Latest news with #bistro
CTV News
14 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
‘We don't cause any trouble': Beaches brunch bistro still waiting on patio permit on hold at City Hall
An East-End brunch bistro is missing prime patio season as it waits on a permit being held up at City Hall. CTV's Natalie Johnson reports.
National Post
5 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Ivison: After the inferno, Jasper is on the rebound
Rachel Bailey finally saw a future for herself running a fine dining restaurant in the Rocky Mountain paradise of Jasper, Alberta. Article content The native of Manchester, England, was drawn to the snowy peaks and turquoise lakes in 2013, and spent much of the next decade struggling to realize her dream of Canadian citizenship. Her plan was to use her British law degree to become accredited in Canada, but she found herself working part-time in a Jasper bistro and at a local law firm. Article content Article content Article content By the end of 2023, she'd become a Canadian citizen, and the owners of the bistro where she worked had asked her to use her sommelier skills to open a new concept that paired wines with fresh local game and produce. Bailey was invited to become part-owner, and the idea for Peacock Cork and Fork was born. Article content Article content Bailey and her partners purchased an upper-level space on Patricia Street in Jasper's downtown, and on June 12th, the restaurant opened to great fanfare. Article content TripAdvisor featured 30 reviews, all of which were glowing about the food and the hostess who curated the wines. Article content Just 40 nights after opening — on July 22nd last year — the Peacock was so badly damaged by the wildfire that nearly swept away the entire town that it had to be condemned. Bailey lost not only her livelihood but also the house she rented further up Patricia Street. Article content Article content Article content My wife and I met Bailey — Rachel — when she served us in one of the bustling restaurants that survived the fire, Harvest, just downstairs from where the Peacock was located. Article content Eleven months after the fire that destroyed one-third of Jasper's 1,113 buildings and burned an area nearly the size of the island of Montreal in the surrounding national park, it feels like a town that is just getting by. Article content Gazing towards the town from the Maligne Canyon look-out, the landscape looks like Mordor, scorched earth, pockmarked by thousands of blackened tree stumps. No one knows how much wildlife was lost, though it was recorded that elk and grizzly bears wandered the main streets of the town in the days after the fire, looking for an escape route. Article content Today, there are shoots of green grass sprouting between the dead trees, but any recovery will take decades, if the forest even grows back in the warmer, drier climate. Article content On the surface, Jasper is rebounding well. The restaurants and hotels are full; the Journey Through the Clouds glass-domed Rocky Mountaineer train is running again; and construction crews are rebuilding burned-down neighbourhoods to strict development codes (wood siding and roofing are outlawed).
The Sun
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Channel 4 star & award-winning chef closes city centre restaurant after 6 years – as he admits ‘we weren't busy enough'
KITCHEN CLOSED The celeb chef was forced to close another bistro earlier this year Published: 10:36, AN AWARD-winning chef has been forced to shut another of his restaurants after a drastic drop-off in bookings. Gary Usher, who starred in Channel 4's documentary "The Rebel Chef: My Restaurant Revolution", took to Instagram to announce the closure. 4 4 Kala, on King Street in Manchester, has now shuttered its doors after six years of service. Billed as "Manchester's neighbour bistro", the city centre restaurant marketed itself towards the theatre and opera crowd. But with bookings falling to half their previous level, Gary said he was left with no choice but to close. He added that any customers concerned about any vouchers they may have for the restaurant could use it at any other of the chef's sites. In a statement on Instagram the chef said: 'It's with a heavy heart that I announce the immediate closure of Kala. "I'm not really sure how to explain why we've closed other than we weren't busy enough to cover our costs. "I really really want to blame the economy & the pandemic. I really want to say the rising costs have made it impossible. 'All those factors haven't helped but we are 50% down in trade at Kala & that is the killer. "It goes without saying our business rates increasing substantially & the hike in NIC contributions only works against us. "This was not planned but neither was us being this quiet in June. All the Kala team will be paid up to date, our rent & suppliers too. If you have a voucher with us, as always it can be used in the wider group. Moment McDonald's worker SLAPS yob across head before brawl breaks out as group storm restaurant 'It was always a dream to have a restaurant on King Street in Manchester. I just wish it had lasted longer than six years.' The fate of the Manchester restaurant follows closely on the heels of the closure of another restaurant in Usher's Elite Bistros portfolio in January this year. The famed chef opened Burnt Truffle in July 2015 in Heswall, Merseyside. But at the start of this year Usher said the lease of the restaurant had ended and described the closure as a "sad day". The cooking star added that he had chosen to not renew the lease as the "honest truth" was that they had "never been able to make it work" at the site. The closure of Kala leaves Usher with four restaurants remaining in his northern restaurant empire. Hispi in trendy Didsbury means Usher still has a presence in England's second city. The other three survivors are Wreck in Liverpool, The Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Cheshire and The White Horse in Churton, Cheshire. 4 Usher founded the award-winning Elite Bistros group in 2011 before opening up a string of successful restaurants in the North West. In 2019, he was the subject of the Channel 4 show The Rebel Chef: My Restaurant Revolution. The hour-long documentary witnessed Gary's quest to crowdfund £50,000 to build a French-style bistro in Prescot, Merseyside. That same year he was shortlisted for the coveted Best Restaurateur accolade at the GQ Food and Drink awards.
