Great things come from Justin Denman’s tiny kitchen.
The Groovy Tuesday’s Bistro chef says he’s happy to serve his regulars at the longtime eatery, tucked into a familiar spot along Collier Street.
From a small (that might be a generous description) cooking area — where everyone in the room can watch the staff chop, pour, mix, and whisk — his fine-dining creations are matched by friendly servers and good conversation.
Dining out is back and Denman says he couldn’t be happier.
“It was certainly not easy, especially being a small business and a restaurant, but with determination we pulled through,” he tells BarrieToday of COVID-related ups and downs that staff endured over the past 21 months.
“Post-pandemic, we’re thankful to have the group — eight employees — we have. It’s so nice that we’ve still got them,” he adds. “It’s a really tightly knit group. We have a very family-style atmosphere here in the dining room, and with the staff, and we just stuck together.”
Denman’s in a career that he envisioned a long time ago. A family-run bar and restaurant was in his earlier life as a youngster and by the time he was in high school, he knew what he wanted.
“I grew up in Parry Sound and I ended up taking courses in high school and one thing led to another,” Denman says, giving a nod to one prof in particular.
“There was a teacher named Blair Cousins. I took a basic food nutrition course and thought, ‘I’m not too bad at this. I can make something with this’,” he says.
“It kind of (set out) the rest of my high school career into working toward this,” he says, looking around the intimate atmosphere of Groovy Tuesday’s. “Anything they (teachers) would throw at me I would take. I was able to get my Smart Serve, my food handlers (certificate), all that stuff through the high school.”
When Denman decided upon Georgian College’s culinary program to help launch his career, he didn’t have far to travel from the Barrie campus to his future job.
“I started here when I was doing my two-year apprenticeship and one thing led to another and I worked my way up. It was a really good program to go through,” he says.
The restaurant’s menu is “a little on the fancier side," he adds. “But everything is made from scratch so you get that home-cooked sense from the first bite.”
Returning regulars, along with first-timers, are always in for a treat.
How about cauliflower wedges (maple bourbon barbecue sauce, apple cranberry coleslaw, lemon-herb aioli) for an appetizer? Or a Buddha Bowl (quinoa, scallion falafel, roasted Brussels, pickled radish, goat cheese, kale-sweet potato salad, glazed carrots, honey-ginger vinaigrette) for lunch? Or pan-seared halibut (curried cauliflower puree, arugula-roasted fennel salad, feta, candied pecans, orate-maple vinaigrette) for dinner?
Lunchtime draws the obvious crowd.
“We get a lot of business clients in for lunch because we’re downtown and for dinner, sometimes a lot of business (folks) and then families or other young professionals. It can be part of their night out,” Denman says. “A lot of our business is based on our regular customers. A lot of them are my friends.”
Current owner Melanie Barrett has been at the reins coming up on 11 years, but the dining goes back a long way at 73 Collier St.
“Before Melanie it was owned by a few other people and it’s been about 40 years — give or take — in the same spot under the same name and a bunch of different styles of restaurants as well,” Denman says. “It was super fancy with white table cloths; it was a coffee shop; it was a breakfast/light lunch sandwich place.”
Working with great people and serving great food to customers is why folks gets into the hospitality industry, he says.
“I think it’s a little of both. The people (staff) really make it special if you come to work and have an environment that you like to be around. That really helps,” Denman says. “And it’s a matter of trust between a diner and the chef. If you’re coming here so I can cook dinner for you, we need to have mutual trust that your dinner is now in my hands.”
Challenging himself is key, he adds.
“I like that I’m always learning,” Denman says. “That’s one thing that I really take away from this, is that you never stop learning and never stop trying to improve.”
