooftop Grill executive chef; and Marc Lepine, Atelier chef and owner. Throughout, traditional musicians such as Arthur O’Brien, Fred Jorgensen, Jim Payne, Fergus O’Byrne, Sean McCann and Andrew Smith serenaded food hikers.
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Saturday culminated in the Feast, a new festival element featuring local chefs. Participants had the chance to take in one of three events in New Bonaventure on, NL, Sept. 21. These included the Fish and Feast, Random Passage Picnic and Kerley’s Harbour Hike. Bruce Miller of Rugged Beauty Boat Tours took Fish and Feast participants out on the waves to catch cod on the first day of the recreational food fishery. Finding their quota, Miller taught the new fishermen how to split and fillet cod fish. They then learned how to traditionally panfried a cod with chef Kyle Puddester of St. John’s restaurant Tavola.
CHARLOTTETOWN—The Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival, a joint effort of the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance and the P.E.I. Shellfish Association, took place at the Charlottetown Event Grounds Sept. 18 to 21. More than 30 chefs competed in live cooking and chowder challenges and about 25 of the fastest oyster shuckers in North America came to compete for the title of Raspberry Point International Oyster Champion. Local shuckers competed for the Shiny Sea Oyster Shucking title. “We are waiting on the final numbers to come in but the festival saw growth compared to 2013 in attendance,” said festival chair Liam Dolan in a release. “Adding another tent allowed for increased capacity and more space to enjoy the festival. Two large screens were also added to the back of the tent so attendees could see what was happening on the main stage from anywhere in the tent.” Part of the P.E.I. Fall Flavours Festival, the International Shellfish Festival started in 1996 as one-day, shellfish-centric event. Feast and Frolic with chef Michael Smith and The Culinary Institute of Canada kicked off the Shellfish Festival weekend on Sept. 18 with a soldout event. “The meal was fun and interactive,” said Dolan. This year, the P.E.I. Shellfish Fes-
tival raised $13,500 for community, non-profit organizations. Behind the scenes, the official judges had the job of crowning champions in eight competitions. For the second consecutive year, local chef Kyle Panton of Sim’s Corner Steakhouse & Oyster Bar cleaned up with his award-winning seafood chowder taking first place in both the P.E.I. Potato Chowder Championship and the Atlantic Superstore International Chowder Championship. Matt Nolot of Eddie Merlots in Fort Wayne, Indiana took home the grand prize of $10,000 in the Garland Canada International Chef Challenge. Mike Clarke, Terre Rouge Bistro Marche in Charlottetown, placed second. Daniel Notkin took home the top shucking title as Raspberry Point International Shucking Champion. Jodi Crane from Redwater Rustic Grille was awarded Best Caesar in Town, while Bradley Gallant from Driftwood Catering held the fastest shucking time and cleanest plate in the Shiny Sea P.E.I. Oyster Shucking Championship. Island mussel fishermen and oyster growers competed in industry competitions. Neil Ellsworth took home first place in the Tie One On Mussel Competition and Leo Flynn of Colville Bay Oyster Company took top prize and people’s choice in the Oyster Grower of the Year competition.
It’s a proud 45 year history and a bright future you can be a part of. Welcome to Mary Brown’s Famous Chicken & Taters! We’re poised to double the number of stores over the next few years. Our unprecedented growth is a direct result of dedicated people, a proprietary cooking method that makes our menu unique in the market, loyal guests who love the experience, and a down home brand that’s warm and welcoming.
Over 100 stores and growing! We’ve got one for you.
We’ve enjoyed same store sales growth for the past 11 years and our sales volumes are currently the highest in our history. You see, when you make the plumpest, juiciest chicken from only fresh ingredients, and hand cut your taters and spice them just right, people come back for more. It’s that kind of dedication to a great customer experience that makes our brand so appealing to people looking for a fresh franchise opportunity. If that’s you, why not give us a call. We’d love to talk to you.
Contact Peter Rakovalis | 905 513 0044 x 249 franchising@marybrowns.com
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WHAT FRANCHISORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PASSING ALONG THEIR BUSINESSES. BY EDWARD LEVITT
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uccession is inevitable, but like death, it is hard to talk about in our society. The vast majority of business owners, whether they be franchisors or franchisees, expect to pass their company on to family members. Why is such an important matter so often neglected? In part, it is often the founder who is not willing to let go. Operators ready to retire often have a barrage of concerns running through their heads about why they want to continue with the business, such as: • “Too many people die soon after retiring or act like they are dead.” • “Without me, the business is nothing,” or “Without the business, I am nothing.” • “I need someplace to go every day.” • “The kids will change what I have built.” • “I don’t think I have enough to retire on.” • “Nobody can run the business as well as I can.” • “They may run it better than I did.” On the other hand, thinking about the issues and planning for succession, rather than reacting when health or other issues force a business transition, will preserve
the value of the business, foster family harmony and bring personal satisfaction. An added advantage to planning ahead is it opens up the possibility of reducing the tax consequences of the business transition. What can be done?
A good starting point is educating yourself, your staff and your possible successors about succession issues and the planning process. For the sake of harmony, it is best to include family members who will likely (and those who will not likely) work in the business after succession, as well as key non-family management. Audit your system to discover which franchisees are likely to retire in the near future and when that might happen. Find out their goals and aspirations around succession and educate them about the need for and how to effectively plan for succession. Now would be the right time to crank up the franchise development plans to find new franchisees to buy existing units from franchisees who will not or cannot transition their businesses to a family member. Alternatively, this may be the right time to revisit franchising as a distribution strategy and move more towards corporate stores, if that is an attractive direction for the company. Consider the impact and opportunities of a higher level of
new franchisees in the system. It may present a new and exciting chance to reignite the energy the system had when it was new and vibrant. the planning process
A viable succession plan is not prepared overnight. It can take more than a year to create and implementation may take several years. The planning process may be as important as the end result, if the various stakeholders are consulted and feel they have an impact on decisions. The starting position is to know what everyone values and desires and how they see the future for themselves, the family and the company. Often this can best be achieved by third party interviewers and then family meetings. Remarkably, sometimes this results in some very revealing and honest assessments and revelations, including the conclusion that succession within the family is not the preferred option and the business should be readied, over time, to be sold to an outside party. Assuming capable and motivated family members are identified, the next step is deciding who does what and who gets what. This could mean making some hard decisions about roles within the company and
ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THE SUCCESSION PLANS FOR YOUR BUSINESS? IF NOT, HERE ARE SOME STATISTICS THAT MAY CHANGE YOUR MIND:
**USED IN: 2012 CANADIAN FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION WEBINAR: "EVERYONE RETIRES SOMETIMES: WHAT EVERY FRANCHISOR NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING."
division of ownership, perhaps with balance being achieved with family assets outside of the business. After those decisions are made, it is key to address any tax planning opportunities and assess what decisions have to be made and tasks undertaken to minimize tax consequences without sacrificing harmony and security for the next generation. Finally, the tough question for the founder of the enterprise about when to start giving up control (both legal and practical) must be confronted and resolved. This can be a very complex, personal and emotional decision, but it can also have a profound and lasting impact on the next generation’s ability to become effective stewards of the business into the future. If there is more than one member of the next generation to be involved in the business, this is also the time to hammer out sensible and effective power sharing arrangements and exit mechanisms should one or another of them decide in the future to change direction for themselves and/or the company.
tant franchisees need to be brought into the process, as they will be asked to be loyal to a new regime. This part of the process often needs to be done gradually, as the next generation assumes more significant roles within the system and becomes more visible to the franchisees. lessons for your franchisees
Of course, the lessons learned by franchisors doing their own succession planning can be invaluable to their franchisees. It is much more likely the franchisor will have success in getting its franchisees to think about succession and make a plan, if the franchisor has already gone through the process. Moreover, like other aspects of franchising, sharing knowledge and group purchasing power can deliver great results, and be very cost effective for the franchisees. Succession planning is not and should not be a scary proposition. In fact, careful and timely succession planning can and is often required to achieve the very goals that the founders set for themselves and their families at the beginning of their journey.
the implementation stage
The succession plan needs to be written down, in detail, with all elements clearly set out. Often, this is a process assisted by outside professionals with the necessary expertise. Any number of matters will be dealt with through the written document, including how the transition is funded, taking into account the financial needs of the retiring founder, the business and the next generation. All foundational documents, such shareholder agreements, purchase agreements, employment agreements, etcetera, need to finalized and signed. For franchisors, the all-impor-
Edward (Ned) Levitt is a certified franchise executive, a partner at Dickinson Wright LLP, Toronto, and provides legal services to Canadian and international clients on all aspects of Canadian franchise law. He was general counsel to the Canadian Franchise Association (2000-2007) and is a member of the American Bar Association forum on franchising, the International Bar Association and the International Franchise Association. He can be reached at (416) 646-3842 or nlevitt@dickinsonwright.com.
Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.
Franchise Report ANNUAL LIST OF FRANCHISE PROPERTIES. RESEARCHED BY: PETER ELLIOTT DESIGNED BY: STEPHANIE GIAMMARCO
� 123 �
241 Pizza (Chairman’s Brand Corp)
TEL: 416-646-0987 FAX: 416-646-2204 URL: www.241pizza.com UNITS (ATL): 2 UNITS (CAN): 85 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, chicken wings, potato wedges. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Chris Ioannu
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a&W Food ServiceS oF canada inc.
TEL: 604-988-2141 FAX: 604-988-5531 URL: www.aw.ca UNITS (ATL): 61 UNITS (CAN): 802 MENU ITEMS: Hamburgers, chicken, fries, onion rings, A&W root beer. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Brent Todd
arby’S oF canada TEL: 678-514-4219 URL: www.arbys.ca UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 84 MENU ITEMS: Roast beef, chicken sandwiches, deli sandwiches, french fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: George Condos
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baton rouge (imvesCor)
TEL: 514-341-5544 FAX: 514-341-5635 URL: www.batonrougerestaurants. com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 29 MENU ITEMS: Baby back ribs, steaks, chicken, seafood. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Craig Shannon
battered FiSh,the TEL: 902-491-3474 URL: www.thebatteredfish.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 7 MENU ITEMS: Seafood, poutine, tacos, burgers and fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Ryan MacIsaac
beaver tailS canada inc. TEL: 514-392-2222 FAX: 514-392-2223 URL: www.beavertailsinc.com UNITS (ATL): 14 UNITS (CAN): 88 MENU ITEMS: Pastry treats.
TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Pino Ioia
booSter Juice TEL: 780-440-6770 FAX: 780-461-7161 URL: www.boosterjuice.com UNITS (ATL): 16 UNITS (CAN): 308 MENU ITEMS: Smoothies, juices, panini and wraps, and blended yogurts. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Tim Hengel
boSton Pizza international inc. TEL: 604-270-1108 FAX: 604-270-4168 URL: www.bostonpizza.com UNITS (ATL): 18 UNITS (CAN): 359 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, pasta, ribs, salads, appetizers. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Brian Novosel
burger King reStaurantS oF canada inc. TEL: 416-626-6464 FAX: 416-626-6691 URL: www.burgerking.ca UNITS (ATL): 29 UNITS (CAN): 278 MENU ITEMS: Burgers, chicken, salads, fries, breakfast and soft drinks. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Jacqui McGregor
burrito Jax TEL: 902-406-0085 URL: www.burritojax.com UNITS (ATL): 5 UNITS (CAN): 5 MENU ITEMS: Burritos. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, catering. PERSONNEL NAME: Jeff Clarke
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caPt. Sub (Grinner’s Food systems)
TEL: 902-893-4141 FAX: 902-895-7635 URL: www.captsub.com UNITS (ATL): 38 UNITS (CAN): 40 MENU ITEMS: Toasted subs. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: David Crane
cinnabon canada TEL: 519-622-3188 FAX: 519-622-3877 URL: www.cinnabon.ca UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 22 MENU ITEMS: Cinnamon buns. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Mona Benson
coFFee culture caFe & eatery (oBsidian Group) TEL: 905-814-8030 FAX: 905-814-8272 URL: www.coffeeculturecafe.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 53 MENU ITEMS: Coffees, desserts, sandwiches, soups and catering. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: George Karamountzos
cora FranchiSe grouP inc. TEL: 905-673-2672 FAX: 905-673-8271 URL: www.chezcora.com UNITS (ATL): 15 UNITS (CAN): 129 MENU ITEMS: Breakfast, lunch, salads. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Rainer Mueller
country Style (mty Group) TEL: 905-764-7066 FAX: 905-764-8426 URL: www.countrystyle.com UNITS (ATL): 11 UNITS (CAN): 443 MENU ITEMS: Coffee, deli, muffins, pastries, soups, sandwiches. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Jonathan Czerwinski
crePe de liciouS TEL: 905-326-2969 FAX: 905-326-9305 URL: www.crepedelicious.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 17 MENU ITEMS: Crepes TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Elik Farin
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dairy Queen canada
TEL: 905-639-1492 URL: www.dairyqueen.com UNITS (ATL): 49 UNITS (CAN): 643 MENU ITEMS: Burgers, fries, ice cream products. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Fiona Bottoms
denny'S oF canada inc. (denCan) (nor) TEL: 604-730-6620 FAX: 604-730-4645 URL: www.dennys.ca UNITS (ATL): 0 UNITS (CAN): 52 MENU ITEMS: Family fare, breakfast. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Keith Keen
dixie lee Food SyStemS ltd. TEL: 613-650-5494 FAX: 613-650-5489
URL: www.dixieleechicken.com UNITS (ATL): 37 UNITS (CAN): 52 MENU ITEMS: Chicken, pizza, seafood. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Joe Murano
domino’S Pizza TEL: 519-326-5280 FAX: 519-326-3362 URL: www.dominos.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 310 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, wings, bread sticks. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Michael Curran
don cherry’S SPortS grill inc. TEL: 866-821-0468 FAX: 705-746-9587 URL: www.doncherryssportsgrill. com UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 17 MENU ITEMS: Wings, steaks, pasta, ribs, burgers, salads and sandwiches. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Chris Painter
dooly’S inc. TEL: 506-857-8050 FAX: 506-858-7039 URL: www.doolys.ca UNITS (ATL): 39 UNITS (CAN): 61 MENU ITEMS: Finger foods, pizza, simple entrees. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Pierre Lariviere
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eaSt Side mario’S (prime/Cara)
TEL: 905-568-0000 FAX: 905-568-0080 URL: www.franchise. primerestaurants.com UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 80 MENU ITEMS: Casual family fare, pasta, pizza. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Andrew Berzins
extreme Pita (mty-extreme Brandz) TEL: 905-820-7887 FAX: 905-820-8448 URL: www.extremepita.com UNITS (ATL): 12 UNITS (CAN): 179 MENU ITEMS: Pita sandwiches with grilled fillings, smoothies. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Vince Morano
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FreShii
TEL: 416-666-8474 FAX: 888-682-3514 URL: www.freshii.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 32 MENU ITEMS: Salads made from more than 70 ingredients. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Matthew Corrin
FreShly SQueezed FranchiSe Juice corPoration TEL: 905-695-2614 FAX: 888-886-5856 URL: www.freshlysqueezed.ca UNITS (ATL): 2 UNITS (CAN): 48 MENU ITEMS: Juices. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Talal Samadi
Frozu (Grinner’s Food systems) TEL: 506-867-0737 URL: www.frozu.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 7 MENU ITEMS: Frozen yogurt. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Mike Whittaker
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great canadian bagel, ltd.,the
TEL: 905-566-1903 FAX: 905-566-1402 URL: www.greatcanadianbagel. com UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 26 MENU ITEMS: Bagels, salads, soups, sandwiches, coffee, desserts. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Ed Kwiatkowski
greco Pizza (Grinner’s Food systems) TEL: 902-893-4141 FAX: 902-895-7635 URL: www.greco.ca UNITS (ATL): 120 UNITS (CAN): 141 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, wings, donairs, subs. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: David Crane
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harvey’S (Cara)
TEL: 905-760-2244 URL: www.harveys.ca UNITS (ATL): 9 UNITS (CAN): 260 MENU ITEMS: Burgers, chicken, salads, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in,
take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Ryan Lloyd
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JeSSy’S Pizza
TEL: 902-865-6666 URL: www.jessyspizza.ca UNITS (ATL): 13 UNITS (CAN): 13 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, burgers, donairs, chicken, fish, subs, poutine. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Robert Hammam
Jugo Juice (mty Group) TEL: 877-377-5846 FAX: 403-207-5875 URL: www.jugojuice.com UNITS (ATL): 2 UNITS (CAN): 127 MENU ITEMS: Smoothies, protein shakes, wraps. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
Jungle Jim’S reStaurantS SaFari eatertainment TEL: 877-745-5467 FAX: 709-745-5473 URL: www.junglejims.ca UNITS (ATL): 24 UNITS (CAN): 25 MENU ITEMS: Chicken, steak, ribs, seafood, pasta, burgers, sandwiches, salads, kids’ menu. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Stephen Pike
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Keg reStaurantS ltd.
salads, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Douglas Heinrich
Koya JaPan inc. (mty Group) TEL: 888-569-2872 FAX: 204-783-1749 URL: www.koyajapan.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 22 MENU ITEMS: Japanese cuisine, noodles, soups, sushi. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
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little caeSarS oF canada inc.
TEL: 905-822-7899 FAX: 905-822-9808 URL: www.littlecaesars.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 193 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, wings. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Dianne Clark
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manchu WoK
TEL: 905-946-7200 FAX: 905-946-8630 URL: www.manchuwok.com UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 75 MENU ITEMS: Chinese fast food. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Mariellen Clark
marble Slab creamery
TEL: 604-276-0242 FAX: 604-276-0138 URL: www.kegsteakhouse.com UNITS (ATL): 3 UNITS (CAN): 90 MENU ITEMS: Steak, prime rib, seafood. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: James Henderson
TEL: 403-287-7633 FAX: 403-283-7698 URL: www.marbleslab.ca UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 82 MENU ITEMS: Ice cream, ice cream cakes, cupcakes, shakes and smoothies. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Lien Trac
KernelS PoPcorn ltd.
mary broWn’S inc.
TEL: 416-487-4194 FAX: 416-487-3920 URL: www.kernelspopcorn.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 71 MENU ITEMS: Popcorn, soft drinks, seasonings, microwave corn. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bernice Sinopoli
TEL: 905-513-0044 FAX: 905-513-0050 URL: www.marybrowns.com UNITS (ATL): 50 UNITS (CAN): 105 MENU ITEMS: Chicken, sandwiches, wraps, salads, nonalcoholic beverages. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Peter Rakovalis
KFc canada (yum! restaurants international (Canada) TEL: 416-664-5200 FAX: 905-265-7505 URL: www.kfc.com UNITS (ATL): 57 UNITS (CAN): 663 MENU ITEMS: Chicken on the bone, sandwiches, snackables,
mcdonald’S reStaurantS oF canada ltd. TEL: 416-443-1000 FAX: 416-446-3420 URL: www.mcdonalds.ca UNITS (ATL): 119
UNITS (CAN): 1404 MENU ITEMS: Breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items, including hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, entree/side salads, coffee, etc. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: James Dallas Dawson
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt TEL: 647-723-5169 FAX: 647-723-5178 URL: www.menchies.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 84 MENU ITEMS: Self service payby-the-weight frozen yogurt. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: David Shneer
Mexicali rosa’s TEL: 877-477-3950 URL: www.mexicalirosas.com UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 4 MENU ITEMS: Fajitas, burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, nachos, margaritas. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Matt Youden
Mike’s restaurants inc. (Imvescor Inc) TEL: 514-341-5544 FAX: 514-341-6236 URL: www.mikes.ca UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 78 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, pasta, hot subs, salads, sandwiches, steak, barbecue chicken, veal, salmon, seafoods. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Peter Tsafoulias
Montana’s (cara) TEL: 905-760-2244 URL: www.montanas.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 92 MENU ITEMS: Varied.
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www.atlanticrestaurantnews.com
O C TO B E R 2 014 TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Ryan Lloyd
Moxie’s restaurants l.P. (nor) TEL: 403-543-2600 FAX: 403-543-2646 URL: www.moxies.com UNITS (ATL): 2 UNITS (CAN): 66 MENU ITEMS: Salads, entrees, desserts. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Laurids Skaarup
Mr. sub (mTY Group) TEL: 416-225-5545 FAX: 416-245-5536 URL: www.mrsub.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 313 MENU ITEMS: Submarine sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups, desserts, smoothies. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Ken Monteith
Mrs. Fields original cookies TEL: 905-426-2551 FAX: 905-426-2826 URL: www.mrsfields.ca UNITS (ATL): 3 UNITS (CAN): 18 MENU ITEMS: Cookies, pretzels, yogurt. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Walter Jusenchuk
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new York Fries
TEL: 416-963-5005 FAX: 416-963-4920 URL: www.newyorkfries.com UNITS (ATL): 13 UNITS (CAN): 129 MENU ITEMS: Fries, poutines, hot dogs, soft drinks and toppings. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Safiah Arooz
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orange Julius (DaIrY Queen canaDa Inc.) TEL: 905-639-1492 FAX: 905-681-3623 URL: www.orangejulius.com UNITS (ATL): 5 UNITS (CAN): 126 MENU ITEMS: Blended fruit drinks, smoothies, fresh fruit and vegetable juices. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Fiona Bottoms
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Panago Pizza inc.
TEL: 877-731-0310 FAX: 604-755-6014 URL: www.panago.com UNITS (ATL): 2 UNITS (CAN): 181 MENU ITEMS: Pizzas, salads, breadsticks and wings. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Todd Wylie
PaPa John’s TEL: 502-261-7272 FAX: 502-261-4324 URL: www.papajohnspizza.ca UNITS (ATL): 7 UNITS (CAN): 77 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, wings. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Mike Prentice
Pita Pit TEL: 855-PITA-PIT FAX: 613-546-1436 URL: www.pitapit.com UNITS (ATL): 10 UNITS (CAN): 182 MENU ITEMS: Pitas, salad, smoothies,soups, snacks. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Kevin Pressburger
Pizza delight (Imvescor Inc) TEL: 506-853-0990 FAX: 506-853-4131
URL: www.pizzadelight.com UNITS (ATL): 71 UNITS (CAN): 85 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, pasta, salads. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Craig Shannon
UNITS (CAN): 7 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, donairs, wings, salads, wraps, appetizers. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Rob Toulany
deli items, sandwiches, salads. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Tom Michalopoulos
second cuP ltd.
Pizza hut canada (Yum! resTauranTs InTernaTIonal (canaDa) companY)
Pretzel Maker canada TEL: 905-426-2551 FAX: 905-426-2826 URL: www.pretzelmaker.ca UNITS (ATL): 23 UNITS (CAN): 53 MENU ITEMS: Pretzels. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Walter Jusenchuk
TEL: 416-664-5200 FAX: 905-265-7505 URL: www.pizzahut.ca UNITS (ATL): 14 UNITS (CAN): 345 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, salads, pasta, wings. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Douglas Heinrich
Pizza Partito TEL: 506-776-5633 FAX: 506-776-8793 URL: www.pizzapartito.com UNITS (ATL): 16 UNITS (CAN): 17 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, garlic fingers, chicken, sandwiches, fries, donairs. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Aurele Drysdale
Pizza shack holdings TEL: 506-874-4236 FAX: 506-523-6341 URL: www.pizzashack.ca UNITS (ATL): 30 UNITS (CAN): 30 MENU ITEMS: Pizza, donairs, garlic fingers, chicken wings, subs, calzones, Caesar salad, lasagna. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Raymond Bourque
Pizza town TEL: 902-221-8696 FAX: 902-876-8955 URL: www.pizzatown.ca UNITS (ATL): 7
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Quiznos canada restaurant corP
TEL: 647-259-0333 FAX: 647-259-0341 URL: www.quiznos.ca UNITS (ATL): 18 UNITS (CAN): 332 MENU ITEMS: Oven-toasted sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Marc Choy
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relish gourMet burgers
TEL: 506-454-9331 URL: www.relishyou.ca UNITS (ATL): 6 UNITS (CAN): 6 MENU ITEMS: Burgers, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Rivers Corbett
robin’s (chaIrman’s BranD corp) TEL: 416-646-0987 FAX: 416-646-2204 URL: www.robinsdonuts.com UNITS (ATL): 46 UNITS (CAN): 113 MENU ITEMS: Donuts, coffee,
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TEL: 905-362-1818 FAX: 905-362-1121 URL: www.secondcup.com UNITS (ATL): 21 UNITS (CAN): 363 MENU ITEMS: Coffees, specialty coffees, teas, juices, cakes, pastries, sandwiches. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Wayne Vanderhorst
sMittY’s canada ltd. TEL: 403-229-3838 FAX: 403-229-3899 URL: www.smittys.ca UNITS (ATL): 10 UNITS (CAN): 96 MENU ITEMS: Breakfast, pancakes, waffles, hamburgers, sandwiches, salads. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Chris Chan
sMoke’s Poutinerie TEL: 905-427-4444 FAX: 905-427-9944 URL: www.smokespoutinerie.com UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 35 MENU ITEMS: Poutine and topping. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Mike Graham
subwaY Franchise sYsteMs oF canada ltd. TEL: 800-888-4848 FAX: 203-876-6674 URL: www.subway.com UNITS (ATL): 202 UNITS (CAN): 3063 MENU ITEMS: Submarine sandwiches and salads. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in,
take-out, drive-thru, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Kathleen Bell
sukiYaki (mTY Group) TEL: 514-336-8885 FAX: 514-336-9222 URL: www.mtygroup.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 25 MENU ITEMS: Japanese cuisine. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
swiss chalet (cara) TEL: 905-760-2244 URL: www.swisschalet.ca UNITS (ATL): 16 UNITS (CAN): 224 MENU ITEMS: Chicken, ribs. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Ryan Lloyd
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taco bell oF canada (Yum! resTauranTs InTernaTIonal (canaDa) companY TEL: 416-664-5200 FAX: 905-265-8204 URL: www.tacobell.ca UNITS (ATL): 9 UNITS (CAN): 182 MENU ITEMS: Tacos, burritos, nachos, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Douglas Heinrich
taco del Mar TEL: 855-425-0868 FAX: 206-624-7065 URL: www.tacodelmar.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 43 MENU ITEMS: Burritos, tacos, quesadillas. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Sherry Ann Walters
tcbY canada (mTY Group) TEL: 514-336-8885 FAX: 514-336-9222
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16 | URL: www.tcbycanada.com UNITS (ATL): 27 UNITS (CAN): 100 MENU ITEMS: Frozen yogurt, ice cream. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
Teriyaki experience TEL: 905-337-7777 FAX: 905-337-0331 URL: www.teriyakiexperience.com UNITS (ATL): 3 UNITS (CAN): 110 MENU ITEMS: Teriyaki rice and noodle meals, noodle soup bowls, wraps, salad, sushi. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Nik Jurkovic
TreaTs canada corporaTion TEL: 613-563-4073 FAX: 613-562-1982 URL: www.treats.com UNITS (ATL): 10 UNITS (CAN): 62 MENU ITEMS: Coffee, baked goods, sandwiches, soups. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Amanda Milette
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Vanelli’s resTauranTs limiTed (MTY Group)
TEL: 905-764-7066 FAX: 905-764-8426 URL: www.vanellisrestaurants.com UNITS (ATL): 3 UNITS (CAN): 43 MENU ITEMS: Pizza and pasta. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
Thai express (MTY Group) TEL: 514-336-8885 FAX: 514-336-9222 URL: www.thaiexpress.ca UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 197 MENU ITEMS: Pad thai, pad sew. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Dennis Ng
Villa madina (MTY Group) TEL: 514-336-8885 FAX: 514-336-9222 URL: www.villamadina.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 43 MENU ITEMS: Pitas, salads, entrees, desserts. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bill Hamam
Tim horTons (TDL Group) TEL: 905-845-6511 FAX: 905-845-1536 URL: www.timhortons.com UNITS (ATL): 363 UNITS (CAN): 3578 MENU ITEMS: Coffee, tea, specialty coffee, donuts, muffins, cookies, soup, sandwiches, chili, wraps. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Victoria Lynch
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Wendy’s resTauranTs of canada inc.
TimoThy’s World coffee (Threecaf BranDs canaDa Inc.) TEL: 905-482-7300 FAX: 905-482-7330 URL: www.timothyscafes.com UNITS (ATL): 4 UNITS (CAN): 77 MENU ITEMS: Coffee, lattes, tea, hot chocolate, frappes, bottled drinks, pastries, cookies, muffins and croissants. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Ian McDougall
TEL: 905-849-7685 FAX: 905-849-5545 URL: www.wendys.ca UNITS (ATL): 35 UNITS (CAN): 369 MENU ITEMS: Hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, french fries, chili, baked potato, poutine. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, drive-thru. PERSONNEL NAME: Jane Dann
WesT side charlie’s
TEL: 709-738-4747 FAX: 709-726-4849 URL: www.westsidecharlies.com UNITS (ATL): 11 UNITS (CAN): 11 MENU ITEMS: Wings, chicken, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in. PERSONNEL NAME: Wade Gravelle
Wok Box fresh asian kiTchen TEL: 778-571-4200 FAX: 778-571-4400 URL: www.wokbox.ca UNITS (ATL): 3 UNITS (CAN): 46 MENU ITEMS: Stirfrys, rice bowls, soups. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out, delivery. PERSONNEL NAME: Lawrence Eade
Works GourmeT BurGer BisTro,The TEL: 855-799-6757 FAX: 855-699-6757 URL: www.worksburger.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 28 MENU ITEMS: Burgers, fries. TYPE OF SERVICE: Dine-in, take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Bruce Miller
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yoGen fruz canada inc. (mTy Group) TEL: 905-479-8762 FAX: 905-479-5235 URL: www.yogenfruz.com UNITS (ATL): 1 UNITS (CAN): 129 MENU ITEMS: Frozen yogurt, soft serve yogurt, smoothies and ice cream. TYPE OF SERVICE: Take-out. PERSONNEL NAME: Sarah Kulbatski
Please email any changes to data for our online listings or next year’s report to LwU@CANAdIANRESTAURANTNEwS.COM, subject line: FRANChISE REPORT 2014 ChANgES.
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Cheeselady’s gouda gets new home NEW GLASGOW, PEI—Chef Jeff McCourt has taken the torch from P.E.I. Cheeselady Martina ter Beek, taking over production of her gouda and ramping up capacity at his recently opened Glasgow Glen Farm. The 20-year foodservice industry veteran opened the new location in August on Lower New Glasgow Road in New Glasgow, PEI. At a crossroads in his career, McCourt said he wanted his own business. Hearing a rumour the owner of Cheeselady’s Gouda Cheese was considering retirement, he approached ter Beek about taking over the reigns and in 2012, she agreed. “I wanted to do something for myself and for my family. I’ve got two young children, nine and six, and it was very important to me that they grow up 1) with a good work ethic and 2) that I arm them with some skills,” McCourt told ARN. He apprenticed with ter Beek in April of 2013 and, while the new store and production facility was under construction, McCourt operated the 25-year-old shop in North Winslow, PEI. Already familiar with cheesemaking, McCourt learned “the art of her gouda. The gouda will always be Cheeselady’s gouda,” he said. McCourt also apprenticed with Ontariobased Monforte Dairy’s Ruth Klahsen and adopted her community supported agriculturestyle, cheese-shares business model to help finance the new facility. “It was a great way to raise capital as well as build a customer base at the same time, because
once they eat their share, they always come back for more,” said McCourt, who added it was wonderful to receive support from the community in this way. Built on a 14-acre lot with strawberries and orchards, the new facility is 40 by 70 feet. “We’ve essentially tripled our storage capacity,” said McCourt. Glasglow Glen Farm has also started deliveries and McCourt said they are placing more of a focus on foodservice clients. McCourt had been buying cheese from the Cheeselady throughout his career and said he didn’t want the brand to disappear. “I knew the product and it was something that has great brand recognition and a great history,” he said. “It’s one of those iconic P.E.I foods; she’s been here for so long, everyone knows Cheeselady’s gouda.” McCourt will continue making her recipes as well as add some new varieties to the mix and has already introduced several new cheeses including caraway, smoked peppercorn, pizza, pesto and “bluda”, a blue cheese and gouda cross. He is also making a pecorino-style cheese with sheep’s milk and future plans include adding goat, fresh and feta cheeses into the goudabased line-up. McCourt said he takes a similar approach to creating new cheeses as to creating new dishes, testing and adjusting for flavour, colour and texture. The new facility also has a large wood-fired oven for making bread and pizza to showcase the cheese.
McCain closing P.E.I. plant FLORENCEVILLE-BRISTOL, NB—McCain Foods Canada is closing its Borden-Carleton, PEI, french fry facility, which will impact 121 employees. When the plant closes on Oct. 31, the New Brunswick-based company will have eight remaining manufacturing facilities in Canada. “Closing a plant is one of the toughest decisions we ever face,” Frank van Schaayk, Americas president for McCain Foods, said in a release. “We deeply regret the personal impact the closure will have on our P.E.I. employees and we are committed to providing support and resources to those affected.” The company said the decision to close the plant was influenced by a shift in demand for french fries from North America to other regions, the stronger Canadian dollar over the past decade and increased efficiencies at other facilities. According to the company, production at the P.E.I. plant decreased by two-thirds over the last 10 years and the plant is now the company’s smallest in North America. “The closure of a facility like this can have real impacts on the local economy and we will
contribute up to $2 million and work with the provincial government to identify economic development initiative to create sustainable alternate employment for our affected employees and the Borden-Carlton community,” said van Schaayk. According the company, McCain is offering early retirement benefits, severance packages “exceeding regulatory requirements” and retraining options. P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz called the closure “regrettable news.” Ghiz said the plant buys about four per cent of the province’s potatoes. “It’s not going to be a devastating impact but at the same time, it’s good to have a second processor in the province,” he told CBC. According to the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, McCain contracted with 23 Island farms for delivery of more than $7 million worth of potatoes to the Borden-Carleton plant in 2014. In a release, the board stated McCain will honour contracts with growers this year. McCain Foods also signed a deal on Aug. 20 to sell its North American frozen pizza business to Dr. Oetker GmbH.
Colabor acquires foodservice supplier BOUCHERVILLE, QC—Foodservice wholesaler and distributor Colabor Group Inc. announced on Sept. 11 that it has acquired a majority of the assets of Marcotte Alimentation, a Trois-Rivières, QC-based distributor of food and non-food products. Marcotte supplies to its foodservice and retail customers a range of fresh (including meat), dry, frozen and packaging products. According to a release, the acquisition raises Colabor’s profile as a distributor in the Mauri-
cie and Centre du Québec regions while securing the sales volume of the corporation’s wholesale segment. According to the release, Marcotte has annual sales of about $50 million and its net contribution to Colabor’s sales should be about $25 million. Marcotte’s management team, led by Mr. Jean-Guy Ladrière, will remain in place. Colabor serves the foodservice market in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.
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Nova Scotia forms wine development board Liquor laws relaxed in Charlottetown “We’re looking at the industry as a whole,” HALIFAX—The provincial government has reached out to stakeholders to create a new Colwell said. Key to the success of the industry is the wine development board in order to capitalize on Nova Scotia’s growing industry. growing demand for local products. “Every bottle that is 100 per cent Nova Scotian adds Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell said the somewhere between $18 and $16 a bottle to board aims to move the province’s wine industry forward and increase wine sales across the the economy, where if we bring a wine from another area, it only adds 70 cents to our econprovince. “The idea is to make this an industry-drivomy,” Colwell said. en board that can really react to the industry According to Colwell, the province’s soil is comparable to Bordeaux and the industry’s and take barriers away to help them grow the industry in a very strong and high-quality top winemakers are looking to work in Nova Scotia. way,” Colwell told ARN. “We’re poised to compete internationally The board will also lobby to allow other provinces to import their wine to the province with the products we have as well as work domestically to grow the grapes here,” he said. and to accept Nova Scotian wine imports. The board includes: Stewart Creaser, presiColwell said they are looking at ways to get dent of the Winery Association of Nova Scomore wine into the province’s restaurants and 17236 Dr FAM CAN Atlantic Restaurant News PGand Ad MECH:Layout 1 9/16/14 4:21 PM Carl Page 1 owner of Avondale Sky Winery; even looking into ways for restaurants to be Half tia able to sell Nova Scotian wine. Sparkes, owner of Devonian Coast Wines; Ben-
jamin Bridge Winery owner Gerry McConnell; Gerry Chute, president of the Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia; grape growers Jim Warner and Michael Lightfoot; Restaurants Canada vice-president Luc Erjavec; and Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation president and chief executive officer Bret Mitchell. The board will also include representatives from the departments of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism and Agriculture and the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency. “We’ve got top quality people dedicated to growing the economy in the province with a top quality product and I’m just absolutely thrilled that this is actually happening and the response we’ve had to the board has been very exciting,” Colwell said. According to the province, last year more than $16 million of wine from Nova Scotia was sold.
CHARLOTTETOWN—The Charlottetown city council has relaxed its liquor laws for restaurants. Under previous regulations, small family restaurants were lumped into the same category as nightclubs and needed to be more than 100 metres away from churches, daycares and schools. Small restaurants applying for a liquor licence had to meet the same standards as nightclubs. “The changes passed separate out simple eating establishments from the definition of entertainment establishments,” Coun. Rob Lantz told The Guardian. “Eating establishments can now get a liquor licence even if they are within 100 metres of those other uses.” The laws came under scrutiny after a member of the city staff noticed a small restaurant in a mall was within the 100-metre buffer zone of a nearby daycare. Lantz said it seemed extreme to deny the licence for this and similar restaurants.
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1. From left: Peter Dewar, Adam Blanchard, Andrew Hodge, Shaun Hussey, Roary MacPherson, Roger Andrews and Angie Ryan. 2. From left: Bronze medallist Jhao-Rong Fu, Taiwan; gold medallist Peter Lex, Germany; silver medallist Rupert Garcia, Canada 3. Andrew Farrell.
Two members of the kitchen brigade of the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, in St. John’s— executive chef Roary MacPherson and pastry chef Angie Ryan—and five other Atlantic Canada culinarians were invited to prepare a special Eastern Provinces-themed dinner this summer at James Beard House, in New York. Joining MacPherson and Ryan, and also from St. John’s, were Andrew Hodge, thenexecutive chef, Holiday Inn; Adam Blanchard, Five Brothers Artisan Cheese; Shaun Hussey, Chinched Bistro; and Roger Andrews, Relish Gourmet Burgers. Peter Dewar, Nova Scotia Community College Kingstec Campus, Kentville, NS, also participated. Rupert Garcia, chef de partie of the Calgary Golf and Country Club, took second place as the Canadian representative at the 38th Concours International des Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition held in Durban, South Africa on Sept. 5. The competition, open to young cooks under the age of 27, was hosted by La Chaine des Rôtisseurs.
Twenty young chefs, chosen through selection competitions held in their respective countries, were given four hours to prepare a three-course meal for four people using ingredients presented in a black box, which included a whole Cape salmon, a whole chicken, ostrich filet, butternut squash, avocado, tomato and pawpaw. A panel of international judges awarded marks for taste, presentation, originality and kitchen technique. Garcia created a menu of poached Cape salmon served chilled with a salad of pawpaw, mussels and onions, tomato ice, mussel dressing and crisp salmon skin; oven roasted ostrich filet with pulled chicken rosti potato, butternut squash puree, roasted chicken bone reduction, baby corn and zucchini; and avocado cremeux with white and dark Vahlrona chocolate entremet, avocado mousse, blueberry salsa and caramel sauce. “The experience itself is the ultimate prize, and being awarded to represent our country on the next level is a great honour,” said Garcia, who qualified for the international competition last October. A graduate of Bishop McNally
High School and the Southern Alberta Institution of Technology (SAIT) Professional Cooking Program in 2012, Garcia currently works under the guidance of Calgary Golf and Country Club executive chef Vincent Parkinson. Chef Andrew Farrell of Halifax’s 2 Doors Down was named Master of the Mac & Cheese at the 2014 Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-Off at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition. Farrell prepared crispy greens macaroni and cheese made with three goudas and one blue cheese from That Dutchman’s Farm in Economy, NS, to beat out his three opponents from across the country. The noodles were topped with a kale, broccoli and brussels sprouts crust and served with hot sauce. The other participants were Food Network host and cookbook author Bal Arneson, David Bohati, executive chef at Market Restaurant in Calgary, and Kevin Durkee, owner of Cheesewerks in Toronto. The judging panel consisted of journalist Sue Riedl, food editor Rita DeMontis, Langdon Hall executive chef Jason Bangerter and Halifax
resident Lorie Chater, who won a nation-wide contest to be a cheese taster and judge. After 41 years with McDonald’s Corporation, Jeff Stratton is retiring from his post as the company’s U.S. president. The board of directors has elected former McDonald’s executive Mike Andres to the role, effective Oct. 15. Andres will report to McDonald’s president and chief executive officer Don Thompson and also oversee the Canadian market. Andres’ most recent role was CEO and chairman of Logan’s Roadhouse, Inc. He began his McDonald’s career as a manager for his family-owned McDonald’s in Northern California. He went on to work for the company in several leadership roles, starting in marketing and working in operations and development before becoming regional vice-president and senior vice-president. From 2001 to 2007, Andres served as president and CEO of Boston Market while it was a McDonald’s subsidiary. From 2010 to 2012, Andres served as president of the central division in the U.S.
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Meet Chef Grant van Gameren, the culinary pioneer and driving force behind Toronto’s Bar Isabel, named as Canada’s Best New Restaurant in 2014. We asked him to reveal his sources for inspiration and ingredients, and tell us what’s on his radar for the future. CAPTURE THE ESSENCE O F W H AT ’S H A P P E N I N G IN THE CANADIAN C U L I N A R Y S C E N E.
Orphans cooking with orphans. In Toronto, the people opening restaurants now are in their late 20s, early 30s who haven’t been slugging it out in a brigade-style kitchen for years like the founding fathers. There’s a generation of us rebellious teenagers just opening up restaurants, hiring our friends and taking risks. Hopefully, these young chefs grow into the leaders of Canada’s modern culinary movement. HOW DO CULINARY T R E N D S I M PA C T YO U R MENU?
I’m too busy to concern myself with trends. Evolution is made, not speculated. If there’s anything I’m into, it’s about finding something new. Maybe not something new to the world, but new to me. That’s my food trend. W H AT I S I N S P I R I N G YO U RIGHT NOW?
Gooseneck barnacles-pre-historiclooking crustacean creatures, super tasty. Only in season for about a month. When I sourced some, I was so excited that I posted a photo on
Instagram. 48 hours later there was an article about how these are the “next new thing.” ASIDE FROM THE F O O D , W H AT M A K E S A G R E AT R E S TA U R A N T EXPERIENCE?
Everything you put on the table matters. The details can dramatically elevate the dining experience—like a good quality napkin, artisanal bread or a bottle of S.Pellegrino. Even the bottle itself is beautiful; it’s like a bottle of wine. Water is the first thing served at the table and the last thing that remains. So it only makes sense that the kind of water you serve is considered. If you think about it, filtered water or tap water—it’s only as good as its source. GIVE US A HINT ABOUT
GRANT VA N GA M E R E N
W H AT ’S O N T H E H O R I Z O N F O R YO U ?
I’m excited about a new venture I’m working on inspired by the Pintxo bars of San Sebastian. It’s a completely different way of eating, very social and a new style for Toronto. It’s food-at-your-ownpace that takes traditional tapas to a whole new level.
“E V E RY T H I N G YO U P U T O N T H AT TA B L E M AT T E R S . T H E D E TA I L S C A N D R A M A T I C A L LY E L E VA T E T H E D I N I N G EXPERIENCE, LIKE A GOOD QUALITY NAPKIN, ARTISANAL BREAD OR A BOT TLE OF S.PELLEGRINO.”
For more inspiration visit
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Angie Mosier Brock Elbank
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