Leslieville - The Beach : In The News

Ravi Kanagarajah Toronto's "soup king" is expanding his successful soup franchise, Ravi Soups. As reported by Blog TO Kanagarajah, who already operates two busy soup counters--one on Adelaide Street and one on West Queen-- has plans for two new Ravi Soups locations, a cook book and a full service restaurant.

"Toronto soup king Kanagarajah has come a long way since he immigrated to Canada nearly 20 years ago. He grew up working in - and then running - his family's restaurant back in Sri Lanka, but arrived to Canada with very little. On the day he arrived he stopped by Mildred Pierce - where his uncle worked as a dishwasher - to pick up keys to his house where Ravi would be staying until he got settled."

"By the end of next year he plans to have a fourth location at Yonge and Sheppard as well, along with a different, full service restaurant featuring what he promises to be a unique menu of Indian cuisine.It's an ambitious plan for sure, but one he intends to do without the help of investors or franchising. Above all it's a family operation and Kanagarajah wants to keep it that way - lucky for him, he's got an enormous family."

"With 25 first cousins in Canada - all cooks, 21 of which are spread out across the GTA, Kanagarajah has a pretty broad talent pool to draw from. By the time he's done, he'd like to employ all of them. His plans include a location in London, England and New York City in the next few years as well as a total of ten locations across the GTA."

"It's going to be one big family operation," he says. "I want to grow big, bit without being too commercial. It will always keep the same attitude."

"He's already got four cousins operating the Adelaide location, his brother running the Queen West spot and now as his nephews are getting older they're becoming involved too. With the size of his growing family, perhaps his plans aren't ambitious enough."

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original source Blog TO

The National Post recently featured Toronto entrepreneur Dale Sonier owner of iconic Toronto fabric store MacFab. Despite a recent move from Queen West to Leslieville, MacFab continues to attract a loyal customer base for its wide array of unique fabrics. 

"I swore I'd never go east, and now I swear I'll never go back west!" MacFab owner Dale Sonier declares about his new Leslieville neighborhood location (MacFab, at 755 Queen Street East, 416-922-6000). "People say hello to me on the street. It's like Queen West was when I was 15." There's no sign out front at his fabric emporium MacFab, just a flag ("like SoHo in New York"). Inside, a series of crystal chandeliers glint beneath the painted tin ceiling and spools of grosgrain ribbon in shades from cream to chartreuse are piled high on the ledge above the front door.As you come in, several sample styles of MacFab's popular custom headboard service hang on the left wall. Among them are the classic SoHo ($730 for double with 2.5 yards of fabric), the Cosmopolitan, a curved headboard with nailhead trim ($920 for double/queen with 2.5 yards of fabric) and a traditional French tufted version ($1,200 for double/queen)."

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original source the National Post

As reported on by the National Post, George Brown College broke ground this month on the $175-million Waterfront Campus that will go up at the foot of Sherbourne Street, south of Queens Quay. When completed the campus is expected to liven up the waterfront by bringing a diversity of uses (i.e food, study space, workout facilities) into what would otherwise be a sea of condos.

"George Brown, using $61.5-million in provincial money, $30-million from Ottawa, and its own money plus fundraising dollars, plans two buildings totalling half a million square feet, on land the school will lease from the City of Toronto."

"The first college building, closest to Lake Ontario, will house nursing, dental, health and wellness, gerontology  and other programs."

The school wants to talk to the city about teaming up to design the second building, which will house a gym -- open to the public evenings and weekends -- along with, potentially, a community centre. A street, known right now as Dockside Drive, will bisect the two buildings, east-west."

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original source National Post

In an examination of successful small business in Toronto's Beach neighbourhood, the Toronto Metro found, not surprisingly, that a connection to the community is essential for building the loyal customer-base needed for a Toronto small businesses to thrive.

"With a clientele that is as discerning as it is loyal, small businesses at The Beach thrive on being a part of their customers' daily lives and acting more like good friends than just business operators...in a tight-knit community of loyal, local-shopping customers like The Beach, carving a niche is crucial."

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original source Toronto Metro

According to the National Post, the number of coffee shops in Toronto has been growing significantly over the past decade. Interestingly the proliferation of coffee shops isn't limited to larges chains. Independent coffee shops are emerging and succeeding in neighbourhoods all across the city.

"Toronto has become a city that runs on coffee. Our downtown is thoroughly caffeine-fuelled, as made obvious by the per-square-metre concentration of Starbucks, Timothy's, Second Cups, Tim Hortons and other chains, along with a handful of independent cafes. Then there are the city's loose orbit of coffeetowns, neighbourhoods where coffee shops easily outnumber vegetable stands --or even bars.

Toronto's caffeinated hubs have emerged in the past decade, each shop unequal parts pit stop and ad hoc social centre, catering to the needs of emerging neighbourhoods where a good barista and reliable wi-fi access in the middle of the day has trumped cheap groceries, for adults who need to be fuelled and connected."

click here to read the full National Post article