Toronto restaurant totally overhauls business model amid financial struggles
A Toronto restaurant recently announced that they'll no longer be offering dinner service due to the financial difficulties the restaurant industry currently faces.
When we talk about neighbourhood gems — those places that, despite being tucked away in less buzzy corners of the city, still manage to entirely hit the mark — Danforth East's Taverne Tamblyn is about as good an example as you could choose.
Opened in 2022 by Toronto Chef Ben Gundy, the casual and cozy French bistro is pleasantly unpretentious while still serving food that's, if I may be frank, really good.
And it's precisely this approach to French cuisine that made it an instant hit among its community.
It's the end of an era for Taverne Tamblyn and its fans, though, as Ben recently took to the restaurant's Instagram account to announce that, as of the end of the month, they'll no longer be offering dinner service (and, thus, eat-in service at all,).
"It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the closing of Taverne Tamblyn for dinner service," Ben writes in the caption of an Instagram post about the change.
"This was not an easy decision to make. I love what we have created together: A cheerful neighbourhood restaurant offering the classic French cuisine I love to prepare and serve. Seeing so many of you appreciate what we offered has been incredibly rewarding."
The reality of the situation, though, Ben shares, is that the margins on a full-service restaurant are "razor thin," even at the best of times, so paired with the economic uncertainty, operational cost increases and declining consumer spending that loom, ending the restaurant's dinner service felt like the right decision.
Based on Ben being an industry veteran with experience in Vancouver, London, and Sydney, I'm inclined to trust his judgement with this decision, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing to hear.
On the bright side, it's not a goodbye for good, though. At least, not exactly.
In the post, Ben notes that the restaurant will now focus on offering a line of prepared foods and catering, with a handful of bistro nights on the horizon. No further details have been shared about any of these projects yet.
When they do become available, though, you'll be able to find details on Taverne Tamblyn's prepared foods and bistro nights on the restaurant's website.
The restaurant will be serving its last dinner service on Saturday, March 29, so you still have about a week to get one last meal in before the restaurant embarks on its new journey.
As of the time of publication, Taverne Tamblyn has not responded to blogTO's request for comment on its decision to make the change, nor what the future of the establishment holds.
Taverne Tamblyn is located at 1426 Danforth Avenue.
Fareen Karim
