FOOD: Recipes for community hubs pt. 1

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 | BY ALLIE HUNWICKS | spacingtoronto.ca

“This is intended to be a much more participatory environment. By coming here you are more actively engaged in what’s going on with food than to go to a restaurant with a kitchen in the back and with people you never see and food that comes from somewhere that nobody ever knows about,”

The Depanneur was started by Len Senater, a former design firm partner who had never worked in the restaurant business before. Initially put off by the resto business model, Senater created The Dep and it’s sister company, The Rusholme Park Supper Club to reflect what he loved most about the communion of food. The Supper Club is a truly unique experience, wherein anyone (professional chef or otherwise) can take over The Dep’s kitchen and host a dinner party.

Senater describes it as a place “…where professional chefs but also student chefs, or retired chefs, or caterers or even just amateur foodies, like myself, could have a venue where they could come and cook and share that food with an enthusiastic audience.” Like an informal setting where there’s no separation between what happens in the kitchen and what happens at the table. In turn, The Depanneur is like a cornerstore meets cafe, says Senater, where they sell ingredients used in their cooking and stir up fabulous snacks and brunches.

“This is intended to be a much more participatory environment. By coming here you are more actively engaged in what’s going on with food than to go to a restaurant with a kitchen in the back and with people you never see and food that comes from somewhere that nobody ever knows about,” said Senater.