Vince 00:00:02
Hello, listeners. Thanks for checking in to Design Makes Everything Better, and, uh, a real heartfelt thank you to everybody that has been reaching out and sending me emails, asking for some more episodes. Um, I guess they have noticed that it has been a little while since we've been able to edit and put, uh, some episodes back up again. I guess that's what happens, or that's the curse of what happens when you're busy. You sometimes don't get to do the things that you also love to do, like this podcast. And, uh, again, thank you so much. It blows my mind that people all over the world are listening and are enjoying this. The interview that you'll hear today is with two people, Anthony Walsh. He's the Chief Executive Chef at Oliver and Bonini, and Marco Gucci, who is the, uh, director of restaurants and operations at Freehand Hospitality.
Vince 00:00:53
Now, if, um, you're unfamiliar with either of those names, Oliver and Bonini is a leader in the hospitality and event space across the country. They have created some of the most memorable and landmark restaurants in the country. And, um, freehand Hospitality is a new company that was formed between Oliver and Bonacini and the Armor Group. The Armor Group is a developer in Nova Scotia that, um, has just finished the development called the Queen's Mark, which is located on the Halifax Waterfront. And, um, they partnered with the OMB to, uh, operate and curate, and together build these beautiful restaurants that are located along the, uh, the ground floor at, uh, has been a remarkable experience to be a part of the team, creating a couple of those restaurants within the space and doing some of their work in the Queens Mark. But, uh, the focus of this conversation is around the restaurants that they've been doing, the challenges that come with that, the opportunities that are there. But, um, also, and I think more enjoyably so is the, the love that they have of creating beautiful experiences and being able to, uh, really leave lasting memories with the guests that they have in the, the restaurants that they put together. I hope you enjoy this conversation and, uh, continue to check in.
Announcer 00:02:22
Welcome to Design Makes Everything Better, a podcast about design as a process for making decisions and succeeding. Now, here's your host, Vince.
Vince 00:02:32
Hmm. Yeah, I, I, I have to say, that's something that really struck me as a bit of a surprise, to be completely honest. When I was in those first meetings, uh, for the design presentations that we were doing, say for Baria, how many people were present in those meetings, um, it's, it's obvious that there is more of an inclusive conversation that starts to happen. So it it's always struck me as a bit of a, um, a challenge at times when you have so many people, though at the same time. So how do you keep from a general consensus, which can sort of tone, put a sort of a flatness to things versus being at the tip of a spear, which is being unique, being surprising in the space, being surprising in the food. How do you do that? Yeah. With your group, with so many people when you want to
Anthony 00:03:21
Hear everybody. Yeah. I mean, you have to be very analytical about those people that you do bring into the fold for this. And, you know, you don't want to, because we care about, like, whatever, we have these amazing brains and marketing and stuff, and we, you know, it's known that there's many a projects down the line and everybody's going to, you know, be a part of that. You know, inner circle's exciting, so to speak, and you're not gonna get it all the time, but you, from where I'm sitting and, and Bree for example, she's the, uh, project manager, project manager, Brian Bain mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, you know, she can, she juggles the whole on, she's a amazing hustler as well. But, you know, we're very specific about the people that we bring into the fold, because as you, you know, as you said, it can really kneecap a process if you have too many opinions. Um, so you try to zero in on, on the ones that are gonna be relevant to like the Sophia thing. Okay. There was a specific group of the marketing team and culinary. Yeah, I mean, in the background, I, I didn't take say, uh, John Horn and, and so on, so I brought Julie Mardel, who was running Leia at the time, bouncing stuff off her, just because it all makes sense and, and you know what I mean? So you have to be deliberate that way. Yeah.
Vince 00:04:46
You pick the leaders that you want to
Anthony 00:04:47
Work with. That make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, that trickles down. And at the end of the day, if, if, you know, we're not happy with the results that we're getting, okay, well, they'll be, you know, uh, another week and it's bringing in a few other opinions, and then we can window that down. So it's, it's again, one of these processes that yeah, you have to start smart, otherwise, you know, you're in trouble. But,
Vince 00:05:09
So it's interesting cuz I think a lot of people think that when a restaurant opens, that's when the biggest majority of decision making has kind of happened. Maybe a big chunk, but you've talked about it a few times already, Anthony, where you're seeing a constant reiteration, uh, an evolution and feedback that you're, you're not just feeding people, you're, you're stoking the fire, you're mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you're keeping this ongoing relationship, which is a constant evolution. Right. So, can you talk through some of that? So how, like, what sort of feedback do you look for, or do you, do you spend time on Google? Or is it, like, is it real time conversation? Like how do you, how do you evolve in the way that, you
Anthony 00:05:54
Know, I, I mean, from, from a review standpoint, um, which are very important, their opinions, um, generally speaking, you know, I'm not such an, I ignor that I don't read reviews, but I generally prefer for people like Marco, who, and that's a defined part of Marco's responsibility. He has to have boom, boom, boom, X amount of points on Open Table and Fedora or whatever, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, we have conversations all the time and you bringing up these sort of things. And, um, so that's, that's a, that's a big, big deal. And so far as filtering through them and
Marco 00:06:34
Filtering through them and identifying patterns, I think, um, you know, as Chef said, our, there are people's opinions and, you know, a, a large part of my job is taking vision, taking the vision of the space, taking the vision of, uh, you know, an investor, uh, president and chef Anthony Walsh is taking those visions and kind of navigating them and then, you know, putting them to fruition. Um, largely basing on my experience and seeing what we could actually, um, you know, put into, put into action, um, actioning off these items. Um, you know, it would be all fun, but if the teams aren't there yet, uh, or we can't manage to do something operationally, it's like, okay, so how do I tweak that vision to, to, to, to try to steer, um, uh, the boat in di direction? And sometimes, you know, uh, chef mentioned that, you know, okay, yes, I'd like to turn around on a dime, but a lot of times with, you know, these restaurants and openings, it's about kind of steering a large ship, you know, and slowly kind of making the changes to like veer it into a different direction. And I think that reviews, if we're gonna look at reviews, I think that they're vitally important. And, you know, uh, as Chef said, it is, it is part of my job in the sense that I do read them every single day and much to chefs should grin because sometimes I, you know, vent to him about these types of things. But I think it's, um, you know, and he's very good to be like, you know, just always remember our people's opinions. Yeah. But if
Anthony 00:08:19
There's, there has to be vetted properly because some stuff is fucking bullshit. Right.
Marco 00:08:24
But if you see patterns of negative patterns happening, you know, yeah. Specifically on one servers, for example, or specifically on, on one food item or a cocktail, um, then, you know, you can act on it or, you know, sit down and, and and, and look at it with the team.
Vince 00:08:40
Yeah. One of my favorite reviews of Break Host was The Coffee Sucks. <laugh> <laugh>. Yeah. Maybe you agree Cuz you just had it, but they thought it was a restaurant or something. And it was, it was
Anthony 00:08:50
Pretty funny. Right.
Vince 00:08:51
Um, you know, you're, we were talking about the later stages of after a restaurant opens and gets going, and you were talking about coming to a place and knowing before they're doing your research on a place before. How do you guys, uh, decide on the beginning of a concept? You know, in, in Halifax for example, you've got a variety of different restaurants mm-hmm. That are opening at the same time. How do you go, like, what's the decision making process where you decide we're gonna have, you know, right. Japanese, Mediterranean, we're gonna have South American.
Marco 00:09:27
How do you go there? I think a lot of that came from, you know, Scott McRae, who is, um, lived here his entire life and, and had a good understanding of what he believed the city needed. Um, and a bunch of ideas were, were thrown on a board of what he believed the city needed. And I think it was a collective, um, kind of, you know, yeah. We could do that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and like put a bunch of ideas on a board. It'd be like, oh, that would be very cool if we did Bar Sophia. And, and, uh, you know, and you know, it touched on some emotional cues that, you know, the whole team could be like, yeah. You know, it's not just about being a generic and, you know, making a, a cookie cutter box. It's like you have to love it and you have to have an emotional connection to a restaurant to make it
Anthony 00:10:20
Yeah.
Vince 00:10:21
Go
Anthony 00:10:21
It town. Yeah. Town. I mean, this, this project there is, you know, there's quite a few different spots. And as Marco had said, it was very much, you know, a Scott initially a Scott thing, and then laying it out there, and he's a bright guy and he knows that, okay, our experiential kind of based knowledge proof is in the pudding. You look at these places such as like, Biffs in Toronto, wow, what a, it's a amazing bistro, blah, blah, blah. And he's been there, he loved that sort of thing. And so these conversations would go on and, you know, we're, we're not a homogenizing, uh, type of group. Uh, so if the inspiration is French Bistro, we certainly look to some of the experience that we've had from Ma Salbi to Bist or whatever. And, you know, we take our victories and, and from Sure.
Anthony 00:11:13
Uh, physical design perspective to a degree. You know, we just know that at the end of it, we don't want to have these sort of visual ties that, oh, fuck, this is a, this is like a Biffs. Yeah. Junior Sophia is a great example of that, you know, and that was, uh, that was something that, uh, Scott was very, very, you know, uh, strong. He had a strong opinion that he, you know, he wanted something, you know, lively and bright, the essence of that. And, and it's, you know, hugely inspirationally charged. And then with somebody like me and working with my team, you know, you, you, you start with that some Hayek notion. Sure. And it just like, literally like wildfire. Um, and I jump on my lea train, then I think about my, my mother-in-law who is Lek, her, her nickname, uh, Elena. And, you know, Lenia came out of that.
Anthony 00:12:17
And my ties to my superior half who's Argentinian, and then, you know, this is like an offshoot to a degree, um, but not, you know, we were very, very adamant again, to have feelings, but from, you know, a design perspective as well as a food perspective, the far enough away, but maintaining a certain spirit of, of inspiration, first authenticity. You know, you nowadays it's, you get a smack in the back of the head if you're, depending upon who you're feeding. If you're putting, you know, sea buck, thorn and creme fresh in a taco with local halibut, you know, some people were, fuck, this is so good, and it, oh man, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then these other people, you know, you're kind of bastardizing. Yeah. Hey, man. Like, yeah, that's a whole other conversation. But, you know, it's the spirit, it's the inspirational charge of it.
Anthony 00:13:13
And, you know, it's deciding that this is an appropriate concept or, or feeling initially, you know, that's very much that, you know, that listening to each other and somebody with experiential knowledge of the place such as Scott. Yeah, for sure. You know, it's big. It's big. And people often, you know, in our business, we really underestimate the, the power of what a good listener can, can achieve, because there's hearing and there's listening, there's two very different things. Oh, yeah, for sure. And it doesn't happen enough, you know, and measure three times, you go once mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and it's a process. Right. You know, you want to be doing, you want to be doing, oh, yeah. Coming to Novas Scotia, we're gonna have a Novas Scotia beef program. There's no fucking way out of the gate. No. Now, nine months later, yeah. This afternoon I'm off with Vessel Meats, and we're buying our second, uh, animal, and we're breaking it all down because we're getting closer to being able to, to do something like that, which is incredibly meaningful from a, again, that cultural standpoint of running these things on the operation level.
Anthony 00:14:24
Initially, corporate's like, oh, Christ, you know, here they go cutting up beef and it's gonna cost us, it'll be cheap in a way, but way more expensive. Okay. There's a different thing. And how this resonates with the people who are selling it and serving it than the people on in the kitchen. It's a cultural thing. And it's very important to, to hang on to the craft of what we do as well. You know, not all beef comes out of a, a Cisco box and a Cryovac individually done. That's fine. For those who Yeah. Who that, who dig that. Whereas, you know, where I want to go. And again, the only homogenization for us is, is, you know, that that back of way behind the operations is that, you know, the importance of that teaching and respect. That's the only common thread that we have. Sure. We have our dors that come in a certain way, our daily operation reports. Yeah. Okay. Fuck, that's technical and theoretical stuff. The real, you're talking culture. Yeah. That's, that is the thing in the kitchen in the front.
Vince 00:15:33
You know what I think a big part of probably your draw is, you know, you're connected to an incredible development that has within it a lot of attention and, and quite frankly, a lot of optimism. It just, you're looking for, um, a new way of thinking about our city, and people are drawn to that mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And if they hear that, you know, this is, this is a, there's a long term point of view of, of freehand. This isn't just a, um, you know, a quick opening and you're back into your, your homes and, and you're away again from, from here, but you're, you're really begging building something much bigger that's more meaningful here. And I, people are drawn to that. There's an optimism, there's another point of view, especially coming out of Covid, right? Like, it's just Yeah. People want to be connected to that, that gathering and that spirit. That is just another way of looking at something that's been a bit of a difficult hall for a while.
Anthony 00:16:30
Yeah. I mean, the responsibility that we have, you know, honoring this, uh, that was one of the first things that struck me. I had been down a couple of times at the very beginning of Covid. I had like emergency worker visa keeping tabs on me, making sure I was going into my hotel, like every six hours under surveillance, yada, yada, yada. Brutal. Um, but, you know, the stuff that the architect Brian McKay Lyons, that, you know, the detail in which the whole district has been laid out, uh, you know, everything about being an iconic piece of the Maritimes is there, you know, with the steps to the rise again to, you know, it's,
Vince 00:17:17
It's a beautiful
Anthony 00:17:18
Thing. Yeah. It's, you know, it's daunting. And, and I'm humbled by, by the whole thing. We all are. And you know, again, it's Scott, you know, hunkering down with Brian, and, and Brian is an incredible guy. I've been fortunate enough in the last little while to, to meet him, I didn't really know who he was, but I was cooking at some, uh, beach thing at the beginning of it all. And, uh, we hit it off. We did this hog or, uh, a wrap pie, and he was like, almost in tears because it brought him way back. And then this like
Vince 00:17:53
A ratt moment
Anthony 00:17:54
Of sorts. Yeah, exactly. Very much so. And, uh, I didn't know this guy from Adam. Right. And we latched on to each other, so to speak, and you know, how much I've learned, uh, from him about, you know, the aesthetics and the feelings, uh, of, uh, being up at his place with Showback and, uh, just talking about, you know, how that sort of has come through the design and stuff, and the importance of holding on to, uh, some of the historical aesthetics. And, you know, I, I take a lot of those words and I put them into a lot of the food ideas, you know, how important it is that we, certain things we're not gonna change, and I don't care if it's a pain in the ass of squeezing out our potatoes and getting the starch, and then we use the starch back into the, the wrappy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Anthony 00:18:47
And I know there's many ways of doing rapidi, but these are things that, you know, we looked into and listened, um, to locals. Um, you know, we're lucky. We've got a lot of locals who work for us who all have an opinion on rapid pie, for example. You know, so that, that's sort of whole looking at, at what we're doing through the eyes of the designer as well. Sure. You know, the architect and learning, again, listening and learning from them. And then, oh, it's, it's just to my benefit, selfishly speaking, that I take this and, you know Sure. Do my thing.
Vince 00:19:23
Yeah. You can really see, um, a very similar cultural point of view mm-hmm. <affirmative>, where, you know, the built environment where he's coming from is connected to a very long and deep history, and it is tapping into this place, right. Both in, in spirit, um, and just, just an emotive level. Yeah. And that's what you do in the restaurants that you mm-hmm. <affirmative> that you have. Right. It's not just an obvious historical play. It it is, it is layered with surprises and it's, it's doing interesting things and you know, it, so the fit is, is very natural in, in that
Anthony 00:20:01
Regard.
Vince 00:20:01
Yeah. Um, you know, the, the connection that you guys have with, with food and, you know, the, the meaning behind it for, for you guys and what motivates you then all the time to, to show up and hustle like you do. Um, I've, I've wondered, when being in some of your places, if you know some places that I would go to that would be one-off boutiques, the people who would be there would be considering themselves as like a host to the gathering that they're, they're having as a restaurant, as a place for gathering, um, which is so important today. And we recognize that having left from Covid, but peace of the human connection was missing, um, in the sort of spirit of gathering that you have in your restaurants, do you consider yourselves as hosts to that gathering or more facilitators to that gathering?
Marco 00:20:54
I think 100% hosts. Um, I think, you know, if everyone, certainly from the front of house side and the service side, you know, it's, it's, I like to say to the, you know, to the people that are new at it, you know, first time walking into a restaurant job, first thing we tell them, or the first thing I say to them, it's like, you're, you're inviting your family or you're inviting people that you care very deeply about into your home for a special meal, whether it be a holiday, et cetera, et cetera. That is the, that is the goal. Yeah. Know there's a certain level of formality there. When you are inviting people for a special occasion, there's a level of formality, there's a level of love, there's an emotional connection, and there's a welcoming spirit mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, um, and yeah, there's a whole lot of that with the people that we have employed with us. So yeah. We're, we're fortunate on that end.
Anthony 00:21:55
Yeah. I mean, most of that, yeah. Most of our places, I would say it's probably 75%. And speaking to the back of house, 75% of our places are open kitchens. And that is a big, that's a, i I didn't grow up in open kitchens.
Vince 00:22:11
It's tough
Anthony 00:22:11
To do. It is. But it changes, you know, as a young cook, whatever, I remember, you know, you have your head down and you're shit scared about getting the stuff out and, you know, you don't even correlate the, the beautiful food that you busted your hump on, that it's actually going to a person, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, you know, you see these young cooks and young sous chefs running a line, and they know that you have people sitting at the rail. There's a certain decorum, but there has to be the eye contact and the care and, you know, uh, conversation quickly and being able to, and they, it's a learning thing, right? Sure. It doesn't, but, uh, it's very, very important.
Vince 00:22:53
Well, that direct feedback that you would have, being able to see the people eating Yeah. Their food and the expressions on their faces, whether or not it's Brian, that's almost brought to tears, like you said mm-hmm. <affirmative> because of something that has a connection to history for him and, and those that are, do you, is that immediate feedback, uh, does that improve what's on the table, do you think?
Anthony 00:23:17
Yeah, I think if, I mean, people happy cooks cook better, that's it. You know, climate of fear and stuff like that, that doesn't really, I mean, there's an intensity certainly, but not, I don't think any of our places have that old school, you know, climate of fear that I grew up in. And I'm not sure if it's because I grew up in it, um, that I won't put up with it. It's just the way we should be and the way, thankfully society is that we don't put, don't put up with this bullshit anymore because it's crazy. It's crazy. Some of the shenanigans that went on back in the day and, you know, evolution and Yeah. And, uh, movements and stuff like this. It's, it's good though. It's, we're in a good place, you know, from that context. But people inherently cook better when they're happier and they're learning, you know, you can tell, I can, they'll poke around at the end of a service and see how cooks have wrapped up their stations. And generally the, you know, the biggest, brightest, happiest cats have shut their stations down properly and things are labeled. These little things are results of, of our, you know, taking the time to make 'em feel good about it. And, hey, when you're done this, it's gotta be done this way, this way, this way, this way. That's not, you know, a battering ram on top of 'em. It's quite mm-hmm. <affirmative> quite the contrary.
Vince 00:24:38
Oh, yeah. Well, you, you can feel whether or not you're with people that really love you and care for you and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you sit around a, a family meal, you
Anthony 00:24:48
Fuck it. It's the hospitality
Vince 00:24:50
Business guys. Yeah. It's the, it's the greatest thing to know that you're making, you're eating something that someone who cares for you Yeah. Is making that, and you, you feel it, you see it. Um, and it's the same with, with our business specifically. You know, you can see people who are deeply, deeply dedicated in what they feel is important. Right. And they are giving back to a bigger community that enriches their own lives, and they get to be a part of it. And they just, they button up everything perfectly and beautifully. And it's, it's, um, it's an important thing to, to have that love of, of space. And it's great to hear that that's changing. Cause I don't think a lot of people necessarily know that, you know,
Anthony 00:25:26
They, yeah. You know, people latch into the crazy stories, you know, whatever. I mean, it shit still happens 100%. You know, you know, people talking about the Michelin game coming to, to Canada and stuff, and, oh, are we gonna see a resurgence? And, you know, uh, no, I don't think so. Not in Canada. I mean, stuff probably does go on here and there, but, you know, it's fairly quickly, uh, um, you know, discovered if somebody got a pissed off, uh, employee. Yeah, sure. Very quick to go to that. So why, why
Vince 00:26:00
Is, you brought up Michelin. Why, why is Michelin important to you guys?
Anthony 00:26:03
I think it's, uh, I think it's, uh, I mean, a certain part of me for years was like, fuck Michelin. Like, what do I have to, you know, cuz I was happier with guests from Europe or from the States coming up and sitting up at canoe and like, this is not a Michelin star. Like really kind of thing. I, I got off on that more than, you know, not being a part of the club. I think with the business hat on, um, very much so it winds me up that it's just Toronto initially. I, I think that's a mistake personally, uh, in more ways than one. Like, Toronto has enough haters now, it's like, oh, Christ, you know, <laugh>, um, poor Toronto. Yeah. Poor Toronto. Um, but I think it's, it's, its it's exposure on a world, world stage, which is really, really terrific. Yeah. Um, we have exposure already, but this is a different thing and it's very valuable and, you know, captain the right, um, in the right context, I think, you know, it gives people, uh, those who are interested in it because you have phenomenal restaurants that want nothing to do with it and good for them.
Anthony 00:27:13
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> right. For us, for certain restaurants we expect to be, you know, contacted and have been. And, uh, yeah, we're gonna do what we can to, to become a part of it. And it's a fledgling, you know, how, how it's gonna evolve in Canada, you know, it'll be a different thing. You know, the Michelin game is way different than it was obviously, you know
Vince 00:27:34
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, so Yeah. It, there, it seems to be, and I don't, I'm not speaking to my expertise here, but it seems like it's evolving significantly mm-hmm. <affirmative> where it's a little bit more open to the different, um, nuances of different restaurants. And it's not all about, you
Marco 00:27:50
Know, how long
Vince 00:27:50
You can drop a fork before someone picks it up. Yeah. You get a mark against it or something, you know? Yeah.
Marco 00:27:55
Like it's, you know, and, and hopefully with being in Canada and, you know, hopefully the, the old school kind of taboos, um, along with Michelin are, are kind of gonna change and dissipate and, you know, we were talking about inclusivity, um, you know, hopefully that, that, that aspect changes a little bit and progresses, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, hopefully we'll see that happen. Yeah.
Vince 00:28:24
Um, I know that you guys have to, uh, get running. I just have maybe just one little section of questions here in opening up your restaurants. Um, not necessarily here, but I just mean in all of your experience, have you found, um, or can you think of one that's maybe been a surprise win that you didn't necessarily think would be as, um, successful as it has been? And if so, what might some of the reasons have been for the success that it saw?
Anthony 00:28:53
Right. Um, I mean, I'll just speak to from my 2 cents. The most recent would be, and it's not because you guys were, uh, our partners in this was Sophia. Like, we expected it to be okay. There's always a shiny penny period. Um, and it was different. It was, you know, quite ethnic, I guess is the right,
Vince 00:29:19
The cultural diversity there is, I, I didn't think that you were gonna answer this this way, so I'm not <laugh> Yeah. Was it plugging for anything, but Yeah.
Anthony 00:29:25
No, no, no. But really from a performance standpoint, back to the question, I mean, it has far exceeded, um, our initial expectations. Oh, it's tremend, it's great. You know, uh, and that's a combination of, again, Marco doing his thing with regards to it, we're gonna take, you know, where we're going with the spirit and stuff like that. Yeah. And really, you know, really give it the gears and, and start working on, you know, the different aspects from the time periods. We're dining from whatever it is from five to nine, what goes on, hit, you know, nine, the lights come down, the music goes up, blah, blah, blah. I mean, Marco can speak more to that, but, uh, and then the patio coming. But yeah, for me it would be, and I know it's the freshest, but like, I wouldn't say double the expectation, but like, it's punching way above way comparatively. Mm-hmm.
Vince 00:30:21
And it's just because you think it's possibly, I'm putting words in your mouth here, but like a unique offering that hasn't been around.
Anthony 00:30:28
It's Yeah, I think
Vince 00:30:28
It's different energy. Yeah.
Anthony 00:30:30
The energy, the spirit, certainly, you know, I like being the chef. It's like, I like to think, yeah, the food is unbelievable and it's not fancy. It's, it's, it's new, but it's, it's approachable. Approachable to a degree, you know, assuming our, our, our, our servers and runners are explaining and, you know, when they're, people are reading and you know, what's a, or what is a moia or whatever, and we, we have this stuff to sort of coax them in there. And then at some point, you know, you, you get to a certain, uh, level and you won't be hitting those questions because there's that reputation of, oh, fuck this play Sophia, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, you gotta have the blood sausage. When I hear that, that's like music to my ears because where we were, you know, three months ago, and then where you are now goes, shit, should we put Bud sausage on the menu? You know, it's like our second biggest seller.
Marco 00:31:25
Yeah. And kudos to, uh, you know, Vince, the, your team here at, at Break House, you guys did a wonderful job in creating a space where that's possible, right? Um, if you want to draw parallels, it's, it's about the environment, right? So sometimes it's easier, uh, to create a vibe or an atmosphere when you have, um, the landscape painted for you to do that. Um, part of my job is to create that, uh, that atmosphere, and I like that part mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and it's a lot easier when, you know, things are in motion and things are laid out for, for it to happen that way. Right. If it was a black box, maybe it would be a little bit different. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and then my mentality, our mentality looking at what actually are we gonna do in this black box? Well, you know, maybe the, this is not gonna work because it is a black box, or you, you know what I mean?
Marco 00:32:29
Sure. Yeah. And I think that kudos to the, to the breakout team for creating an an airy and, and, and you know, I think that you, and you know, I think the Brickhouse team did an excellent job in funneling out that vision. So we're essentially doing all the things that we are, you know, the Brickhouse team with the design has taken the vision and has come out of those meetings and created a space. Uh, sh uh, chef, the chef team on the back house side has picked from that vision and, and, and put their feelings into, into what the food is. And on the front of house side, we have curated this atmosphere and, and libations to all kind of go with it. So it's all a symbiotic, um, relationship of sorts. It all, it all kind of comes one after another.
Vince 00:33:18
Yeah. Yeah. As lovers of, of food and gathering and socializing and being connected to people, we're, that's the last question here. Where, where are you guys going to take that edge off? Is it at home?
Anthony 00:33:35
Yeah.
Vince 00:33:36
Yeah. Making dinner for the family? Or is it
Anthony 00:33:38
For me? What, what is that? It's, everything is about being home. Um, probably cause he's time
Vince 00:33:46
Away from us hanging
Anthony 00:33:47
Out with my kids and my superior half, uh, even if it is working at her bakery, uh, that is, you know, things I cherish. And I love cooking. I love cooking. We, um, it's, uh, it's therapeutic for me, but it's also something that I can just like to share with my kids. And they're all amazing cooks. My wife's a phenomenal cook, so yeah, it's home. But then, you know, I have, I'm lucky enough, I live in Korea town in, in Toronto, so we're on, you know, we're always out, out and about, you know, the fresh two tofu houses or, and it's not just Korean, but we bounce around. I mean, Toronto's got its haters, but it's also got, uh, unbelievable, uh, multicultural Yeah. Spots. And again, it's that enlightened aspect of Toronto and yeah, it's kind of, it's got its wars certainly, but their biggest strength is that, uh, acceptance. And, um, you know, the, the enthusiasm, uh, we have for, you know, that, that melting pot, so yeah,
Vince 00:34:56
I miss the, uh, the holes in the wall, the little Jamaican restaurants, which we don't find here. Right? Like, there's a few really cool street food vendors here, like Rocco's Rockies. Sorry, have you tried that on, you got an Arga Street go by one night, right? Amazing food. But what, what about you Marco? Yeah,
Marco 00:35:15
That's how I, uh, you know, if I relax and you said that, you know, as social, being social creatures that we are and, and constantly being around people and purveyors of good time and, and you know, spirits and, you know, the drinks and the, the food and the, the, that kind of lifestyle. I think for me, what relaxes me is, is kind of going the other way. Um, is the anti-social route where I, you know, I coup myself up in my house and make a, a great meal for somebody or, uh, find those holes in the walls. There's nothing that makes me happier actually than, um, you know, going to restaurants that I grew up going to or my father would take me to or my grandparents would take me to in Montreal, for example. You know, going to grab a, a <laugh>, like a not very high quality sandwich at Wilensky's.
Marco 00:36:08
Yeah. You know, sitting, I, that's talking about, it's high quality. I mean, it's baloney and obvious, so long hyper over process, but wilensky's, I just remember as a child sitting there with my dad and I'll still go, sure. You know, uh, chale barbecue is, uh, there's chicken in the world. Fuck. You know, they still have those rotisseries from the fifties that run on charcoal. Um, that, you know, so now like what makes me happy, honestly, uh, in, uh, on a day off in Halifax, like I'll order Chale Swiss cuz that's the closest I can get to that. And, and, and just kind of close my eyes and pretend I'm there. Doesn't always work. I'm going to the beach, you know, um, bringing some charcuterie, some really good cheese, uh, you know, rat, you knows doing some really good work. And, um, with the charcuterie and, you know, getting a nice loaf of sourdough at, at, at LF Bakery, uh, hopping on my, my, uh, on my, uh, on my scooter and, and driving out to the beach and having a little picnic with some, you know, with some craft beer or, or, or, or a bottle of, of, of really cool, um, you know, Nova Scotian wine, uh, or just driving out to the valley and sitting on light foot and Wolf's patio and looking at the Bay of Fundi as spectacular.
Marco 00:37:23
You know, there, there's such richness in the landscape here, and I think that that's where I kind of, you know, unwind and, and, and find that really kind of place that I feel relaxed and yeah. And light Foot and Wolfville in the valley is one of them being on the beach, having a picnic is another one of them. And just kind of just kicking off and Yeah. You know, having a, having, uh, grabbing a bottle of Benjamin Bridge, uh, you know, uh, PECA, um, and just hanging out Yeah. And waiting to do it all over. I mean, we spend a lot of time doing what we do, so the, on the moments that we're off there are few and far between, and, uh, that's kind of what relaxes me, you know?
Vince 00:38:11
Yeah, I get it. I get it. I think, uh, I had a mad crush on Anthony Bourdain, and, uh, I think he said that his, uh, happiest place is on a plastic chair on the side of the road somewhere, eating from some streets. Oh, yeah. It's
Marco 00:38:24
Just, and traveling and finding those spots. Yeah. The plastic chair spot, whether it's in Vietnam or, you know, you have, you're in Mexico and you know, you're in, you know, you have the, the old lady making the tortillas in front of you and, and you know, uh, or you're, you're in Italy and you're eating some tripod of a stand or some pinella in Southern Sicily. Like, that's the type of thing that I get off on. Yeah. You know, and it's, and it's with that traveling and with that experience and seeing what others do, um, really kind of all help in that. Uh, creating your own spaces. You, knowand I've, yeah.
Vince 00:39:02
Authentic and real experiences. Yeah, man. Well, thank you very much, gentlemen, for coming in today. I have a million questions, but I know that, uh, when time is up and I, you guys gotta get going. And again, really appreciate it. And it's been, thank you. Such a pleasure working with you guys and, uh, being a part of the, the experiences that we're creating here. And, uh, yeah, look forward to many more nights ahead. All right? Okay. Thanks guys.
Marco 00:39:23
Thank you.
Vince 00:39:26
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Announcer 00:39:29
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