The building looks a lot different, but the ambience and the mystique at the location remains the same.
It’s now known as the Motherhen Barbecue Diner, but will always carry the Red Rooster Cafe legacy with it. The restaurant had a long-established tradition at its location on the Trans Canada Highway at Mount Sicker Road as the site of some filming for the 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces that featured Jack Nicholson and Karen Black.
Current owner/chef David Coatsworth, who took over in late April and opened in May, has memorabilia from the show on the walls of the Motherhen.
“We love the Jack Nicholson link to the place and will soon start a social media campaign to get him back here for his preferred lunch of toast,” he enthused.
The name is only slightly different for diehards who love tradition, but Coatsworth noted it has nothing to do with the reason for selecting it.
“The name Motherhen is a tribute of sorts to my mother who was my first cooking teacher,” he pointed out. “So it’s just a coincidence that the old name was also bird based. The name change was necessary because we needed the locals to know things would be different, and bring back people who stopped coming years ago.”
Coatsworth, 48, grew up in Niagara Falls, Ont. and started cooking at the age of 12. He went to college in Toronto at George Brown and got his Red Seal designation at age 22.
Coatsworth worked all across the country and in Mexico, Bermuda and Europe. He left cooking and joined the mechanical insulation union, Local 118, at age 40 in an attempt to make the money needed to open his own place.
”Unfortunately there is not enough appreciation or fair compensation for the hard work that professional cooking is,” Coatsworth stressed. “It’s always been important to me to bring light to the fight of the common cook. Most food businesses are opened by people who work in the front of the business and a small amount are by chefs or cooks.”
He was looking to elevate the diner to its full potential by bringing back dinner service and providing a menu that is as close to scratch cooking as possible. But the labour shortage has been a serious problem and perhaps the biggest hurdle.
Coatsworth and general manager Crystal McGee have been the only full time workers besides a handful of others for short stints. Coatsworth is grateful to have McGee at the restaurant.
”Her very hard work, very long hours and overall commitment has been at such a high level for many months now,” he praised. “I’m very grateful and realize that I wouldn’t be in business without her.”
McGee left another established restaurant and said she’s “happier than ever.”
“We’re trying to open for that weekend crowd that’s just enjoying the day for a late lunch, early dinner kind of thing. We want to expand into dinner time.”
That’s been done the last seven weeks on Friday and Saturday evenings, at least, which is all that can be handled with employee shortages.
McGee has high praise for Coatsworth and his approach to the business.
“The attention to detail he has is amazing to watch,” she said. “He’s bringing back what people want to see.”
A new menu just came out in early September, with numerous eggs benedict selections and breakfast classics available. A unique touch is the addition of alfalfa to all burgers.
“We spent three months watching and listening what people want,” said McGee.
“For the first time in over 2 1/2 years we became profitable this month and as the government handouts for restaurants that lasted since 2020 have ended which is the only way the past owner kept this business open – that and the help of the former staff,” Coatsworth indicated.
“We want people to expect a meal that is honest, attractive, delicious and far beyond what any fast food joint would offer, taking in mind we don’t use ultra processed foods, cook mostly from scratch and we’re pretty relative in price compared to a meal at Ronald’s or the redhead’s place.
“Happily the community has taken notice of the improvements and we are starting to take off. We’ve received so many welcoming comments and appreciation from our customers that outweigh those who are upset in the name change.”
@chemainusnews
don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
