What Happened to El Fogon After Restaurant Takeover? (Toronto, ON)

El Fogon, a Peruvian restaurant on St. Clair Avenue West in Toronto, was featured on Restaurant Takeover (Food Network Canada) in an episode that aired on 2012-10-04. TVmaze's synopsis describes a restaurant in an up-and-coming neighborhood that should have been full every night but was instead a place people walked past. Owners Jorge and Paulo, who specialized in the Peruvian dishes of their ancestors, had big plans that time and money kept them from pursuing. The show sent chef Massimo Capra and designer Montana Burnett. TV Guide's season listing describes the restaurant as a Peruvian eatery revamped by the two hosts in a neighborhood on the rise.

In a September 2012 blogTO piece on restaurants that had been through the show, Jorge said he was pleased with the result. According to blogTO, the renovation was meant to keep the restaurant in step with the changing character of St. Clair West. About four months after the makeover he had noticed more younger customers, and he told the writer he was not worried about the show's reputation. The article does not itemize the menu, decor, name or staff changes, and none of the other pages I read does either, so this entry does not describe them.

blogTO's listing for El Fogon describes it as a leading spot for authentic Peruvian cooking in Toronto and lists dishes such as aguadito de pollo, ceviche and fried fish. The listing carries a notice that the restaurant is now closed.

blogTO reported in a story whose web address is dated January 2018 that the restaurant was closing after 16 years. According to that story, the chef was moving into semi-retirement and the owners wanted to focus on family life, and it noted the restaurant's appearance on Restaurant Takeover. A Google Maps listing for El Fogon Restaurant at 543 St. Clair Avenue West was marked permanently closed when checked on 2026-10-19. No page I read says what occupies the space now.