About Harvest Kitchen

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need a reservation?

  Nope.

  Harvest Kitchen is a casual, walk-in restaurant with lots of space – 2 floors and 2 summer patios. We do accept bookings for large groups of 8 people or more. Learn more about groups/events.

• Do you accept bookings of large groups?

  Yup! we have two semi-private rooms on our second floor that are perfect for larger groups. We take group booking for groups of 8 and above for our indoor spaces only. If your group is 12 or more we will need to organize a special menus for you. You can fill out our booking request form here or learn more about why Harvest Kitchen is great for groups of 8–60 people!

  We have great menu options that cater to different kinds of diners, a versatile venue, flexible payment options and a dedicated team.

  Please be advised that whether reserved or walkin, during peak times we may offer a shorter menu for groups, for the reason of execution in our kitchen.

• Why can’t I make a reservation on the patio?

  We can’t take patio reservations because our patio isn’t weatherproofed! Our patio is open when the weather cooperates and the temperature is above 14 degrees Celsius.

• Can I come early and hold a space for my group?

  We sincerely wish that we could say yes to this request, but we only seat groups for the patio when they have all arrived. For one or two guests to hold several tables isn’t fair to groups that are at the restaurant and waiting to be seated.

  We care deeply about bringing you the best ingredients at mainstream food prices. To do this, we need to maximize our business which includes maximizing our seating, and not holding tables empty while others wait.

  If there was a way we could do it all for you (hold tables like a high-end restaurant and keep our mainstream prices) we totally would! But we can’t. If you’d like to come as a group, please try arrive at the same time and we’ll get you seated as fast as we can.

• Why the name Harvest Kitchen?

  Harvest because in the years ahead we want to start canning as much food as we can right after the harvest when it is at its peak of freshness.

  Kitchen because we see kitchens as casual, comfortable, friendly and welcoming, and that pretty much sums up how we want people to feel when they come see us.

  We thought we’d get nicknamed HK (that’s what we call ourselves). Lately, we’ve been hearing people refer to us as The Kitchen. We love that too!

• Tell me more about your farm. Did you really get that going in your first year?

  Yup! 2014 was our first year. Chef Owen got it going with nothing more that a few signs in bathrooms and postings on our Facebook page. The offer? Harvest Kitchen gift cards in exchange for farm help.

  And how’d it do? Well, in our first season our community was over 100 Harvest Kitchen farmers strong. And the tomatoes, amongst other things we grew for the restaurant, were off the charts tasty.

  Our Skinny Barn Farm is located 20km north of Cobourg, Ontario.

• Other than the stuff you grow yourself, does Harvest Kitchen only buy local?

  The short answer is ‘no’ (we don’t want to overstate our claim). At Harvest Kitchen we are not promising to buy everything local.

  One day we would like to purchase mostly local, unfortunately it is not realistic at this time. We have other values of offering choice and being affordable that we want to consider. But we are, and always have been, committed to buying locally. Our life and career track records reflect a long tradition of this commitment.

  Owen Steinberg, our Chef, was the first chef in North America to implement an all local menu for a chain restaurant. Buying directly from farmers was a practice he started at his first restaurant, JOV, before “local” was even much of a conversation.

  He has been a member of Slow Food International for over 20 years. For two years, he sat on the Savour Toronto Committee (which promoted all things Toronto). Most recently Owen was awarded a $250,000 grant to bring a canning process for local produce to George Brown College.

  At Harvest Kitchen, we are going to continue being committed to buying local whenever we have the choice, canning as much as we can, and growing some of our own stuff.

  Curious to know something about Harvest Kitchen? Ask us. We are open about the source of everything we buy, except for our wine on tap. That’s a secret.

• What can you tell us about your wine on tap?

  Just kidding, it’s not a secret! We’re crazy proud of it!

  We’re serving the house blend, red and white wines from 13th Street Winery, Niagara. They are both delicious wines.

  We also think it’s cool cause wine on tap is environmentally friendly, and has a much smaller carbon footprint than wines in a bottle.

• Do you accept salt as payment?

  Er… well, call us about that and we’ll talk. Our normal payments are: cash, debit, Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Harvest Kitchen gift certificates (available at the restaurant).

• Is there a dress code?

  Nope. We’re casual. Come as you are! Everything from yoga gear to formal attire is fine with us.

• Can people with dietary restrictions eat here?

  We certainly hope so! We’ve tried to solve for some of the most common requests in the menu as it stands. We are very open to making modifications where we can, if it means we can serve what people want. If you do need menu modifications, please understand that it can take a little more time.

• Who creates your funtastic playlists?

  Young Lions Music Club, an amazing duo of talented spin masters – Bobby Kimberly and Anna Wiesen. Having a party we can have them create specialized experience for your group that streams effortlessly over the internet.

• What if I have more questions?

  Awesome! Send your questions to and we’ll get back to you.