Pre-pandemic, Nicki Laborie’s Toronto restaurants bustled with discerning foodies, neighbourhood regulars, and Toronto’s well-heeled social scene staples. Bar Reyna – a cozy Mediterranean-inspired cocktail and snack bar housed in a Victorian on Cumberland St. – had become a Yorkville favourite since it opened its doors in May 2016. Meanwhile, in Corktown, two-year-old sister spot Reyna on King offered its own upbeat vibe, complete with abundant greenery and 90s throwback tunes.
The common denominator between both spots is a menu of quality share plates, with favourites that include manchego cheese, lamb baklava, Lebanese “tacos,” and a short rib grilled cheese (to name just a few of its crowd-pleasing dishes). These days, Reyna regulars and new customers enjoy this comforting goodness and more from the added comfort of their homes, thanks to its popular takeout menu.
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Like countless Toronto restaurants, the pandemic and its control measures obviously switched up “business as usual” for the Reyna brand in ways Laborie could never have imagined just a year ago. At the time, she had just signed a lease for a space next door to Reyna on King that she planned to convert into a private event venue.
“The whole thing was initially a huge shock to everybody, but then it quickly became about thinking outside of the box – and that thinking lasted for all of 2020,” says Laborie. “It was the year of the perpetual pivot to various ways of making revenue.”
The first of many involved reaching out to local suppliers and designers and beginning to turn her newly leased space into a store called Reyna Bazaar. By late spring, Reyna on King was also giving the neighbourhood – and beyond – something to talk about, with a takeout menu of signature favourites and creative cocktail to-go options. It made more sense to reopen the Corktown spot, says Laborie, due to Yorkville’s more commercial nature in comparison to its home-filled counterpart on King East.
“We had amazing support from the locals and no shortage of nice weather, so we had a lot of foot traffic,” says Laborie. “I was also able to negotiate a larger delivery area with our provider, so that our customers in the Yorkville and Rosedale areas can still enjoy our delivery.”
Though Reyna’s takeout and delivery program was a decided hit – and has remained so since – seemingly every other restaurant in the city was also offering at-home meals. Not to mention, as Laborie points out, those who were hit the hardest financially from the pandemic were in no position to order from a different restaurant a few times a week – as much as they may like to support their beloved local businesses.
Competition was stiff.
“That’s when I decided we should get creative – everyone was doing delivery,” said Laborie. “So, I had a gelato cart built and we started serving gelato on the street. We also introduced boozy freezies and our signature cocktails in baggies, and fully stocked picnic baskets – we did everything.”
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Next came some relief in late June, when Toronto got the green light to safely open patios. “We opened both patios – the Reyna on King patio was facilitated by the CafeTO program – and business was very good,” says Laborie. “August and September, however, were the only months were business was even somewhat comparable to the year prior, or how we should have done under normal circumstances.”
While Laborie acknowledges that the government subsidies helped soften some of the financial blow, and the constant adaptations proved relatively successful, she says no initiative remotely compared to the revenue she would have generated had she been open for business (“not even close,” she says) – let alone the cost of running the restaurants.
By early October indoor dining was banned again, just as the cool air and harsh wind drew fewer customers to the Reyna on King Patio. “That’s when I sat down and said, ‘ok we need to find another revenue stream for this place,’” says Laborie. “Bar Reyna had its year-round back patio until the official lockdown on November 23, but Reyna on King had me generally worried.”
At this point, Laborie had shut down the well-curated but short-lived Reyna Bazaar (“it did not do well,” she admits) and set her focus on the upcoming holiday season – typically the most lucrative time of the year for restaurants and retailers in better times.
“The takeout cocktails in the baggies had done so well through the summer, that I thought I would expand on that, so we came up with Reyna on the Rocks, which offers do-it-yourself cocktails kits, bar tools, bottled cocktails, and a fun monthly subscription service,” says Laborie. As a result, it offered a go-to spot for holiday gifts for the cocktail-lovers.
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Though the initiative continues to be fairly well received, Laborie hopes it’s the Reyna brand’s last major pivot.
“If you look online right now, everyone is now doing bottled cocktails and DIY kits,” she says. “So, it gets to a point where pivoting is pivoting, but the competition is steep and there are only so many places you can pivot to, and right now – almost a year later – I’m ready to open as soon as it’s deemed safe to do so.”
Once this happens, Laborie says we can expect upgraded patios(!) and the return of the boozy freezies, gelato, and bagged cocktails. Takeout and delivery will also continue. As for the space next door, Laborie is returning to her original idea of creating a private event venue, in anticipation of mass vaccination.
When the lifeblood returns to her restaurants – and hopefully for good – Laborie is ready and eager for their ensuing fury of activity.
“The restaurant business is so tough and sometimes you get home at midnight and think, ‘why in God’s name am I doing this?’ when the return is – I mean you could buy Bitcoin and make more in two months than you may in ten years in a restaurant,” says Laborie of the grind of being a restaurateur, especially in a city like Toronto.
“But I do it because I love it. I love creating. This was what I was made to do,” she says. “That’s what’s been the most heartbreaking for me personally. It doesn’t mean that I can’t pivot or adjust, but there’s nothing like walking into your restaurant after working so hard and seeing it busy, people laughing, and people drinking. For me, that’s the ultimate joy and satisfaction.”
Feature Image: Reyna On King
