March 3rd, 2010 by Dawn Becker

As an event planner for more than ten years, you usually find me behind the scenes orchestrating the timing and execution of a conference or awards show. So it’s nice to report on an event that I attended as a guest where I could fully participate and network with like-minded people at yesterday’s Terroir 2010 hospitality industry symposium.

When you’re talking about the hospitality industry you can bet that the food is going to be outstanding and that it was. In a few days, I’m sure there will be many photos posted on Flickr showing the multitude of scrumptious food items that made an appearance at Terroir 4. Today, I’m betting the die-hard organizers are simply recovering from yesterday’s revelry. My copy of the delicious but slightly overwhelming lunch menu is above. To me, the true value of this event comes from meeting the eclectic participants. Terroir 4 offered great networking, if you’re into that kind of thing, where every single person I met had a serious passion for food, whether they were restauranteurs, chefs, servers, industry suppliers, culinary students, writers or otherwise. In terms of content they touched on a variety of areas. Here are the comments that stood out to me.

Alan Richman is a distinguished writer who was recently appointed Dean of Food Journalism at the French Culinary Institute. He was a panel speaker on Media In The Kitchen and stated that “no one listens to writers any more”. (Interesting viewpoint to a new food writer!) Later when asked “What makes a great food city?”, Richman replied that “you can’t plan it. It becomes what it becomes. It has nothing to do with the media.” He also said he had a problem with reviewers today focusing their attention primarily on new restaurants. The old restaurants, he said, should be reviewed to see if they are improving or getting worse. I see the merit in this comment.

Sasha Chapman was on the same panel. She was the former food editor of Toronto Life and continues to write regular columns about food. When asked about her favourite food city, Chapman said Tokyo (currently mine as well). “When the food culture is so pervasive that makes a destination incredible,” she said. I wholeheartedly agree.

For the concurrent morning session, I chose to attend Restaurant Review which discussed what it takes to be successful in the restaurant business. Jenn Agg, co-owner of the Black Hoof said if you “do what you want and crystalize it, people will come.” I suppose if you have the fortune of opening a darling of a restaurant that’s seen pretty quick success this would be true for you. She also stated that the level of service in Toronto is appalling. Agree or disagree?

Chris McDonald, owner of Cava, said “You can’t follow a trend without sincerity. You have to believe in what it is.” McDonald had a humble moment saying that “I don’t feel I’m a particularly good manager. I get by, just barely, on passion and with the help of very skilled cooks and servers.”

In the afternoon, I attended a lively debate on tipping, whether we should abolish it or not. The first vote was 40% for getting rid of tipping and 58% against. I suppose 2% did not vote. After hearing all the arguments, the vote at the end remained stubbornly the same. If you’d like to know, yes I am all for tipping. I like to be able to comment on the service non-verbally with my tip. And I’m not one of those who feels I have to tip any standard percentage though I think I’m probably more on the generous side than less. It’s just my nature.

The day closed with David Kinch, Executive Chef of the many-starred Manresa Restaurant in California. To my delight, he predicts that Asian influence will continue to grow in restaurants explaining that “the great places there (in Asia) are based on terroir already.”

I walked away from Terroir 4 knowing that I got value for my money. The ticket was about $100 if I remember correctly. I would definitely attend again and if you’re at all interested in the food and hospitality industry, you should make a note to look for details on Terroir 5 in your day planner for 2011.