Upscale north Whitby restaurant stays all in the family with new ownership change

The iconic Brock House ‘upscale casual’ restaurant in north Whitby has changed ownership but the management has remained unchanged, with the business remaining all in the family.

The restaurant famous for its Canadian comfort food – from Mini Yorkies and Tiger Shrimp Skewers to Rib-Eye Steak, Tofu Bowls and Beef Short Ribs – has been a mainstay on Brock Street North since Chris Neshevich founded it in 2008 and has been managed by his daughter Maddie for the past ten years.

The transition from manager to owner is now complete as Maddie and Matt Bryan and head chef Corey Duncan are now officially the new bosses.

Maddie Bryan grew up wanting to follow in her father’s footsteps in the restaurant industry and worked at The Brock House from a young age. After university she ventured off to live and work in Toronto, learning from restaurant groups such as Canoe, Byblos, Fabbrica and The Hot Stove and came back to Whitby as manager in 2014.

Matt Bryan graduated from George Brown College while working at Top Chef Canada star Mark McEwan’s Bymarket restaurant in Toronto’s financial district. He worked there for 11 years, eventually becoming the mixologist for all of McEwan’s restaurants. Bryan then left Toronto to become a ‘dynamic duo’ with Maddie Neshevich in 2015.

Duncan started as a line cook at The Brock House after graduating from Humber College’s culinary school before taking the head chef position at Urban Pantry in Uxbridge. In 2019 he was offered the head chef position back at The Brock House and helped guide the restaurant through the pandemic, a period especially challenging for the service industry.

“We are beyond excited to be given this opportunity,” noted Maddie Bryan.  “We have a lot of exciting ideas in the works, so stay tuned.”

One of the specialities at The Brock House that will definitely stay is their Prime Rib, which is slow roasted everyday for eight hours to a perfect medium rare. Other guest favourites are Chicken and Waffles (for those lovers of sweet and savoury) the two-and-a-half-pound shepherds pie and the house made goat cheese and short rib ravioli.

Chris Neshovich

She also gave a big thank you to all those who reached out to share warm memories about her father’s career in the business. “The kind words that were left were more than emotional for all of us – It was definitely a true testament to the impact he made on this community. We are definitely going to miss having him around, but we are super excited to start this next chapter.”

Chris Neshevich retired May 31 after 47 years in the industry. He first started in the business at the age of 20 when he opened Tats restaurant in the Oshawa Centre with his cousins and went on to open Shrimp Cocktail, Hot Rocks, Painted Table and The Brock House.