The Chef Who Walked Away from Fine Dining
At Mozy’s in Liberty Village, Barbode Soudi swaps tasting menus for charcoal chicken—and discovers a deeper kind of connection in the process.
The last thing chef Barbode Soudi thought he would ever do is leave fine dining. As the former Chef de Cuisine at Alo, he spent years planning his own establishment. But along the way, his priorities began to shift.
What he once envisioned no longer felt quite right—he found himself drawn instead to creating something more personal, something he could truly call his own.
What followed was a complete pivot: letting go of the path he thought he wanted in order to pursue something entirely different.
Mozy’s is a fast-casual charcoal chicken spot in Liberty Village, and a sharp departure from the world Soudi came from. But for him, it’s also been the most rewarding. Where fine dining feeds through experience and precision, Mozy’s operates on something more routine and personal—people dropping in multiple times a week.
“We are becoming a part of their table at home, and that’s what drives us.”
The space reflects that same intention. It’s casual and built for takeout, but there’s a quiet accuracy behind everything—an energy that feels closer to a fine dining kitchen than a neighbourhood chicken shop. You catch the smell of charcoal right away, and there’s a steady rhythm of newfound regulars moving through, picking up food that feels both simple and carefully considered.
The menu is deliberately small, with every item designed to be accessible and shareable. Nearly everything touches the charcoal grill at least once, creating a consistent through-line of smoke and depth.
Even the salad avoids shortcuts. “There’s no romaine, there’s no iceberg, there’s no filler,” Soudi says. Instead, it’s built with bitter greens, herbs, and feta—treated with the same level of care as any composed dish.
For two people, the move is the full chicken meal—a format that captures the restaurant in one order. It comes with a whole charcoal chicken, two sides, a dip, two sauces, bread, and tahini miso cookies to finish. The structure is simple, but it’s designed for mixing and matching: tearing into the chicken, dragging it through the sauces, and building bites with whatever combination lands best.
At the centre of it all is the chicken. It’s brined and dried with no spices or marinades, a decision that leans fully into the flavour of the grill. “We’re purists about the chicken,” he explains.
The restraint there makes room for the sides to carry more expressive flavours—rice, chicken salt fries, or the herb-heavy salad—along with dips like smoked labneh and eggplant that echo familiar forms like tzatziki or babaganoush. “Everything is playful,” he adds, “and nothing is meant to be taken too seriously.”
Mozy’s is also part of a growing pocket in Liberty Village. Shaped as much by community as it is by food, Soudi credits his neighbour, Burger Drops owner Gregory Bourolias, with helping him secure the space.
It was an early show of support that turned into a shared vision for the street. Together, they’re part of an intentional push to build Atlantic Avenue into a destination, the kind of area people seek out the way they do on Ossington.
Barbode Soudi brings the same intensity he’s carried through every kitchen he’s worked in, but here it’s pointed somewhere different. This time, it’s personal. “Mozy’s is a fast-casual restaurant operating with the mindset of three Michelin stars,” he says.
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