A local restaurateur is spearheading a movement to get abuse and sexual harassment in her industry out of the kitchen and into the spotlight with a cheekily named conference called, “Kitchen Bitches: Smashing the Patriarchy One Plate at a Time.”

Jen Agg, outspoken owner of venerated Dundas St. restaurant The Black Hoof, locked down a date, venue and panellists, including luminary chefs from across North America, to discuss a matter she calls “ingrained, systemic, emotional abuses (and sometimes physical)” and “a terrifying truth for so many cooks male or female.”

Agg took to Twitter over the weekend to vent, rant and organize after The Star revealed allegations of sexual harassment at Weslodge restaurant on King St. W.

Former pastry chef Kate Burnham, who worked at the modern saloon for 18 months starting in 2012, filed an application at Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal alleging abuse by three of its former chefs.

An email statement sent to The Star on behalf of INK Entertainment and ICON Legacy, which co-own Weslodge, said the companies have always had a sexual harassment policy in place and “do not tolerate any form of workplace harassment.”

Given the matter is before the tribunal, the companies do not have any further comment, the statement said.

Reached by the Star, one of the chefs had “no comment,” another responded through his lawyer that he “denies all the allegations” and said that “at all times, he has treated his colleagues with dignity and respect.” Neither the third chef, nor his lawyer, has responded to the Star’s repeated requests for comment.

Weslodge, the tribunal and lawyers for the three men would not provide the Star with any formal responses that may have been filed to the tribunal.

Fallout from the allegations includes a gin company pulling its product from a Sunday event at Weslodge called Swig.

Joshua Groom, global brand ambassador for Ungava Canadian Premium Dry Gin, says he doesn’t know whether or not the allegations are true, but doesn’t condone or accept sexual harassment — or harassment of any kind. “We don’t want to be associated with a situation like that,” he says.

Canadian-born restaurateur Hugh Acheson agreed early Monday to be a panellist at Agg’s event, which is said to be scheduled at Revival Bar in September, saying there is an “exploitative nature” to the restaurant industry with “belittling … yelling, screaming and throwing” — and that needs to be addressed.

“It’s high time we get them out into the open,” he says. “It’s ludicrous that we turn a blind eye to these things in favour of getting a meal out in time.”

Eric Wood, a chef and 20-year veteran of the restaurant industry, agrees and says, in a heartfelt post on Facebook about industry abuse in general, that it’s “not OK to be silent about this stuff,” any longer.

The executive chef of soon-to-open Maple Leaf Tavern on Gerrard St. E., says he doesn’t know anything about the allegations or the parties involved, but remembers how it felt to have a wooden clog shoe thrown at his head during dinner service one evening about 18 years ago.

As a chef, he writes, he’s “disheartened” to realize there may still be a gender divide in the kitchen. He implores any perpetrators to “please get out of my industry if you choose to treat women this way.”

The problem of harassment in kitchens probably stems from the current food culture, which is rife with young, egotistical chefs, often male, who lack the maturity and know-how to lead a team, he says.

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“The skill set of cooking a good steak and leading people is different,” he says. “They don’t necessarily have the tools.”

Donna Dooher, president and CEO of Restaurants Canada, a national hospitality association, says she was surprised by the allegations, but acknowledges that sexual harassment and abuse exists in kitchens. It’s an issue she takes “seriously,” she says, and believes the way forward is through “dialogue.”

“That’s the most important thing — that people are coming forward and talking about it.”