Oysterman Rodney Clark created ‘joyful chaos’ at his Toronto eatery

Rodney Clark didn’t just loosen Toronto’s tie – he yanked it off and handed the city an oyster. Before bivalves gained cocktail-hour currency, he urged a buttoned-down Toronto to slurp Malpeques, chase them with Champagne or an Alexander Keith’s ale, and swap pretense for pleasure. At Rodney’s Oyster House, he created a room where the high met the low – bankers beside bikers, suits beside students – and where seafood was joyful and unfussy. In doing so, he inspired a generation of shuckers, chefs and restaurateurs who carried his irreverent hospitality across the country.

Mr. Clark died Nov. 6 at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto from heart failure, complicated by kidney disease. He was 75.