Beloved Toronto restaurant making a comeback after 8-year closure
A Toronto restaurant that was a local legend for over a decade is making its long-awaited comeback after closing down years ago.
It's been six years since Carl Cassell closed the doors for good on Harlem Underground, an offshoot of his iconic restaurant, Harlem, which also closed down just two years prior in 2017.
Closing down the restaurants in order to support his wife's dream of opening her own wellness retreat, Carl tells me, it felt like a natural time to end the restaurants' legacies in the city.
In the years that followed, though, Carl wasn't able to separate himself from his history as a restaurant owner. He'd constantly correct himself, when asked what he does, to remind himself that his restaurant career was on pause.
One fateful day, when he and his wife were among five couples at a kid's birthday party, he found himself doing just that, when one of the friends in attendance told the group that Carl had formerly founded and owned Harlem. Three out of the five couples at the party, he then learned, had their first dates at the restaurant. It was then that the gravity of what he'd created really dawned on him.
After that, he and his wife sat down to have the conversation: it was time to "bring sexy back," as Carl says.
The restaurant, named for the Harlem Renaissance, was a jubilant celebration of Black culture, from the music played to the menu, replete with soul food staples. It's something that, especially today, Toronto really needs, Carl tells me.
"We're like, bro, the vibe we brought to the city — there's been a hole since we left, you know?" Carl says.
All the stars seemed to align after the decision was made. A tenant fell through at Harlem's 745 Queen St. W. location, and his partner, Carl Allen, was ready to take on a new challenge, and, boom: the Harlem revival is here.
"It's like the cosmos willed it," Carl tells me. "There was no resistance."
Carl tells me that he plans to keep Harlem "true to its roots," although they will be stripping the menu back to basics, adopting a more tapas-style approach where diners can order their favourites à la carte.
Rest assured, though, you'll still be able to get all the favourites that made Harlem a household name in Toronto.
The precise reopening date for Harlem has yet to be determined, as Carl tells me he's working to ensure everything's absolutely perfect before the restaurant's grand return, though it will be coming this May.
"Having been away for this long, we've got to come correct," Carl tells me. "I'm really not rushing it. I'm just making sure that we are rock solid before we open those doors."
Harlem Restaurant
