Book ~ "Table Boss: How to Build a Restaurant When Your Life Falls Apart" (2026) Jen Agg

From Goodreads ~ Jen Agg had a thriving restaurant group, a beautiful marriage to a handsome artist husband and extremely good skin. If anyone could give advice on living well in your forties, it was her. Then, disaster struck. As a global pandemic threw the restaurant business into chaos, Jen’s husband, Roland, suffered a catastrophic stroke.

In her new memoir, Jen captures what it felt like to rethink everything just when she thought it was all working out as she’d planned. Table Boss makes you understand what Anthony Bourdain loved about her - her singular combination of wry humour, unflinching honesty and real depth. Readers will love the book for its painful rendering of what it’s like to care for a loved one through a health nightmare, its witty analysis of restaurant culture, and its insights into building a business on your own terms.

I like reading bios/autobios and memoirs. Agg is a Toronto restauranteur, many of her places are nearby, and from her descriptions, it sounds like she lives just north of me. I read her first book when it came out in 2017 and liked it.

This one is a personal account of what happens when life takes an unexpected turn. Agg writes about trying to keep her restaurant business going during the COVID-19 pandemic while dealing with a major personal crisis ... her husband, artist Roland Jean, suffered a stroke. 

The book follows Agg as she deals with the challenges of running restaurants while also becoming a caregiver to her husband and adjusting to a very different life than the one she had planned. She explores the impact of his stroke on their relationship, the realities of caregiving and the demands of keeping a business afloat during an incredibly uncertain time. 

Along the way, Agg discusses the restaurant industry, running a business, ambition, relationships and the role that food and hospitality play in our lives. She also touches on the challenges women face in the restaurant world and the realities behind building a successful restaurant. 

As with her first book, Agg has a mouth and she's not afraid to use it. I think you'd either like her or you wouldn't as she seems to have a strong personality but she also showed her vulnerability in her love of Roland. 

I eat out a fair amount and it was interesting to learn about the restaurant industry. I found it especially interesting to read about her views about the expectations as a customer of a restaurant ... friendly engaging staff, appropriate music, delicious food, etc. It does make a difference in the dining experience. When Gord and I were in Saint John last month, we had supper at a fairly nice restaurant and our server could have cared less about us. On the other hand, I had supper at a fairly nice restaurant here in Toronto a couple months ago with a friend and our server went above and beyond with her friendliness and taking care of us.

As a head's up, there is swearing (she likes to use the F-bomb frequently). There are lots and lots of colourful photos of food, her restaurants and more.

Book ~ "I Hear She's a Real Bitch" (2017) Jen Agg

From Goodreads ~ A sharp and candid memoir from a star in the restaurant world and an up-and-coming literary voice. Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, the woman behind the popular The Black Hoof, Cocktail Bar, Rhum Corner and Agrikol restaurants, is known for her frank, crystal-sharp and often hilarious observations and ideas on the restaurant industry and the world around her. 

"I Hear She's a Real Bitch", Jen Agg's first book, is caustic yet intimate, and wryly observant; an unforgettable glimpse into the life of one of the most interesting, smart, trail-blazing voices of this moment. 

The Black Hoof, Cocktail Bar and Rhum Corner are about a twenty minute walk northeast from me.  I like rum and have walked by the Rhum Corner to check it out but I seem to pick the wrong times because it's been closed when I've gone by.  I'll get there eventually.

Jen Agg is the owner of these bars/restaurants (along with two others) and this is her story.  The book starts with her childhood in Scarborough, working in restaurants and bars for others, realizing her dream of opening her own bar (Cobalt on College Street) but closing it due to a bankruptcy, meeting and marrying her second husband and designing and opening more bars/restaurants.

I liked the writing style.  I found the author honest and open about her experiences.  It was interesting reading about all that is involved in deciding to open a bar and/or restaurant, creating and designing it, running it and the personalities involved.  There is no doubt about the passion the author has about the bar and restaurant industry and her establishments.

The author has a mouth and she's not afraid to use it (and there's nothing wrong with that).  I think you'd either like her or you wouldn't ... and she couldn't care less.  As a head's up, there is swearing (she likes to use the F-bomb frequently) and TMI about the author's sexual activities that goes beyond information about the restaurant industry.

It would have been nice to have more pictures of her restaurants, some of the dishes and drinks offered, etc.