Peter Egger has always been fond of small, largely rural communities.
Originally from Halton Hills, he moved to Centre Wellington in 1994 and still lives with his family between Fergus and Elora.
“We love the area. It’s a great place to raise kids,” Egger said.
For years he ran the Schoolhouse Country Inn in Belwood, before purchasing the Breadalbane Inn and Spa in downtown Fergus in 1996.
Constructed in 1860 by one of the founders of the town and renowned for its Scottish architecture, the St. Andrew Street location features two restaurants (the Fergusson Room Gastro Pub and the Maple Shade Bistro) as well as an inn and spa.
“It’s quite a unique and luxurious experience,” said operations director Trevor Jones, adding rooms at the inn are named after previous owners of the historic building.
For Egger, it’s but one example of his belief in the link between a successful restaurant and a strong community.
“I consider a restaurant an amenity to the community,” said Egger.
It’s that philosophy that has helped his company, Egger Hospitality Group, grow to four locations and over 150 employees. In addition to the Breadalbane Inn, the group includes:
– the Nith River Chop House in Wellesley (partners Al and Faith Loft);
– the Grand River Chop House in Grand Valley (partner Rainy O’Halloran); and
– the Drayton Chop House, opened just last November.
When searching for host communities, Egger said he looks for small towns that already have active local residents, strong schools and a number of other amenities.
“They’re great places to live and the people there have really welcomed us,” Egger said of the three Chop House communities.
Jones said the restaurants there have been very well received.
“We like commuter towns and farm communities, where we have access to local product and where we can partner with the community,” said Jones.
But the Chop Houses are not a typical chain restaurant.
“What we want is a group of restaurants that are all unique,” said Egger.
Jones explained the offerings at the three Chop Houses are similar, but with “regional differences.”
For instance, the Wellesley restaurant features several dishes with apple butter, which is synonymous with the area, and the Drayton menu features traditional croquettes in recognition of the area’s large Dutch population.
“It’s part of serving a community,” said Jones. He added the company seeks vendors in each market to ensure ingredients are fresh, seasonal and tailored to the area.
The Breadalbane and all three Chop Houses are also housed in four very different buildings, most with strong historical connections in their host communities.
“I definitely have a love of local history and of older buildings,” Egger said.
He explained each building provides its own unique atmosphere and character; traits that often have to be artificially manufactured in larger restaurant chains.
“It’s just something you can’t recreate in a shopping mall or brand new building,” Egger stressed.
In an attempt to maintain the unique charm of each building, the company tries to save as much material as possible during renovations and re-use it in the finished product.
“People are attached to the structures in their communities and there’s a sense of pride in seeing one restored to this level,” Jones said from inside the Drayton Chop House, which, like the other two Chop Houses, is full of recycled wood, windows and other materials, as well as old farming equipment.
“Peter did a great job of restoring it,” Jones said of the Drayton locale.
Notable among the reclaimed material in the Drayton restaurant is a huge Community News sign near the bar, which once adorned the facade of the 3,400-square-foot building located at 41 Wellington Street North.
The Wellington Advertiser’s sister publication had called the building home since around 1970.
Over the years, the building also housed a barber shop and pizza place, and it once housed operators for Drayton’s telephone company.
“We believe in the downtowns in these communities,” Jones said of honouring the architecture and history of the buildings. Re-using materials also helps to cut down on waste and allows funds to be invested elsewhere within the company.
Overall, the response in Drayton has been “very positive” and sales are “quite strong,” Jones said – as they are at the company’s other three restaurants.
Jones attributes at least a portion of that success to the company’s “community-based” approach.
He explained all four restaurants hire local staff members, as well as local contractors to renovate buildings.
“We could streamline our supply chain … but it’s not the right thing to do,” Jones said.
For years, Egger has also strived to form partnerships with local farmers and businesses to ensure the freshest possible products.
“Our main thing is really providing quality and value,” said Egger, adding the company employs trained chefs at each location.
That’s all part of providing a “genuine, up-scale service experience,” Jones explained.
He added, “Our communities are so deep in agricultural heritage it only made sense to use local food.”
Alluding to the current local food movement, which has gained remarkable steam in recent years, Egger and Jones often note that Egger Hospitality Group was “doing local before it was cool.”
That philosophy helps the company reduce its carbon footprint, in addition to helping out local farmers and businesses financially.
“There’s more and more care about what people are eating and where it comes from. That makes a big difference,” said Egger.
He said patrons appreciate reading on the menu the origins of the food they are about to consume, particularly when the source is local.
“It took us a long time to get to that point,” Egger said of the list of partners and suppliers on the menus at each restaurant, which includes: Harriston Packers, Smoyd Potato Farm (Belwood), River’s Edge Goat Dairy (Arthur), F&M Brewery (Guelph), Riverglen Muscovy Duck Farms (Fergus), Best Baa Farms (Fergus), Cox Creek Cellars (Guelph-Eramosa), and Frabert’s Fresh Food (Fergus).
“It’s huge for us,” said Kevin Smith, who owns Smoyd Potato Farm along with his wife Carol. “I don’t think the general public understands and appreciates what the Eggers go through to get local suppliers.”
Smith added his partnership with Egger Hospitality Group has allowed his farm to increase efficiencies to help provide a better product 12 months of the year.
“We’re extremely happy to have a good working relationship with Peter,” Smith said. “We’re carving out a niche in the food business, which is great.”
Egger Hospitality Group not only partners with local suppliers and companies, it also helps local not-for-profit groups and invests in other facets of the community.
Jones acknowledged the Drayton Chop House, particularly with the installation of a new patio that can accommodate 100 people, could benefit from the summer season at the nearby Drayton Festival Theatre, but he said the restaurant has to be sustainable even without theatre crowds.
Again, it comes back to the company’s commitment to the local communities, which is often reciprocated.
Jones and Egger said it is not unusual at all for contractors, farm suppliers, officials from local businesses and other prominent community members to visit the restaurants as customers.
“We’re all part of the same community,” Egger said.
Jones, who has previous experience working for luxury hotels and also several restaurants in Toronto, joined Egger Hospitality Group in August because he believes in its owner’s vision.
“I thought what Peter was doing here was very compelling,” Jones said.
He likes the idea targeting smaller rural towns with a large population of commuters, instead of the usual “foolproof” practice of locating restaurants in densely populated urban areas.
“I think it takes a little more courage to try something like this,” Jones said. “The product has to be good.”
That appears to be the case, as the Breadalbane Inn and all three Chop Houses are very busy most days of the week, with packed dining rooms turning over up to a handful of times on weekends.
“There was obviously a need for it,” Jones said.
“You have to have a commitment to the community to be successful and I don’t think big box businesses can do that – it’s not in their DNA.”
Egger agreed, and if everything continues to go well, more restaurants could be popping up in rural areas in and around Wellington County.
“There’s definitely more [potential] communities … we’re hoping to grow in the future,” Egger said.
