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Serendipity, timing and a keen business model carved Darcy MacDonell’s entrepreneurial pathSTORY BY HELEN CATELLIER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGARET MULLIGAN

22 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY APRIL 2015

HOMEGROWN Farmhouse Tavern owner, Darcy MacDonell (left), champions Ontario’s bounty. His beverage program features Ontario brews and wines exclusively

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STORY BY HELEN CATELLIER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGARET MULLIGAN

COVER STORY

GROWING

up on a farm as the son

of a local politician in

eastern Ontario, Darcy

MacDonell watched his

parents host gatherings

of up to 100 guests for

corn roasts, fish fries and

barbecues. Hospitality

and relationship building

were inherent parts of his

childhood, so it wasn’t

a stretch when a seren-

dipitous chain of events

and acquaintances led

the commerce major to

follow an entrepreneurial

path into hospitality.

While attending the

University of Guelph in

Ontario, MacDonell met

Bruce McAdams, assistant

professor at the School of

Hospitality and Tourism

Management, and for-

mer VP of Operations

at Oliver & Bonacini

Restaurants in Toronto.

He subsequently landed

jobs managing front-

of-house operations at

Oliver & Bonacini, La

Société bistro in Toronto

and SIR Corp. based in

Burlington, Ont. During

this time, he developed

longstanding relation-

ships with suppliers,

who literally followed

him when he opened

Farmhouse Tavern in

June 2012 in Toronto’s

Junction neighbourhood.

Moray Tawse, founder

of Tawse Winery in

Vineland, Ont., frequents

the restaurant for din-

ner; Beau’s All Natural

Brewing Company

is located close to

MacDonell’s hometown

of Alexandria, Ont.; and

Junction Craft Brewing

FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY APRIL 2015 23

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is a stone’s throw from Farmhouse

Tavern. “It comes down to rela-

tionships first and foremost,” says

MacDonell. “If I find a [product] I

like, I get to know the people. I’ll give

someone I’ve known for years four

or five listings as opposed to trying to

find the newest, hottest supplier. That

doesn’t interest me as much as a rap-

port that’s longstanding.”

A core tenet of Farmhouse

Tavern’s business model and

success lies in the restaurant’s

Ontario-centric philosophy. “As

people become more educated

about the way our current food

system operates, and the growing

stress it puts on our environment,

economy and overall health, they

want to make conscious choices

they feel good about,” says Tom

Wade, executive chef of Farmhouse

Tavern and sister restaurant,

Farmer’s Daughter. “People really

like that we support local farmers,

prepare everything in-house and

use fresh ingredients that are not

shipped from another continent.”

Since MacDonell and Wade

know their suppliers intimately, no

money is spent on marketing —

their partners spread the gospel.

“Because we are proponents of

everything Ontario, the local farm-

ers, suppliers and producers like

us,” MacDonell boasts. “Because we

only sell Ontario wine, the people

in Niagara (Ont.) love us. Because

we only sell Ontario beer, the craft

beer producers love us. So it’s nice

when all the people you’re buy-

ing from are big fans. People go

to Prince Edward County (Ont.),

and they stop at Norman Hardie

Winery and they hear about us.

Or people in Ottawa know we sell

Beau’s in Toronto.”

A thrifty philosophy — furnish-

ing the restaurant with refurbished

items and not spending money on

printed menus, plastics, a website

or advertising — allows MacDonell

to purchase the best possible local

food and drink, approximately 40

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TUCK IN Farmhouse Tavern’s signature dish, the Ploughman’s Platter, is an ode to the snacking and grazing style of farmers and winemakers. The com-position includes meats, cheeses, veg, mustards and a pickled duck egg

24 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY APRIL 2015

FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM

per cent of expenditures. “We save in

other areas to offset,” he notes. “There’s

no bussers and hostesses, so there’s some

labour savings. We don’t have straws,

because straws just end up in the garbage.

So there’s a lot of things we don’t do.”

In that vein, plastic bags are not

provided, and glass ramekins filled

with ketchup or sauces are handed to

take-out customers. Neighbours drop

them off the next time they walk by.

Also, nearly every surface at Farmhouse

Tavern is chock-a-block with a quirky

collection of found objects, family por-

traits, repurposed furniture and nostal-

gic mementoes from MacDonell’s family

home, bringing his vision of a knick-

knacky old farmhouse to life. The res-

taurant seats 60 in three distinct rooms,

plus another 32 on the patio.

Opening costs were only $30,000,

partly because the general contracting

was done by a crew from the Discovery

Channel’s Junk Raiders. MacDonell

fortuitously met the show producers

through his would-be landlord, who

wanted her property spruced up. The

stars aligned, as the producers were

looking for a restaurant themed around

repurposed and refurbished items. It

was a win-win for all three parties.

The chalkboard menu is a deliber-

ate business strategy and supports

MacDonell’s sustainability values. It

doesn’t pigeonhole him but allows flex-

ibility to serve the best food available.

“Since day 1 we’ve had the Ploughman’s

Platter ($22) [with] meats, cheeses,

pickled veg and some kind of fish. But

what that is at 6 o’clock and at 9:30 is a

little different, because we’re just using

all the stuff in the kitchen,” he says.

“We’ve always used the same fish sup-

plier, [but] how we do the fish changes

week to week, depending on the season-

ality of the items.” Other menu options

have included Jim Giggi’s trout ($22),

and a 14-ounce, 50-day dry-aged rib

eye with corn ($40). Although the food

is switched out regularly, the Barnyard

Burger ($20) — topped with a duck egg,

bacon and goat’s cheese is a mainstay.

Though the chefs have creative

license, MacDonell calls for a well-

rounded menu that ensures longevity

by appealing to a wide cross-section

of people. “You can’t be all things to

everybody, right? But you have to have

something for everyone,” he advises.

“Having fish on the menu, vegetarian, a

gluten-free option all the time is a way

to not lose the vote. Also, you have to

look in your room and see young people

and old people, and people from this

industry and from that industry,” he

adds. “Things change so fast, and people

are always looking for the new hot

thing. If you rely on one demographic,

and that demographic finds something

new or better or more exciting, or they

get bored, you’re done.” MacDonell gets

a kick out of seeing three generations of

families dining at his restaurants.

The staid Sunday night supper also

gets turned on its head. All food and

open alcohol are used up on Sunday

nights to ensure nothing is thrown out

or gets stale while the restaurant sits

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26 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY APRIL 2015 FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM

closed from Monday through Wednesday.

“We do something called Fuck Mondays

every Sunday night,” MacDonell says. “The

goal is to blow everything out of the kitchen

so there’s no waste.” As items run out, they’re

crossed off the chalkboard, and alcohol is

discounted to drain any lingering beer and

wine bottles. Hourly specials add up to big

savings for customers, with $6 pints from

6 p.m. to 7 p.m., $8 wine from 8 p.m. to 9

p.m., and 50 per cent off food from 9 p.m.

to 10 p.m. “It’s acceptable to people that you

walk up and scratch out items that

are sold out,” he adds. “Whereas if

you have a menu in front of you,

and it’s sold out, that can be frus-

trating. People get a kick out of it

when you walk up and you scratch

it out.”

MacDonell’s decisions to remain

closed 60 per cent of the time and to

shut down the restaurant a couple

times per year are also intentional

business choices. “Restaurants should

think like the rest of the world. If

you want to go see a movie, and it’s

at 6:55 or at 9:15, that’s when you

go,” he explains. “If I was to draw 18

people on a Monday night, probably

not worth it. If I can get 11 of them

to come between Thursday and Sunday … I’m

opening the doors for seven people; definitely

not worth it.”

But some revenue lost from closing the

restaurant for holidays, vacations, pop-up

events and road trips is recouped through

OPEN-DOOR POLICY The open kitchen adds rustic flair to Farmhouse Tavern. “Being able to see guests enjoying themselves, and smiling when they eat something my team and I have created, is the best part of my day,” says chef Tom Wade

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Hunt Camp, a prix-fixe themed event fea-

turing anything you would hunt or fish.

Seats are pre-sold for an influx of cash, and

a departure from the Ontario-centric menu

allows staff to experiment with international

wines and cheeses. The $150 meal usually

features a fish, a bird, two meats and lots of

vegetables. “It’s not a moneymaker. I don’t

look at it that way. All of a sudden you get

a week where you have no money coming

in, then you get an influx of cash. So, if you

sell a month of (weekly) Hunt Camp din-

ners, you’re getting $6,000 in the bank in a

day,” says MacDonell, explaining that’s not

enough to recoup all lost revenue. “It was

borne out of my need to do something dif-

ferent and fun.”

The need to scratch a creative itch also

drove MacDonell to open an offshoot res-

taurant in April 2013. Farmer’s Daughter

is open Wednesday through Sunday.

With an initial investment of $90,000, the

MacDonell-designed concept of a sleek,

sexy and urban restaurant with a seafood-

oriented menu, hasn’t translated into the

same success Farmhouse Tavern enjoys.

Though the proprietor doesn’t disclose

specific sales or profit margins, he notes his

inaugural restaurant comes away with more

than double the national profit margin

average, which Toronto-based Restaurants

Canada reports as 4.2 per cent, according to

its “Foodservice Facts 2014.”

But change is coming to Farmer’s

Daughter, which seats 38 inside and 42 out-

side. Wood accents, an easier-to-read chalk-

board menu, a new kids’ menu and food

that is lighter and less fancy will simplify the

cuisine and warm up the stark decor. And,

because Wade is now overseeing both out-

lets, there are efficiencies to be gained, such

as with batch cooking and smoking larger

quantities of food.

These modifications will hopefully bring

a groundswell of customers who’ve already

been enjoying the patio and revamped

brunch dishes (nothing on the menu costs

more than $17). “Community support is

very important to the success of a restau-

rant, especially in a tightly knit neighbour-

hood such as The Junction,” notes Wade.

“These changes are geared towards satisfying

the needs of our local clientele but also to

strengthen the Farmhouse brand,” Wade adds.

“[At Farmer’s Daughter] I created some-

thing totally different,” says MacDonell.

But unfortunately, not enough customers

flocked to the eatery. The restaurateur is

confident the revamped Farmer’s Daughter

will deliver the quality food and service his

customers expect, garnering the level of

support enjoyed at his flagship. l