John Duncan Wesley

1961 - 2021

By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer


John Duncan Wesley, a Toledo chef whose French-inflected cuisine for decades drew diners to his namesake restaurants and to establishments where he ran the kitchen, died Friday in Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center. He was 59.

He developed complications from coronavirus, his son Duncan Wesley said. Spine problems brought about a disability retirement more than a decade ago. More recently, kidney disease led to his receiving a transplant.

He still imagined culinary outlets - maybe via a food truck. He made candies for friends and family and got into baking.

"He always wanted to do something else," his son said.

Mr. Wesley's last restaurant in 2009-10 was Encore By J.D. Wesley at 5333 Monroe St., the same spot where for a decade starting in 1991, he operated J.D. Wesley's Bistro. He'd planned a quiet reopening for about 50 guests, wrote Barbara Hendel, The Blade's society editor, but instead, more than 200 packed the place - and made their way through 80 pounds of beef tenderloin and 60 pounds of sea scallops.

The Blade gave the restaurant four stars and, in a 2010 summary of its review, said, "With one of Toledo's best known chefs running the show, Encore has a lot to live up to, and it succeeds."

"He loved J.D. Wesley's. It was his sandbox," former wife Wendy Wesley said. "He kind of wanted to go back home in a way."

Mr. Wesley attracted attention in 1989 as chef at Maumee Wines in Parkway Plaza, invited to the role by childhood friend Bill Foster. Mary Alice Powell, then The Blade's food editor, wrote that Mr. Wesley was putting the venue "on the map as an outstanding French restaurant in northwest Ohio."

Wine Spectator magazine identified Maumee Wines among only three Ohio restaurants and a private club where an outstanding choice of wine matched an outstanding menu.

He also was known for creating and printing a different menu daily, having a chef garden, and using local farmers' produce. He was among the first in the area to have an open kitchen.

"The business is a bit of theatrics," said former wife Rachel Wesley. "That was him. He loved making sure everyone knew what was going on. He had an artist mentality, and food was his medium. So many other chefs got their start working for him. He liked to teach."

Son Ian said: "He was demanding, but also a genius."

In between J.D. Wesley's and Encore, Mr. Wesley had chef duties at Avenue Bistro, Rouge Bistro, Basin Street Grille, and Mancy's restaurants.

He was born Dec. 2, 1961, to Mary Lee and Dr. John Wesley. Mr. Wesley developed his taste for French cuisine when his stepfather's job resulted in the family's move to Belgium. He was a graduate of Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

He worked in New Orleans and later for a well-known southeast Michigan chef and restaurateur before opening his own restaurant in suburban Detroit.

He was formerly married to Rachel Alteneder Wesley and Wendy Childers Wesley.

Surviving are his sons, John, Ian, Duncan, and Jack Wesley; daughter, Evelyn Wesley, and sister, Susan Lesperance.

Friends and family will be received from 2-6 p.m. Sunday at Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, Perrysburg, where funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Monday.