The care and feeding of celebrities
Toronto restaurants are growing accustomed to catering to famous clients
It took Nancy Fudger a couple minutes on a recent Sunday to recognize the young couple she was seating at Over Easy, the breakfast restaurant she manages: Justin Bieber accompanied by a young woman with blond hair.
They made no reservations, no special requests, arrived with zero entourage and the small diner is hardly a hotbed of star-spotting.
“I was pretty shocked, I guess,” Fudger said at the restaurant at Bloor St. W. and Avenue Rd., where the huevos rancheros is $12 and you can get a Montreal bagel for $3. “I was surprised he didn’t have more people with him.”
Bieber ordered the two-egg classic, one of the menu’s basics, without meat. “It was very light,” said Fudger.
From Bieber’s low-key meal to celebrities dining and dashing on their pedicures, Toronto restaurants are growing accustomed to VIP appearances as more pay attention to the city’s culinary scene. A number have implemented a tiered system for guests, with private entrances, bathrooms and dining rooms, but some famous faces prefer not to make a fuss.
The Canadian superstar’s visit may have been a surprise, but it wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, said Over Easy’s owner Glen Kristenbrun.
The likes of AC/DC, Drew Carey of The Price Is Right and several sports players have graced the small restaurant across from the Royal Ontario Museum and close to the glitzy boutiques and hotels of Yorkville.
And who was Bieber’s dining companion? The jury is out. Though he’s said to be dating Hailey Baldwin, the “Sorry” singer was reportedly spotted around town with actress Nicola Peltz last week.
When celebrities show up at Over Easy there isn’t much ado about anything. And that’s probably why they come, Kristenbrun said, pointing out that most of its customers are “not particularly young and so there’s a level of maturity.” Same goes for the restaurant’s staff, he added.
“Just by the nature of Canadianism, it was pretty normal. He just sat down. No one bothered him,” Kristenbrun said. Some diners stood and ogled briefly as the couple made their exit, but that was it.
The nocturnal venues Bieber has visited in Toronto are another affair. His publicists typically notify the nightclub in advance; secret entrances are prepared and two security guards escort.
“Any requests, we’re ready for,” says Peter Palarchio, marketing director at Icon Legacy, the hospitality com- pany that owns several clubs Bieber has frequented and hot spot restaurants like Patria.
There, a private dining room is available and staff will accommodate most demands, as long as they don’t impede other patrons’ experiences.
“Sometimes they will have a quirky request or two, but I think we give exceptional service to everyone that comes into our restaurants,” he said. For example, Palarchio says, Byblos whipped up a vegetarian dish by special request for Richard Gere two years ago and the actor ordered seconds.
“Ninety per cent of the time, we’re notified in advance.”
More celebrities in recent years have been asking for gluten-free, vegan and raw vegan meals, notes Pierre Jutras, president of the Spoke Club.
At Sassafraz in Yorkville, catering to boldface diners is part of the business model. The restaurant isn’t typically notified in advance, says Catherine Scott, who handles reservations.
It’s already equipped with a side entrance that leads directly to the upstairs, where A-listers can choose between three separate dining areas, including a balcony overlooking the café on the main floor.
Montecito — whose owner, filmmaker Ivan Reitman, is a celebrity in his own right — also has a private entrance and washroom.
Fabbrica, among the Shops at Don Mills, has a private dining option and discreet corners, too.
“Everyone is made aware (of the celebrity appearance) so that there’s no surprises or gawking while they’re on site,” said general manager Abby Rubiales of the restaurant’s staff.
It also calls other venues owned by the Mark McEwan Group to compare notes on what that particular celebrity may like or dislike.
That type of research, Jeff Armstrong and his team have had to do on their own, by virtue of being independent.
Armstrong owns Her Majesty’s Pleasure, a salon/spa and cocktail bar on King St.
If they find out about a particular taste, they may use it as inspiration for a complimentary cocktail. But at times, celebrities have taken the whole of its services as complimentary.
“Usually they overpay and overtip . . . but that’s not to say we haven’t had a celebrity dine and dash,” Armstrong said with a laugh. He’s not naming names.