An Tran is a cook in Toronto. He planned to open his first restaurant this year

‘Iwas born and raised in west-side Toronto. So I’m very Toronto-centric. My father had a business in downtown Toronto, where my business is being set up right now. He was an offset printer. I took over his space so I could open a restaurant. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 10 to 15 years, just doing various things. I’ve been at a butcher shop, catering, baking, etc. This is the first restaurant I’m opening. It’s called Ba Noi, which means grandmother. When people stepped into my space, I wanted them to feel like they were walking into their granny’s home. So a lot of the food would be food that I grew up with in Toronto, or at home.

“I had no direction until I started cooking. I was in school for liberal arts. I started at George Brown and then moved to Ryerson. I worked at the Beer Store for many years. I’m still on their payroll, but I haven’t done a shift for a while. I started cooking on my own, cooking for friends and eventually, I thought that maybe I could do this. So I went to school at George Brown. I can’t even tell you what year, because I didn’t finish. I quit because I wanted to make money. I just worked my way through the restaurant industry.

To open my own restaurant, I had to learn how to how to become a businessperson and not just a kitchen person, which was a big learning curve. I had to learn about construction, about building codes and bylaws. It’s a lot of bureaucracy. It’s just been a headache, every step of the way. It’s been very difficult for me planning the finances. The build started in September last year. It was supposed to be finished in November, but then we pushed it back to March. Obviously the pandemic stopped that.

“I was already taking hits from construction of the restaurant, but once the pandemic hit, I couldn’t get certain deliveries anymore. And I couldn’t get my trades in either. I don’t have a loss of revenue, so I can’t get into the rental relief program. So all my startup money is leaking. I’m still paying leases. I’m still thinking about utilities. I’m still paying rent. It’s just been hard to figure out how to manage this. My family has taken money out of savings. We stopped putting money into my children’s savings. I just had a child two weeks ago. We have a two-and-a half-year-old as well. So the pandemic and the newborn and just all of it has been a headache. My toddler is also potty training, so that’s just the icing on top.

“I don’t know how long we can hold on. I’m supposed to be paying rent. Whatever money is left goes to my parents, who are the landlords. But they refinanced the building. So now if they can’t make the property tax, if they can’t make it through tax season, they might have to sell or they might lose their home. It’s either they lose their home, or I lose the restaurant, but the restaurant is something that potentially can make money, so they’ll probably lose their home.

“It’s been hard. ( He’s speaking through tears now.) I’ve been breaking down like this every so often. I know that as a family we’re going be fine. I know my friends are going to be fine. I just think, taking on this business, which has already has been such a burden for me and my family, has really taken a hit on all of us.

“What I really want is a shot. I want to be able to fight for my business. But I can’t. My hands are tied. I can’t do any work right now. I can’t produce anything. I can’t bake bread. I can’t sell retail coffee. I can’t do take out. So it’s a real struggle. Just to watch something thing that I’ve thought about for years, that I’ve built for a half a year, that I’ve put everything into, just to slowly bleed out. It’s hard.”