Can Barton Street become the next hip area of Hamilton?
Chef James Kayser, organizer of BARTCrawl, is keen on the potential of the street
James Kayser admits that when it comes to opening a restaurant, Barton and John isn't everyone's ideal place.
That's where the chef opened The Butcher and Vegan. With a mandate to serve local food and a decor that includes vintage WWF action figures, it would perhaps be more at home on James Street, or another area that caters to more hipster sensibilities.
But Kayser doesn't think so. To hear him tell it, he's on the ground floor of Hamilton's next hip area – Barton Street. He's talking to chefs and artists, trying to get them to start galleries and businesses there. And Kayser's not the only one — this year, in earnest, the idea of a revitalized Barton Street seems to be finally taking root.
Kayser knows there are obstacles. The biggest one is perception. Some of his customers have told him that they've avoided Barton Street for years. Even prospective employees, when applying to his ads, told him that he was crazy to set up there. He thanked them for their interest.
"People are always saying, 'You can't do this in Hamilton. Things will never change,'" he said. "But if you look around, it's constantly changing."
"I mostly heard that I was crazy. People would say, 'What are you doing down there? It's a terrible area,'" he said. But the building, like the area, has "got good bones."
Barton and John is, admittedly, not always a place where you'd expect to find dishes such as Kayser's organic mushroom crostini and blackened tofu lettuce wraps.
A few blocks east, there are large spans of mostly empty storefronts, some of which have people illegally living in them. Other buildings languish and creak from landowner inattention. Methadone clinics dot the landscape.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...lton-1.3202243
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