Hammersmith's is no greasy spoon diner

[attach]4658[/attach]What do you get when you combine two chefs, one that excels at savoury dishes and the other at sweets?

That’s the recipe behind Colin Reed and Brittany Peglar’s brunch-centered restaurant: Hammersmith’s, located at Logan Avenue and Gerrard Street East, is the culmination of Reed’s 10 years of experience as a cook and Peglar’s four years as a pastry chef.

After working in London, England last year, the pair returned to Toronto in November determined to open their own eatery.

Hammersmith’s, which is named after the borough they called home during their time spent abroad, has been serving the neighbourhood since June.

Peglar says one of the biggest challenges that came with taking over the home of the former diner Logan Grill was getting people to realize it’s a different kind of place.

“We’re not a greasy spoon anymore, you know, we have people come in and ask for all-day breakfast,” she says. “It’s just not what we do. We try and make food that shows off the ingredients, shows off Colin’s skill set at a reasonable price.”

Now that they’ve been open for a month Peglar says a growing number of customers are excited about what they offer and appreciate their ever-changing blackboard menu.

“I’m not reinventing the wheel here,” says Reed. “It’s classic dishes. I just make a point of buying the best raw ingredients that I can find and cook them properly.”

Peglar says they buy their ingredients from as many local small businesses as possible, including Sausage Partners, Sanagan’s Meat Locker, Steeped and Infused and Kawartha Ecological Growers.

One thing they did keep intact with the diner was the open concept aspect of the kitchen.

“There’s nothing to hide behind,” she says. “You can see Colin do his thing during the day … what you see is what you get.”

Peglar says she first met Reed at another restaurant and they remained friends even after they both moved on. Then last year their relationship changed.

“We just stopped being friends and started dating and then he said do you want to move to London and I said okay and that was it,” she says.

Opening their own restaurant was a natural progression, Peglar says, since they’ve both held management positions and weren’t satisfied with putting their hearts and souls into something that wasn’t their own.

Reed, who says he’s been influenced by the other chefs he’s worked with such as Mark Kempson, Didier Leroy, Nathan Isberg and Terry Kennedy, says he’s learned from all his past experiences, even the bad ones.

“I try and take something from everybody, whether they’re my boss or my co-worker, good or bad,” he says. “Every day you learn something new, see something new.”

Although they both put in six or seven days of work a week, the best part of being his own boss is that Reed controls his own destiny.
“There’s no outside, ulterior motives,” says Peglar. “We’re here to make really awesome food, we’re not here to be millionaires.

“We’re here to make food and hopefully make people happy in the process.”