October 2019 Digital Issue

SERIES
After the meeting, I sit down with Hadida for
a broader industry discussion. Despite his belief
that the current restaurant model is broken, he’s
positive about the progress made in the last 10
years. He believes the restaurant industry is in
a transitionary period. “I was fed that passion
bullshit for a long time; I was institutionalized,”
he says of a business model that was old, tired,
and hadn’t changed in years. When asked what’s
changed, he compares the industry to “a piece
of kitchen equipment you move and see that it’s
dirty underneath. In the past, the industry has not
addressed the dirt, we’ve just put the equipment
back — we’re now addressing that dirt.”
It’s a Friday night and time for me to enjoy The Restaurant at
Pearl Morissette as a guest. My companions — one of whom is
vegetarian — and I arrive and after a warm greeting, are shown
to our table. Wine orders are taken and we have the menu
explained by one of the servers. My friend comments that the
term ‘vegetarian’ was never used when it was explained she’ll be
enjoying a menu with a few different ingredients. In all, four
of the 10 courses come out prepared slightly differently for my
guest, including a dish prepared with wild mushrooms in place
of fish. At the end of the meal, each of us is presented a printed
copy of the menu we enjoyed to take home. We’re all left speechless
when we see that my vegetarian friend’s menu featured the
exact dishes she had enjoyed that evening. We expected her
menu would read like ours, but the team had taken the time to
personalize a version of the menu just for her.
A life-long vegetarian, my friend says she’s never had a
dining experience with a set menu where she’s not felt that she
was being ‘accommodated for’ or even made to feel a burden.
Upon leaving the restaurant, we thanked Hadida for a magical
experience. My friend told him how special she was made to feel
by the restaurant’s seamless accommodation of her vegetarianism.
A smile crosses the chef’s face as he receives the praise
for his team’s effort. At least for this moment, I’m certain he’s
pleased he decided to face the challenge of dietary restrictions
head-on. FH
ALL HANDS ON DECK Chef
Daniel Hadida is handson
in all parts of the
restaurant’s operation —
from staff meetings (left)
to service prep
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