Despite potential backlash from animal rights activists, Toronto’s Antler Kitchen & Bar, is lobbying the provincial government to allow Ontario restaurants to serve wild game to customers.
Located on Dundas West near Dufferin, Antler Kitchen is a game-focused restaurant owned by executive chef Michael Hunter and documentary filmmaker and sous-chef Jody Shapiro. Founded in 2015, over the years it has gained consistently strong reviews for Canadian hinterland fare such as ash-crusted venison chops and deer cavatelli.
Hunter, who grew up in “the Canadian Outdoors” (a.k.a. Caledon, ON), actually is a hunter – as well as an avid forager, gatherer and maker of his own maple syrup. That said, wilderness imagery to the contrary, none of the wild beasts that appear on the Antler menu have been trapped, tackled or shot.
The truth is that (with few exceptions), under the province’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, it’s illegal in Ontario to serve wild game in restaurants. While hunters can dish up their wild game to friends and family, or even give it away, selling it is prohibited. This explains why, contrary to popular belief, the wild boar, ducks and bison that appear on your plate at Antler and other “rural to the roots” restaurants are inevitably raised on an ethical farm.
Although Hunter complies with the regulations, he has long disagreed with them. As a result, in mid-March, Antler Kitchen officially registered to lobby the provincial government, with the aim that it will adopt regulatory amendments allowing Ontario restaurants to serve wild game that is actually wild.
Antler believes that changing the legislation would provide Ontario consumers with more choice when it comes to buying and eating natural wild game. It would also create new jobs, boost tourism and increase revenue for the province. Antler itself would ideally like to source its game from Indigenous suppliers.
If the idea is controversial in some quarters – Ontario’s law was originally enacted due to overhunting such as that which led to the near extinction of Canadian bison – Antler is no stranger to controversy.
In 2018, the restaurant garnered international headlines when, in response to an outdoor chalkboard touting “Venison is the new kale,” vegan activists organized a series of front-of-restaurant protests, armed with signs that read “Your Food Had a Face” and “Take Death Off the Dinner Table. When the protests began affecting business, Hunter himself donned an apron, grabbed a knife, and came to the front window where he made his own statement by expertly carving up the hind leg of a deer in front of the shocked protesters.
Despite such animal rights activism and conservation concerns, in recent years, other provinces – including Newfoundland and Nova Scotia – have lifted the ban on wild game, allowing it to be sold by licensed hunters, including to restaurants that have specific licenses to serve it.
In a past interview with TVO, Hunter explained, “As long as it’s regulated, the population of animals is not diminished. I don't want to sell wild game in the restaurant all the time — I don't think it should be available as a menu item. I’d just like to be able to do it sometimes… or have it as an option for people to try.”
