What to know
- Celebrity chef, cookbook author and restaurateur Matty Matheson has seen two of his restaurants, Bar Clams and Cà Phê Rang, shut down within months of each other.
- Denis Ganshonkov, chef and owner of Stop Restaurant, says restaurant owners must stay humble and source high-quality ingredients.
- David Schwartz, owner of MIMI Chinese, among other well-loved diners, says the gap between affordability and the costs associated with running a restaurant has become too big.
Toronto is notorious for restaurant closings. Just look at Canadian celebrity chef and restaurateur Matty Matheson, who has lost two restaurants in a matter of months.
First came Bar Clams, a buzzy Atlantic coast-inspired diner that quietly closed last November, after first opening in December of 2024.
Now, Cà Phê Rang, a Vietnamese casual-dining spot, which was a collaboration between Matty Matheson and his mentor Rang Nyugen, will be closing its doors on Jan. 24 after four years open in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Despite its homestyle vibe, prices were anything but family-friendly at Bar Clams. They ranged from $22 for a lobster bisque, to $25 for a rum and coke, to $35 for an order of fish and chips.
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Denis Ganshonkov, head chef and owner of Stop Restaurant — a destination for Eastern European cooking — says Bar Clams failed because its concept wasn’t properly thought out.
“Bar Clams was just objectively a very bad restaurant with a horrible concept, with incredibly overblown, inflated prices for everything,” he says. “[It had] this strange idea that we’re going to connect you to [Matheson’s] roots of East Coast Canada, and you can’t do that.”
The chef says in order for Bar Clams to have worked out, “it had to be $3.99 all-day breakfast and s**t coffee” which he says is “not an elevatable concept.”
When it comes to Cà Phê Rang, Ganshonkov says part of the issue might have been the location’s short lease.
“It doesn’t make sense logically for an operation like that to have a short lease, because you only get to a point where you start to make money after a certain year,” he says.
How can restaurants thrive in Toronto?
In Toronto’s fickle and fleeting restaurant scene, where spots frequently close, what makes a restaurant stand the test of time?
According to renowned restaurateur David Schwartz, who runs MIMI Chinese, SUNNYSChinese and Linny’s Restaurant, the major divide between restaurants and customers is the gap of what something costs versus what people are willing to pay.
“There’s a growing gap between what people are willing to pay, or what they think something is worth, and what it actually costs to make the product properly. That gap is widening to the point where operating viably is becoming nearly impossible,” Schwartz says.
Another determining factor is Toronto’s five-year lease structure. Oftentimes, after a lease is up, a restaurant owner will choose not to renew, especially after looking at their finances.
“The renewal time arrives and the operator looks back and realizes they’ve been breaking even or losing money for the entire term, and decides it’s no longer worth continuing.”
For a restaurant to actually stand the test of time — and Toronto’s rental market — Ganshonkov says owners must stay humble and spend the time, money and energy into sourcing the highest-quality products.
“I think you have to really believe in what you’re doing, which also has to be the right thing, and the right thing is always the same. It’s always going to be dedicated to the quality of your product, to treating your team the best possible way that you can treat them, to working really closely and caring about where everything comes from — your suppliers, your wine agents,” he says.
Restaurants must evolve to stay relevant, Schwartz says. Restaurateurs must never assume they’ve “made it” right after the initial grand opening.
“Beyond real estate, longevity comes from staying relentlessly audience-aware, continually earning repeat visits, and evolving without losing your core point of view. Keep improving, keep listening, and never assume you have arrived,” he says.
What comes down to keeping a restaurant alive? Ganshonkov says it’s dedication and love, particularly in an industry where breaking even means you’ve had a good year.
“That’s the only formula that has ever worked in this country, in America, in Europe. It’s just always dedicate yourself to your work, love your work and realize that there are so many other people that are involved in the chain reaction to create your vision.”
