Jay Meyers prepares for a busy evening behind the bar in the Hudson Kitchen dining room on January 15, 2014.JENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail
At TIFF 2013, you were nobody until somebody saw you at Hudson Kitchen. The Dundas West restaurant hosted parties with guests such as Matthew McConaughey (kicking off what would later be dubbed "the McConaissance"), Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Garner and Colin Firth. Benedict Cumberbatch was there, which wasn't such a big deal because Brad Pitt was at the same party. A few days later, Mr. Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, was also there, resulting in the fest's most burning question (did they – gasp! – sit in the same chair?), and cementing Hudson Kitchen as the place to be.
When Toronto Life magazine published its restaurant power rankings on Sept. 13 that year, Hudson Kitchen snagged the top slot, even though it wouldn't open for another two weeks. When it did, getting a table required bold-face connections. Two months in, it was still hard to score a seat on a Friday or Saturday night. Soon it became less hard … and a little less hard after that. In May, Hudson threw a menu relaunch party – often industry code for a Hail Mary pass. And then last week, the restaurant that came in with a boom went out with a tweet: "Hudson Kitchen has closed. Thank you to all our loyal customers for the fun ride!"
It was not a long ride, though. Jordan Fogle, one of Hudson Kitchen's co-owners, said over the phone that "economic issues" are to blame for the untimely shuttering.
In many ways the situation is not unique: Yours Truly, Ursa, Acadia and Ortolan are all examples of west-end buzzeries that have closed down in the past year or so. Running a successful restaurant is not easy – if it were, a lot more pizza lovers would helm their own Terroni empires. Many elements must combine to create the perfect storm: the right food, the right location, the right staff, the right vibe – and those are just the parts you can control. (Last year's horrible winter kept many potential chowhounds at home, which couldn't have been good for a fledgling restaurant).
Marketing has become an increasingly important factor in the current plug-in, post-it-on-Instagram reastaurant reality. In this realm, at least, Hudson Kitchen had an edge. Mr. Fogle is also the chief executive officer of the Mint Agency, which runs star-studded TIFF events every year – this is why Mr. Pitt found himself way west of the standard party zone surrounding the TIFF Bell Lightbox. "Of course we were super-excited and happy with all the buzz we got in the beginning," Mr. Fogle says. "It just goes to show that glitz and glam doesn't necessarily translate into a sustainable business."
So what, exactly, is the value of VIP diners? Whether it's reasonable or not, people seem to care where celebrities eat. Before it burned down last month, Sotto Sotto (always a favourite spot with visiting celebs) was riding a fresh wave of cool, thanks to recent endorsements from Drake. Shawn Rusich, director of Toronto's Butter PR agency, says that celebrity hype is a good way to raise awareness and pique curiosity.
Mr. Rusich's firm represents Pusateri's grocery stores, and says that customers definitely notice when Claire Danes comes in. (Ms. Danes spends time in Toronto when her husband, Hugh Dancy, shoots Hannibal). "People get very excited. It can even enhance the experience of shopping there. At the same time, Pusateri's is a proven entity." In other words, celebrities can provide flashy frosting, but they won't make up for a middling cake.
Location may have been part of the problem for Hudson Kitchen. "This part of town is still a little bit underground, as laughable as that might sound to people who live here," says Jen Agg, who owns the Black Hoof restaurant a few blocks west. The restaurant, which opened in 2008, doesn't see the kind of foot traffic that you would get on Bloor Street or even Queen Street West. But there is often a waiting list. Ms. Agg attributes the Black Hoof's success to constantly making sure that the bar stays high, and adds that it took some time to get there. "We had time to build and to tweak things at the beginning. The first few weekends, there was nobody in here."
"Hype can create an immense amount of pressure that can be hard to live up to," Mr. Rusich says. In the case of Hudson Kitchen, things seem to have fallen short. One restaurant industry insider I chatted with said that the whole concept felt too generic. Another suggested that chef Robbie Hojilla (by all accounts a huge talent) should have been given more freedom to make the kind of Euro-Filipino food he specializes in. (The Globe's food critic, Chris Nuttall-Smith, made a similar observation in his early-2014 review of the restaurant).
But Mr. Hojilla himself has a positive attitude. "It was a great opportunity for me and I'm nothing but grateful," he says. "I think the food we were doing recently was better than ever, but that's the industry. Boom – you're gone."
On the bright side, at least he got to meet Brad and Jen.