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Roche Bobois, the renowned French luxury furniture brand, has opened its second store in Toronto to mark the brand’s 50th anniversary in Canada.

This new space, in the Castlefield Design District, a go-to spot in the city for interior designers, spanning an impressive 4,742 square feet, is set to redefine the luxury furniture shopping experience in the heart of the city, said the retailer.

Pierre Berardo, the General Manager at Roche Bobois – Director of the USA and Canadian subsidiaries, said the company now has eight locations in Canada, including seven corporate stores and one franchise in Quebec City.

Recent openings include the store in Toronto’s Castlefield Design District and takeovers in Vancouver and Calgary.

There are three showrooms in Montreal, one in Quebec City, two stores in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

He said the company has been expanding in recent years by opening new showrooms or by taking over new franchises.

By opening a second store in Toronto, Roche Bobois aims to extend its reach to a broader audience while further solidifying its position as a premier destination for luxury furniture in this major Canadian city.

“We are planning to open in Royalmount in Montreal, which is also a big investment and a big move for us,” said Berardo.

“What we believe in Toronto is that it’s a bit, maybe not like New York, but definitely it has the potential to have more than just one showroom. To give you an example, in Manhattan, just Manhattan, we have three stores. We are the only furniture brand with three stores in Manhattan. We believe that Toronto is two maybe three showrooms in order to really cover the whole potential of this market. Because, as I’m sure, you know, Toronto, it’s a lot of traffic.”

He said many furniture brands are located in the area the retailer has opened its latest store in Toronto and it’s also close to the Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

“Definitely a lot of designers shop in this area. So I will say an affluent area, plus a designer’s destination, makes really the perfect mix to open a location,” he added.

Berardo said the Canadian market is similar to the U.S. with different provinces and different markets.

“But if you take, for example, Toronto, I’ve been living in New York for 15 years. It gives me really a vibe of New York with very strong energy. It’s very hard to find a room in an hotel where you don’t have noise in the morning because everything is under construction, where you look the number of skyscrapers, residential condos, residential units that have been building. It’s very impressive,” he said.

“And so Toronto, for me, it’s like a small New York, or little more, like an energy like New York. This is what it gives me. As far as Toronto, it has a very strong economy, a lot of headquarters real estate, which is still doing pretty well. So all those KPIs are very good for us. Because really, in the furniture business, we follow the stock exchange and we follow the real estate. If real estate does well, if the Stock Exchange does well, we as a business, we also, as an industry, we also do pretty well.

“On the other hand, you have Montreal, which is a bit different, but still also very wealthy, with a lot of wealthy areas, more than construction, a lot of local companies. The Quebec companies that are are very well established and developed in Montreal, which gives a very, I would say, a strong economical foundation. And we have a very steady business. And for us, for example, Canada has been being a very good business for the last three, four years, since COVID during the pandemic time, but also after that, when the USA is a bit more challenging for the last year, year and a half.

“We strongly believe in the Canadian economy, I would say the foundations allowing us to generate more business.”

He said the brand used to only have a street presence in France before COVID.

During the pandemic, shopping centres took a hit.

“And so we had opportunities in 2021, 2022 to get some strategic locations in malls. And so we have, for example, in the US in California and in New Jersey, we are in malls. And then, as I mentioned, in Royalmount,” added Berardo

Centrally located just a few miles from Yorkdale’s high-end mall, the new Roche Bobois store is easily accessible for customers throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and beyond, including King City, Vaughan, Markham and Woodbridge.

The retailer said visitors to the new Toronto showroom will discover a curated selection of Roche Bobois’ best-selling pieces and iconic collections, including timeless favourites such as Mah Jong, Aqua, Lift, Bubble, Furtif and Astréa. The store also offers unparalleled customer service. From personalized 3D design consultations to state-of-the-art digital tools such as connected screens and tablet stands, every aspect of the shopping experience has been crafted with the discerning customer in mind.

Designed by Jacqueline Hopfer, head of Roche Bobois’ design department in Paris and daughter of the iconic Mah Jong sofa designer, the retailer said the space exudes elegance and sophistication. From the striking plant wall to the sleek suspended ceilings and intricate wooden claustra, every element has been meticulously curated to create an immersive environment.

Roche Bobois is a French brand that ranks among the world’s leading premium furniture and décor brands. Roche Bobois aims to celebrate the French Art de Vivre through its creativity, expertise and environmental responsibility. In each of its 260 showrooms/stores worldwide, Roche Bobois offers creative and original collections designed in collaboration with renowned designers and leading fashion houses.

So how’d you both get started?

Toben: I started cooking at age 18 at a small pizzeria. I loved the energy of the professional kitchen and have continued cooking ever since. I worked in a number of different restaurants before starting a small dinner party/catering business with my incredible sister Elana. She handled the front of house/logistics and we formed a dynamic duo. At that time there were not many individuals in catering that had fine dining experience like Elana and I did.

Elana: When Toben asked me to join him, I had just come out of art school, but had worked in restaurants throughout high school and university. Over the course of the first two years, we held other jobs while catering on the side out of our mom’s kitchen. After the two years, we left our full-time jobs and pursued the catering business full time.

Tell us about your first big break.

Our first big break after starting up was winning the bid for the CIBC Mellon holiday party. This was a 400-person event hosted in their banking hall and required a full kitchen build out, extensive staffing, and a customized menu. The event was such a success that we subsequently won the bid for the 7 remaining years the event was held. Ultimately, the event became the hallmark of what our team was built on. We became known for being an extremely detail-oriented, reliable, and trusted vendor for large affairs.

What was the hardest part about starting your own business? What do you find most rewarding?

Starting a business has its own unique set of challenges. You learn a lot as you go and must adapt quickly based on what you’re learning. The hardest part of starting our own business was gaining the trust of our clientele, while the most rewarding part was seeing how happy our clients were once they had experienced our catering and event services.

However, what’s even harder is maintaining the business as it grows and continues to evolve with the changing industry. Keeping consistency in offerings while continuing to be innovative is an integral part of growth. Most importantly, you need a high-quality team to achieve this. You can hold a vision for your business, but the only way to grow is if you surround yourself with people who share the same vision.

What’s most rewarding about watching our business grow is seeing the success of and happiness of our team and being a part of their success.

How did COVID affect the business? What have you had to change since?

Covid was difficult on many industries, but specifically, the events industry took a big hit. Since large gatherings were not possible, we had to adapt quickly.  We started a home delivery service of gourmet prepared meals, TOBEN at Home, that has stood the test of time and still exists today. Covid also gave us the opportunity to take a bird’s eye view of how to better service our clients, integrate new software systems, and revamp our menus. Luckily, we’ve bounced back nicely and even grown/started new projects since Covid ended.

It’s not always easy working with family. What sort of challenges do you encounter? How do you go about resolving them? 

Family or not, partnering with someone when starting a business is fraught with challenges. Some people think that it’s more challenging working with family but the truth is – at least for us – that you can be brutally honest with your family (arguably more so than you would with a friend/partner) in the hopes that this honesty brings you closer to your goals, which for us, it did. Although we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, which we both view as a positive, the difference in perspectives forces us to rethink or challenge our own ideas. We have a mutual respect for each other and always have the same end goal and core beliefs when it comes to our company and its growth.

Learning from failure is a valuable and inevitable part of most entrepreneurial journeys. Looking back, what failure are you now grateful for given the lessons learned?

There was a large-scale wedding that we catered at a banquet hall in which we had no control over the staffing company used. The staffing team did not have experience in pre-selected plated dinner service, which in turn led to significant day-of problems, including not having the proper dish for each guest. The lesson this taught us was to make sure we organize staff where we can. In rare instances where the venue or client hires their own staff, we have to educate the client and manage expectations on how it can affect service.

What drives you to keep pushing further?

Toben: Learning new recipes and food techniques, working with my team to collaborate on new ideas, and creating special experiences for our clients that will serve as memories to last a lifetime.

Elana: I love to solve problems and create things. I think the catering industry is always changing and I love the challenge of solving problems when it comes to each unique event. Whether that includes working on a bid and finding the most creative way to showcase our food in line with a theme, or sharpening the pencil and working on a budget while still maintaining quantity and variety; I take on each event as a challenge and a problem to solve.

What’s one big tip you would give to up-and-comers in the industry?  

Toben: Keep investing in your business. Keep taking the time to listen to your team and understand their perspective. Treat every individual event as if it’s your first and last, no matter the size and scope!

Elana: Work hard and stay the course. There’s going to be a lot of challenges along the way, but just keep pushing through. If you believe in what you have to offer and that it’s special, keep going and it’ll get into the right hands. If it’s something special, people will take notice.

And now for the Bonus Round…

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up (and how does it relate to what you do now)?  

Toben: I dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player.  I think I always loved both physical and cerebral activities. My profession as both a chef and entrepreneur require both these attributes.

Elana: I wanted to be a makeup artist or fashion designer. I ended up going to art school, and while there, I found there was a lot of problem solving involved in large art pieces. Even though it is a completely different field, I find that within the catering industry there’s the same parallel, we are always problem solving.

What was your first job in the industry? 

Toben: Washing dishes at a small pizzeria called Il Fornello.

Elana: Waitress at Cafe Nervosa during university.

You wouldn’t be you without…

Toben: Becoming a father which has taught me patience, humility, better communication, and a drive to succeed to make a better life for them.

Elana: Hot chocolate before bed. This is my “me time”.

What’s at the top of your bucket list? 

Toben: To travel all over Mexico and eat every kind of taco and street food.

Elana: I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. I love the landscape, weather, and food.

If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

Toben: Anthony Bourdain. He was my hero as a young chef. He saw the world with beautiful eyes and made everyone around him feel unique and special. He seems like he’d make for great and very easy company at a dinner table and you know he had a bottomless pit for great food!

Elana: My grandmother. She passed away 8 years ago. She always loved our food. She was a strong woman and female entrepreneur herself. It would be great to catch up and fill her in on everything that has happened the past few years. I know she would have loved to see how far we have come.

What’s your one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up?  

Toben: Salty snacks! I could polish off a bag of popcorn, kettle chips or good cheese/crackers in a heartbeat.

Elana: Pop!

If you could retire anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Toben: I would say somewhere on a beach – waking up every morning to the sound of the ocean and exercising at sunrise is something I’ve always dreamed of doing. And hopefully there’s a golf course nearby as that is another great passion of mine.

Elana: Somewhere warm, perhaps on a farm.

What’s the first thing you do when you open your eyes in the morning?

Elana: Turn off my alarm and check if my 6 year has snuck into my bed in the night!

What are you currently binge-watching?

Toben: Yellowstone

What was the last fun thing you bought?

Toben: A cottage up north in Bala.  It’s a dream come true.

Read Article: https://www.eventsource.ca/blog/get-to-know-toben-and-elana-kochman-of-toben-food-by-design

Spaccio West is the Terroni Group’s newest Italian commissary kitchen, café, storefront, and restaurant located in the Junction Triangle.

As an offshoot of the original commissary kitchen on Sackville Street, Spaccio West specializes in the production of all the pasta and frozen pizza products used in Terroni’s restaurants, and what’s sold through the subscription-based pizza delivery service Porta and retail outlets.

(Spaccio on the east side makes all the bread, desserts and gelato, bolognese sauce, and does the butchery.) And just like its predecessor, this Spaccio operates as a mercato, with a sit-down restaurant space and patio.

According to owner Cosimo Mammoliti, the Spaccio concept was originally created to help streamline the high-demand production required by Terroni, Sud Forno, and their subsidiaries while maintaining quality. Over time, Spaccio evolved to include retail and dining.

When the demand surpassed what the commissary kitchen was able to supply, he looked into expanding.

Taking over the former Drake Commissary space, the business brings quality goods, plus Terroni’s downtown flavours and hospitality to the west end.

Walk past the ground floor patio and up a set of stairs to reach Spaccio’s bakery and fully stocked takeaway counter. (There is a separate accessible entrance available by request.)

This is the Sud Forno grab-and-go section where you’d find prepared salads, paninis made with homemade focaccia, sandwiches bursting with fresh mortadella and large slabs of cut pizzas – that can be reheated at order – at the display counter.

Grab a cortado with a bite-sized bombolini filled with Nutella or pastry cream, $8.50 for three, for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, or take away a loaf of bread or prepared sandwich.

Choose from a selection of pastries, $4.25 each, like the girella alla cannella (pearl sugar dusted cinnamon roll) to a cacio e pepe croissant, or classic almond croissant.

There are crisp chocolate Cannoli Sicilian, $8 for two, that’s filled with fresh ricotta, pistachios, and candied orange peel.

The marketplace is flooded with shelves lined with quality staples to hard-to-find Italian pantry goods.

Refrigerator display cases packed with fresh and frozen heat-to-serve Terroni and Sud Forno products feature everything from frozen croissants to lasagna bolognese.

The fresh grocery section sells restaurant quality ingredients – as in, the same fresh produce, seafood like house-smoked salmon and octopus, plus butchered meats and imported cheeses that are used in Terroni’s restaurants.

In addition to other thoughtful kitchen tools and shopping supplies – do check out the custom-designed hot and cold food carrier – there’s a large selection of Italian wines brought in by Cavinona, Terroni’s wine import agency.

The latter represents 95 producers with over 350 labels and varietals not typically found in the city from regions such as Etna, and Pedemonte.

Dominating the south side are two spacious dining rooms that are lined with exposed brick, hardwood flooring, and leather-backed banquettes that seat 100.

The southeastern corner features gorgeous banquettes and bar back-splash that were inherited from The Drake, while the southwestern corner is flanked by windows with views of the production kitchen.

Subscribing to simply prepared dishes using the best quality ingredients including olive oil he’s imported, Mammoliti explained it as this: “The simpler the food can be, the more people can feel good about what they ate. It feels like a healthy meal at the end.”

It’s this very reason that Mammoliti’s restaurants don’t subscribe to modifications and substitutions; the best ingredients have been accessed and prepared (materia prima), and any changes can’t guarantee the quality and flavour the brand has upheld for thirty years this December.

From an operational standpoint, it also keeps consistency in service.

Serving early morning coffee and pastries, weekend brunch, lunch, and dinner, those choosing to dine in can pick from the spacious 50-seat front patio and the indoor dining rooms.

While the menu is more concise and has distinctly different offerings than its parent brand, it does feature some of Terroni’s greatest hits.

To start, there are classics such as the Carpaccio di Manzo, $18, which is specific to Spaccio and not offered at any Terroni location.

The no-fuss dish features beef tenderloin that’s drizzled with house-made mayonnaise and crostini, and is a great opener sided with a cocktail like the Tramonto, $16, that’s made using Aperol, tequila, amaretto, and lime juice.

There are cocktails like the Paper Plane-inspired Dundas West, $17, that’s made with yellow chartreuse, Fernet Branca, lime juice and St. Germain.

Terroni is synonymous with pizza, and the version served here is a rift of Roman style but with an airier, light, focaccia-like crust. The dough is made at Spaccio East and is easier to digest due to its long fermentation (three days).

The Mancu Li Cani, $21, is an uncut pie that’s topped with tomato, mozzarella, ribbons of fried eggplant, and finished with dollops of fiery homemade n’duja sausage and shaved Parmigiano. The crust is airy and almost delicate; the pizza is packed full of flavour and would be a choice option for those who like spice.

Cavatelli Cozze e Vongole, $23, coats ridges of al dente fresh pasta with a bright and sweet sauce made from cherry tomatoes, fresh clams and mussels, and white wine. The simple and flavourful dish is finished with breadcrumbs and finely chopped herbs.

Branzino alla Griglia, $38, features the filets of a whole grilled seabass that’s sided by a light and fruity salad made from shaved fennel and orange segments tossed in lemon juice and dusted with toasted sliced almonds.

The combination is fresh, bright, and tastes like warm Mediterranean sunshine even as the city starts to descend into the throes of fall and winter.

Impressive and excellent, the Cotoletta alla Milanese, $32, features a breaded bone-in veal chop that’s been pounded thin and fried.

Served with a salad made from lemon juice-dressed arugula, cherry tomato, and radish, the Parmigiano topped side refreshes the palate between bites of the crisp, golden cutlet.

Brunch includes elevated crowd favourites such as French Toast, $15, that tops egg-soaked pane brioche with a checker-board pattern of alternating fresh Ontario berries and pistachio cream.

It’s a whole breakfast meets dessert experience depending on how much maple syrup you want to douse it with.
Feeling lux? Check out the Uova al Tartufo, $21. Here, soft scrambled eggs with Parmigiano cheese is topped with a generous shaving of black truffle and served with crisp and chewy Pugliese toast.

Pair your meal with a bottle or glass of wine from the menu.

Love what you try? You can pick up a bottle from the mercato to take home.

Spaccio West is open daily from 8 a.m. to close, except for statutory holidays. For those who drive, there’s plenty of parking available, especially in the evenings or on the weekend at the rear of the building.

When we visited The Symes, a new event space in a 1930s heritage building on Symes Rd. near St. Clair Ave. W. and Weston Rd., a client was about to come in and set up two indoor soccer fields for a corporate event.

A previous event, a wedding, featured real palm trees.

The venue has two massive event spaces — 5,600 square feet on the main floor and 4,100 on the second — with soaring ceilings of 17 and 22 feet respectively, plus tonnes of natural light. They’re huge, blank slates that event planners can set up any way their imaginations like.

“That’s the best thing about this space, you can do what you want with it,” says Caitie Yue, one of the founders of The Symes.

She and partners Viviana Kohon and Namita Tandon-Walsh say the architecture of the space — and its view of stunning sunsets — also means simple events with white tablecloths and candles look pretty fabulous too.