You can add two more music venues to the list of ones we’ve lost this year.
A NOW reader tipped us off to the news that the owners of Seven44, a restaurant and club located near Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton, have been locked out of the building by their landlords.
A legal notice posted in the window of the business, dated April 30, says that Pro Bailiff Inc has “taken possession of these premises and terminated [Seven44’s] tenancy” on behalf of the building’s landlord. The owners of the business were given five days to remove their goods and vacate.
The reason for the repossession was cited as a breach of lease.
Representatives from Seven44 did not respond to NOW in time for publication.
The space was regularly home to live reggae, soul, R&B and jazz bands, which were all mainstays throughout the club’s long history. Before new ownership rebranded it as Seven44 in 2012, the business was originally called Chick N’ Deli.
Opened in 1977 by Louis Nemes (who would later go on to open the St. Louis Bar and Grill chain as well as Bistro on Avenue Road), Chick N’ Deli quickly became known for both its chicken wings and live music. In 1982 Nemes sold the business to Jack Brewer, brother of Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman Carl Brewer, and it became a regular haunt for celebrities and hockey players alike. Brewer died in 2001, and his wife, Kathleen, kept the business going until she retired in 2011.
Michael Rancic
Though it was only open for three years, the loss of Ratio is no less tragic. Representatives from the College Street space took to Facebook this past weekend to announce that they would be closing the venue.
Citing “new life configurations” as the reason for the closure, the Facebook post wasn’t entirely revealing as to what might’ve precipitated this change, though it assured regular patrons that the decision wasn’t taken lightly, and that “ultimately the dispersion and refocusing of energies was taken as primary and determinate moving forward.”
NOW reached out to Ratio for comment but they did not respond in time for publication.
In the letter they thanked all of the artists and curators they’d worked with over the years. Ratio sought to be a “nexus of integration for various strains and clusters of culture” and was home to Toronto’s experimental and improvisational music community. Sandro Perri, Steve Kado, Clara Engel, Slowpitchsound and electronic music ensemble CCMC all performed there.
In addition to live music they held screenings and dance parties, and regularly tried to make the space appeal to more than just one specific scene.
Ratio’s Facebook announcement ended with mention that they would be holding final shows throughout early June to help give the space the send-off it deserves. Details have yet to be announced, but keep an eye out for them in our events listings.
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