Hey guys, it's your host Byron for Urban Television.
Today we're at Harlem.
Since its inception it's been more than just a restaurant, it's a cultural hub for artists
to come together, eat, drink, be merry, community build, and showcase their talents.
Today we'll be speaking to the man behind Harlem, owner-operator Carl Cassatt.
Let's check it out.
So Carl, been a while?
Thank you first of all for giving us this interview.
You were the man of the hour?
Am I?
You are.
So I'm just going to get right into it because I know you're a busy, busy man and it's packed
downstairs.
Oh, packed.
You need it.
Yeah.
So how long have you been in food and hospitality and what positions have you held leading up
to this point in your life?
Actually, I've been in it since I moved to Canada.
While I was in university, I worked as a waiter, bartender, tons of restaurants across the
city.
Shortly after graduating from university I realized I kind of like the lifestyle, and
it's funny because you find yourself working a nine to five job, but really you could work
for, you know, seven to twelve, I make twice as much.
You really got to like this job.
It's no, it's definitely one of the best ones I've had so far.
And it's not really a job because...
You know what I'm saying?
It's a lifestyle.
It really is.
You know, opened my own restaurant in 2001.
It was IRI, the first one on Queen Street.
I remember that.
Yeah, yeah.
And Open Harlem in 2006, December 2006.
So we're heading into our eighth year this year, I'm just like, you know.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, so things are going well?
Oops.
It's kind of like survival.
You know, the guy was like, the interviewer guy was like, yeah, I got everybody on the
phone with my hand.
This is like funny.
It was the next one voted off.
It was the next one voted off, man.
So you're not trying to jinx yourself?
No.
Here I do.
You're trying to keep it real.
So I've heard it said that you were inspired by the Harlem Renaissance of the 1940s.
What inspiration have you taken from that and applied to Harlem restaurant?
The design mostly actually.
We kind of went to that kind of art deco kind of feel, you know, art deco slash graffiti.
You know what I mean?
Trying to blend two together because, you know, we find the two great inspiration from
the 1920s when, you know, like people are really being empowered in the States.
You know what I mean?
Right.
You know, it's when we found the first really great set of writers came out.
They were all living with the experience blocks of each other.
You know what I mean?
Right.
So yeah, for Harlem in that sense is that, you know, we have a kind of critical mass
going on in Toronto at the same time.
You know, we have a really creative bunch of people living in the core of the city.
Right.
And that was the idea behind it, to create a space that kind of caters to all that,
you know?
Right.
Not just black people, but everybody, you know what I mean?
Right, right.
As long as you're that creative energy, you know, we want you in Harlem because we're
looking towards that new millennia, you know?
And so I know that you've catered to, you've catered dinners to seniors' residences in
Regent Park in the past.
Yeah, yeah.
So my question to you is, in your opinion, how important is it for a local business to
give back to the community?
It's imperative.
I mean, if you can't really, really, it's where you live.
It's where you do business.
Right.
If your neighborhood or community isn't thriving, you know, how are you going to thrive?
Right.
Really.
It's a symbiotic relationship, you know?
Really.
It's an ecosystem.
Exactly.
Right.
Yeah, it's symbiotic in that respect.
Your community has to thrive for you to thrive.
You're not alone in the game.
Yes.
So, after several years of running Harlem, which is basically now a franchise, where
you're going in that, well, you know, more than two restaurants.
Well, it's only two.
It's only two.
Yeah, I'm really, you know, I'm not certain if I really want to do that, you know?
I have thought of it.
People have been office on the table in that respect, you know?
But it's, I don't know, it's, hey, I don't think I really need it.
I'm trying to grow kids, you know?
You know what I'm saying?
Okay.
As it is, franchises come with their own headaches, you know?
Right.
They come with their own headaches.
I can do two.
I don't know if I really want a third, to be honest.
It's, really, I find it fulfilling as it is, you know, I want to rule the world, you know?
So what keeps you motivated?
Changing what I do, you know, changing it, keep it evolving, you know?
I'm a builder as well, so I enjoy changing the physical apparatus of what I do.
You're also an artist.
Yes, I am.
Yeah.
What do you do?
I paint.
I work with a metal.
I sculpt.
I do, pretty much.
So you're literally a creator?
I am, in that respect, you know?
And if I can't, I get bored, you know?
Food is the same thing, you know?
In that sense, I'm a savant with regards to food.
I've just been around long enough and been in kitchens for 15, 17 years, just like absorbing
and watching most of my friends when I was younger were all chefs and just hanging out
in the cook, you know?
That's where the food aspect, in terms of like, you know, really appreciating fine food in
that respect.
And I heard you say that chefs don't cook for themselves.
They don't.
Exactly.
So you're doing the cooking?
Exactly.
They're direct, but they wouldn't cook.
And I usually have an opportunity to learn, you know, learn more about, and I grew up
cooking in Jamaica.
I just learned so much more like working with chefs, you know what I mean?
Home to organize a kitchen, a commercial kitchen, for example, to execute properly,
you know, to do 100 covers in four hours.
Man, trust me, you know?
It's like war.
I hear that.
It is crazy.
I love it.
I love it.
Love my brother.
Peace.
Thank you.
Good stuff?
Thank you.
