Le Gourmand in the Deadpool

I'll miss the Yonge & Bloor location. Was a really nice treat - they sold out too early, though; I could never pick anything up on the way home.

Wow, I'm surprised the Yonge/Bloor location closed....that place had longer lineups than every other place in the food court combined...

I wonder if the problem wasn't with the customers, but with the owner(s).

Sound like it could be another Dundas and Sherbourne in no time...

Those cookies were ALWAYS, ALWAYS burned (chocolate) or undercooked (walnut) by several minutes. I don't know how they don't catch on to this fact and fix it.

monthly rent is 9K!!! how can a cafe survive? even there's a huge line up everyday!!! these toronto landlords are insane!!! only Starbuck can suck up that amount of rent!! god damn americanized chains...

@jarett - Next time you could raise your voice and let it be known so others wouldn't have to suffer the horrible fate you did.

No offense, Tim, but what a stupid question. (On second thought, offense intended.)

That's such a bummer to see local businesses go under like this.

Having worked very closely with Milton and within Le Gourmand for a few years now, I'm as reliable a source as you can expect to find. TomG: No, Milton did not spend all of our money on the highlife, and yes he does pay his staff as per um...provincial law. You were correct in stating that his staff were dedicated and loyal, and I can tell you that you don't get loyalty out of your staff by treating them as you would have us believe.

Milton's idea of Le Gourmand was a great one... I think the problem was he wasnt at either locations long enough to make sure things were being doe the way he intended. The people he left "in charge" were border-line useless and certainly did not follow through with any form of proper customer service. I do remember in the beginning it was a delightful place in a great area of the city, but towards the end if you were there often enough you could feel the ship sinking ;(...

I don't know anything about the Spadina location, but the customer service at the Yonge/Bloor location was very good. I was there almost on a daily basis.

I was really surprised (and saddened) to see it closed on Monday.

I remember when the Spadina location first opened - it was so lovely and cosmopolitan and BUSY. I have noticed over the years however that the cafe looked kind of dirty and unkempt, that the grocery stock looked dusty and unreliable. The salads looked a bit on the wilted side and the servers seemed overtired and distracted. Perhaps the state of the cafe reflected the state of the business itself.

I'm completely flabbergasted. The place was packed every time I went in there... how could it have been failing so badly?

You'd have to sell a lot of cookies to make rent. Wow, 9k/month.

I can't believe with their high prices and line ups out the door that it has all gone under. I would spend $5 a day there on tea and bagels... their organic bagels were yummy. At times I would have lunch there too, their macaroni and cheese was alright, just a bit too peppery. Their staff at the Spadina location were friendly but quite slow at times. There were a few in there that had been there for at least 3 or 4 years if not more... he had to have been paying them, or at least the good ones.

Can you sue when the boss goes under without telling you he wasn't paying rent? I would try...

Ahh...now it makes sense why they haven't had chai for the longest time. I'll really miss this place. They had one of the best coffees for the prices they were charging (which, could be part of the reason they're out of business?)

I'll miss Judy, Michelle and the rest of the early morning crew. Best Americanos in the city, friendly staff and worth the wait for your food, imo.

---omigosh---does this mean I'll never taste the apple chicken curry wrap again?!?

If you want the truth of what happened, why not ask the best sources instead of continuing to speculate. Being a recent former employee - who was smart enough to jump ship in time to get the thousands owed to me - I know exactly what happened. And yes you can place the full blame on the owner and his decisions over the last 2 years - including his lifetsyle choices - like spending money on a trip to the Olympics 2 weeks before being locked out of the 3rd location for not paying rent. It is unfortunate for his family - I know he's a great dad but he really screwed things up, and now has to lie in the bed he made. Making a long story as short as possible. The expenses of opening the third location on top of the extremely high rent took it's toll. Business didn't pick up fast enough to pay off building costs while paying for rent, payroll and inventory at the same time. Trying desperately to keep it open, the owner chose to drain the profits of the first two locations. Obviously with all profits from the company going towards paying off debts from the third location, the demise was inevitable without someone stepping in and helping out, since the owner was short on social skills, I guess that help never came. Yes the Spadina location was always busy and profitable, but there was no money going back into it, the money was going elsewhere. Unfortunately, the owners actions filtered down to the management which in turn affected the service. The lack of routine drinks and snacks and constantly having to apologize to customers is not an environment that fosters the greatest service. You can only make the best of what was given to you - when you run out of everything and the owner's response is 'oh well' - I knew it was time to leave. I feel sorry for the rest of the staff - in particular Aaron, David, Rebecca and Baby but the rest will not be missed. Unfortunately ambition is not always rewarded - especially during a recssion. Wish the best for Milton, hope he learns from all his mistakes and doesn't continue to make them, hope he steps up and owns all the blame he deserves, the staff did their best.

If you have no real info, don't bother talking trash

About the Starbucks angle on this story, the reason why chains like these open locations and stay is because they can afford the rent. They are too corporate more than what they are supposed to be about (supposed to be a cafe) and have gained so much money over the past years which comes from EXPLOITATION of their employees and most of all from the backs of the people in the third world who harvest and get their goods, which is coffee beans. That's why they can afford it. They are also one of the causes of why rents go up in streetshop areas.

That is why you should notice by now that malls are really BAD because since the rents are too high in malls (greedy developers), it doesn't encourage and allow for mom-and-pop businesses or independent lines to set up shop there. That is why all you get in shopping malls are big corporate chains, mostly American since they have more funds and their money is above the Canadian dollar, and all you get in malls are the same stores over and over again. BLAH. You can see this problem in different countries as well. It's horrible seeing a Starbucks, KFC or a GAP in some European or Asian city's street with authentic cultural architecture. There should be a law or BIA law about major corporate chains (especially non-Canadian) to not be given priority or much consideration towards setting up a location at streetshop zones/BIAs. They have so much opportunity (and money) already, such as in the malls.

How about I just close out this argument with a bit of reality:

The problem here was the Yonge and Eglinton location. Simple. The reason? Because Milton didn't incorporate the stores independently, so when one location went under the debts pulled the other stores down.

Now regardless of the service, etc. all shops have ups and downs with customer service, but this is the real reason that the place went under and it's too bad.

The food at the Yonge & Bloor location, the only one I ever went to, was consistently amazing. I still think about the choco-walnut cookies, the quiche, the chicken waldorf salad, and the coffee. I hope the owner picks up the broken pieces and graces us with his presence again. He has a talent that should not be wasted.

Unfortunetly when i left two years ago another Manager took over who didnt care and let the ship sink.

It's back! The Spadina location has been open for almost a month now. It's cash only though, which raises the credit flag... but I'm sure they will stick around for as long as possible. Now only if they would get their organic bagel supplier back. Their bagels now are horrible!!