Law & Order filmed an episode at a Toronto restaurant—this is the chef’s story (dun dun)

Toronto (a.k.a. Hollywood North) has long been a dupe for shows set in New York or Chicago, and it can be fun to play showbiz I Spy, spotting our neighbourhoods and landmarks in the scenes of gritty dramas and sappy rom-coms.

Related: “The episodes are based on real crime headlines”—Meet the showrunner behind the new Law & Order Toronto

But some shows are both filmed and set in Toronto, layering the local intrigue and drawing us into an alternate vision of the Big Smoke—perhaps one with a criminal underbelly thinly veiled by the familiarity of our favourite haunts.

Related: Where Maven chef Shauna Godfrey eats in Dovercourt Village

Law & Order Toronto recently filmed episode six of season three at Maven, chef Shauna Godfrey’s Harbord Village restaurant. Godfrey didn’t just make her space available to the production—she got hands-on. We caught up with her to find out what it was like to have the cult favourite police procedural take over her kitchen.

How did Law & Order Toronto end up filming at your restaurant? My brother Sam Godfrey is a writer on the show, and he wrote the episode that was filmed here. It’s about a brother and sister who run an esteemed restaurant together. The show is all about restaurants and restaurant inspectors.

The episode is called “Family Meal.” What’s the synopsis? And how does Maven fit in? The detectives learn that the murder victim was a foodie who had eaten his way through Toronto’s top restaurants. Retracing his steps, the investigation sends Graff and Bateman to a restaurant called Isadora, one of the best spots in the city. Maven played the role of Isadora. The episode features “Borealis stars,” the show’s version of an esteemed restaurant guide. Isadora has a Borealis star.

What was it like having your restaurant turned into a TV set? It was surreal to see Maven transform into a different restaurant for TV. The production team came in one day to measure the space, and a couple of days later they transformed the dining room into an entirely different restaurant. I couldn’t believe the amount of people involved in the production. It was cool to see all the moving parts up close. There are so many logistical aspects of the job, alongside the entire creative arm.

You didn’t just lend the space—you were a culinary consultant. What did that entail? My role began when my brother started working on the episode. He would ask me questions about the back end of restaurant reservation systems and other “inside baseball” tips to make the plot and dialogue more believable. A large part of my role was working with actor Sarah Swire on how a chef would typically be moving in a kitchen—how she would wear her apron, the types of tools she would have on her and some simple techniques. I mainly wanted her to feel comfortable, plating with confidence, speed and ease. So I showed her little things like how to hold tweezers and spoons, how to execute a classic kitchen cloth fold, as well as simply moving with urgency. She picked up the plating super quickly, and she did a great job for the scene.

You also did some food styling. How did that work? I worked closely with the prop department. They were amazing and walked me through what was needed. For the close-up scenes, I needed to have a lot of extra dishes to swap in for the multiple takes, like during a scene where Sarah was plating a dish on camera. I created a raw scallop dish with colourful radishes and a vibrant herb oil to pop on screen. The dish needed to look like something in a fine-dining restaurant while also being simple to execute on set so that Sarah could plate it herself on camera. I needed to have multiple scallops sliced ahead of time, lots of herb oil, plenty of radish slices—basically enough backup to make eight servings of scallop crudo.

One of the scenes was of a full restaurant with over 50 extras playing customers, and every table needed multiple dishes. Most of the dishes were actually Maven items: challah buns, endive salad, chicken schnitzel, trout with broccolini, marinated beets, cheesecake and chocolate mousse. I prepared all of the components the day before the shoot and plated everything cold just before filming. It was all just for show—nobody actually had to eat the cold food. Any salad we plated didn’t have any dressing. We were mainly concerned with colour. I also did set dressing, adding props to the background of a scene, like bunches of herbs, containers of vegetables, that kind of thing.

What were the most intense scenes to film? There are several high-intensity scenes that take place in the restaurant—both in the kitchen and in the dining room. I can confirm that plates were broken, but you’ll have to watch to find out who threw them and why.

Any fun facts you can share? Many of my Maven employees were in the kitchen as background actors, which was so cool to watch. You can spot our sous-chef, Kai Wonghirandecha; our beverage and service director, Rebecca Pettigrew; and our shift supervisor, Amanda Meadows. Director David Wellington was such a pleasure to work with. He was so kind to the Maven team of background actors. He’s become a Maven regular since filming the episode—the Pickletini is his go-to drink. The episode also shouts out real restaurants in the city—Edulis, Prime Seafood Palace, Alo, Dreyfus, Grey Gardens and Giulietta—as some of the city’s top spots.

What was your favourite part of the process? I loved getting to work with my brother. It was so cool being able to see him in action, working with everyone on set, including the director, cast and crew. There was a moment on set when Sam and I watched a scene together from behind the monitor. It was a scene with the brother and sister, and I started tearing up, being there with him watching the episode he wrote come to life.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.