Why this Toronto restaurateur is eliminating takeout orders and patio service

Yesterday, Jordan Diniz, the chef and owner of Est, a modern French restaurant in Riverside, took to Instagram to announce that he is no longer offering takeout orders and will be forgoing patio service this summer. Unlike other Toronto restaurateurs, however, Diniz isn’t citing the increased costs of CaféTO or the exorbitant commissions charged by delivery apps. Rather, he simply wants his restaurant to be a dining establishment that focuses on high-quality food and service.

For Diniz, the choice to close the restaurant’s patio is based entirely on location. “We’re two doors down from the Opera House and a hop and a step away from Nomad, so our patio was being used as a bar six nights a week, whenever shows were running,” he says. In other words, rowdy concert-goers were getting a little too comfy on the patio and pounding pre-show beers—not ordering Diniz’s artfully composed small plates or signature cocktails. “I was constantly getting calls that someone had vomited—or even defecated, if you can believe it—on our patio. Trying to maintain it was just such a headache.”

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It was hurting the chef’s soul to see people treating Est more like a dive bar than a fine-dining restaurant. “I want to make money, of course. But people come here to enjoy a finely crafted meal, and if their evening is ruined by people getting drunk—that just didn’t sit right with me,” says Diniz. “I also hated the idea of customers spending the same amount of money to sit on cheap Ikea furniture outside as the ones who were dining comfortably inside.” So this summer won’t see an alfresco CaféTO situation set up on their stretch of Queen East. All those concert-goers will have to find somewhere else to drink (and to relieve themselves).

Diniz is willing to swallow the loss of revenue if it means maintaining his restaurant’s reputation. “For me, it’s about the long game,” he says. “If I position Est in the world of contemporary fine dining where it belongs, my belief is that eventually it will pay off.” With this strategy also comes the deletion of Uber Eats and other food-delivery apps, another choice Diniz is happy to make. “Seeing all the kitchen’s fine French food being dropped into a box like slop, and then watching the Uber driver come in and swing his backpack around to shove in dishes that took countless hours of work to make, is the worst feeling in the world.”