PROFILE
Executive Chef Jesse Friesen
Academy Hospitality Group Photos by Ian McCausland
Jesse Friesen has built as diverse a homegrown culinary career as one can dream. When he started at Academy Hospitality Group as Executive Chef in 2016, Jesse had his work cut out for him: first taking Gusto through its big renovation and then systematizing Merchant to deal with two Jets playoff years in a row (2017, 2018). Jesse works alongside the incredibly talented chefs that bring us Pizzeria Gusto, Gusto North, The Merchant Kitchen, Yard Burger, and The Good Fight Taco. His culinary leadership and growth have helped develop some of the most innovative concepts in the city in the most challenging year our food scene has ever experienced— culminating in his new (and unexpected) role overseeing the food program at Mottola Grocery. Was Mottola Grocery always part of Academy Hospitality Group’s vision? There was always a plan for a store on the first floor of True North Square, but initially, it wasn’t on our plate. And then one day, Bobby [Mottola] pulled me aside and said, “So we’re also going to open up a store.” I had never worked at a store in my life. We got on a plane to Toronto and went to see McEwens and the crazy high-end grocery stores all over downtown to start planning. How did COVID affect the rollout of Mottola Grocery’s offerings? When we closed the second floor of True North Square for the first lockdown, Mottola Grocery was under construction. So we did our initial grocery meals through Gusto North’s kitchen. The first step was to focus on what people have always asked us for from our restaurants. For example, we offer our tomato sauce from Gusto North and at Pizzeria Gusto. Our first offering was just five prepared items. We developed more prepared items throughout the lockdown, and now we have hundreds of products under our private MG label: from Yard Sauce for the Yard Burger to staples like salad dressings, dips, spreads, and ready-prepared meals. You can get prepared
48 Order online: JonesWines.com/shop
dishes like The Merchant Kitchen’s Korean Fried Chicken strips and Pizzeria Gusto meatballs, and because the grocery is Italian themed, there is also a host of prepared Italian meals. Aside from our private label, we have four or five different farmers that we work with directly for fresh produce. We also have the café—which is coffee, grab-and-go salads, sandwiches and pastries. We have our floral department, our vanity department, and niche household items. And then we have the deli, of course, with everything from house-smoked and cured meats to local organic beef.
