Toronto’s Room Service restaurant dishes out island flavours with a personal touch

BY: Amanda Robinson

George Washington and team

If you’re wondering what a plate of ackee and saltfish stuffed inside of fried plantain tastes like, Toronto’s Room Service restaurant is the answer to your culinary prayers. Offering the perfect balance between great food and a comfortable, intimate atmosphere, the quaint restaurant has a relaxed environment that’s perfect for business, pleasure or both — a fact not lost on co-owner and head chef George Washington.

“A lot of Caribbean restaurants cater their business to a takeout audience,” says Washington. “Often the restaurants are known for having loud music, bar stools and a flag on the wall representing a specific Caribbean country, which can sometimes be unwelcoming for people who want to sit in a quiet, neutral environment, socialize and still enjoy a jerk chicken dinner.”

Reflecting its name, Room Service aims to cater to its customers, providing a personalized touch to the restaurant experience. “If you’re staying in a hotel and you call for room service, they will bend over backwards to make sure your stay at the hotel is pleasurable. We have the same kind of concept here, where every customer is important to us and we try to nurture a relationship with each individual,” says Washington.

Chef is even happy to provide samples to new patrons who aren’t familiar with the menu and, because everything is cooked a la minut, dishes can be created to taste preference ranging from mild to super spicy.

Washington developed a love for Caribbean cuisine at an early age. A child of Jamaican descent, his household chores included helping his mother cook. While he was in high school, Washington got his start at the Sheraton Hotel as a kitchen helper. His skills impressed one of the hotel’s chefs, who took Washington under his wing, where he learned the art of real cooking.

“At the Sheraton, I got to see a larger picture, how meticulous the chefs are and the importance of perfection. Something that wasn’t right could not be sent out,” he says. “It was really stressed to me that your food is what represents your skills. I learned to take that kind of pride.”

After working in dozens of Toronto restaurants, Washington found his interest in the food industry waning due to a lack of creativity and flare in Toronto kitchens. “I had a hard time with my bosses because I always wanted to add more colour, more flavours. Food was like a canvas to me. It was really art.”

At age 25, he hung up his hat and started his own landscaping and security company. He would only cook on special occasions such as weddings or dinner parties of 10 or more people. But a spontaneous trip to Europe, during which he backpacked through Romania, Hungary and Germany, helped Washington to re-shift his focus to his dream of owning an upscale Caribbean restaurant.

Washington contacted longtime friend Tracy Vanderhoek, as well as two chefs with whom he had worked over the last two decades, and Room Service was born. “I chose to surround myself with people who have known me for a while because they understand my concept and what I’m trying to do, which is make Caribbean food mainstream, so people can come and have a shrimp salad and ackee and saltfish or they can have a stuffed chicken breast and curry goat.

“We’re combining many authentic Caribbean dishes with many other dishes so that people have a choice. We’re trying to get the message out there that you can have a nice Caribbean place and have more than just curry goat, jerk chicken and oxtail.”

- Room Service is located at 1006 St. Clair W. For reservations call 416-654-7666