everybody’s lifestyle here…that’s why restaurateurs see potential
in opening restaurants here.”
coming full circle, celebrity chefs like jamie oliver and
mario Batali are now able to bring their food concepts to
toronto: a city where locals recognize big chef names and
get excited about them.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
an insatiable appetite for tasty food and a unique dining
experience is just one part of the equation. This is multiplied
by the sheer size and volume of toronto, not to mention
a massive condo boom in the downtown core that’s
commanding an extremely diverse demographic of
downtown dwellers, from new families with young kids
to young professionals who are looking for everything from
casual to ambitious food options.
essentially, it comes down to supply and demand.
restaurateurs hanif harji and charles Khabouth
understand this concept only too well, with more than
a handful of high-profile, successful restaurants which have
fueled, influenced, and heavily dictated toronto’s dining
scene over the past few years.
“toronto has a vibrant and dynamic restaurant scene.
it is highly competitive and clients have numerous options.
if you want to do well in toronto you have to not only be
innovative, you have to deliver on the food, service and overall
experience,” they explain.
Their restaurants, like the mediterranean-inspired
Byblos, the upscale spanish tapas/pintxos Patria, and the
man-cave-esque Weslodge where whiskey flows like water,
all have one thing in common: a well-defined food/experience
concept that’s executed extremely well. so well, in fact, that
they’ve opened locations globally: Byblos opened in miami
in mid-2015, Weslodge opened in Dubai in april 2016,
and in the fall of 2016, another restaurant is set to open in
Dubai with a similar concept as Byblos but under a different
name—along with new projects in toronto. “There is a buzz
about toronto and [international chefs and restaurateurs] see
the caliber of restaurants that are here and recognize we are
developing into an exciting and sophisticated hospitality city.”
“We are becoming a world-class city and our dining scene
has to change to keep up. more people are travelling and
hospitality in general is now judged on a global scale,” add
harji and Khabouth.
LUXURY VISITORS
hospitality going global has been especially obvious in toronto.
Within just two years, from 2011 to 2012, the city embraced
not one, not two, but four new luxury hotels: The ritz-carlton
toronto, the shangri-la toronto, the Four seasons hotel
toronto, and the trump international hotel & tower.
From toP: a Dish From
montecito’s everchanGinG menu; jamie’s
i ta l i a n y o r K D a l e
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