Comments on: Beaujolais brawl: Will granting a liquor licence to J.P. Challet’s Harbord Street bistro bring down the neighbourhood?

By: michael

michael — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:19:08 +0000

I live at Harbord and Clinton and it is “Crazy Quiet”
too quiet

By: Noise shmoize

Noise shmoize — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:48:56 +0000

Harbord is a busy street so I don’t buy DG’s claim that that stretch is “crazy quiet”. There’s traffic all day and all night.

Funny how the people living around there have no problem with that sh*thole Events cafe right across the street from Ici.

It’s just a bunch of obnoxious NIMBY garbage.

By: DG

DG — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:46:34 +0000

It’s a tough question because it is really quiet around that area. Like crazy quiet. I live just up the street and there is a difference between that part of the street and closer to Brunswick, both walking and driving.

The noise outside also comes from the smattering of smokers around the space and the increase number of cabs in the area. The cabs turn around at Bathurst so that stretch is more peaceful.

I’m not sure all the name-calling really does much for the debate here.

I can see how this place would be great for the neighbourhood and can see how it would make it noisier, too.

By: P@MELA Capraru

P@MELA Capraru — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:30:47 +0000

I know J.P. Challet to be an outstanding chef and teacher of culinary students, as well as a devoted father—a good citizen all around. Rather than downgrading Harbord and Manning, Ici will lend panache and elan to the neighbourhood breathing life into it. Farther east along Harbord, several restaurants have sprung up, so Ici will help connect the street and transform it into a destination for aficionados of good food and warm atmosphere. Watch: J.P. will receive his licence, and Pantalone will eat his words, hopefully accompanied by a meal of Ici’s fine cuisine, which he can wash down with a glass or two from the wine list. I’ve awaited the restaurant’s opening with great anticipation, and I look forward to visiting there. I wish you all the success in the world, J.P.

By: RG

RG — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:12:29 +0000

I wrote two weeks ago to Pantalone asking him to clarify his opposition. No reply–yet if you write to the Prime Minister you will get an answer in a day or two. It’s time for Pantalone to go. He is out of touch with the city and its people.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:46:01 +0000

Will Toronto ever shed its puritanical roots? Please do! This and the whole Ossington disaster will prevent the city from ever having a vibrancy that I can be proud of. I dread having to move back from France.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:38:26 +0000

So, is everyone off to 90 Sheppard East this evening to support JP? Let’s DO it!!!

By: Mr Hate

Mr Hate — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:34:42 +0000

Yeah, well a few blocks west of Bathurst on Harbord is the same friggin’ neighbourhood as a few blocks east of Bathurst. I highly doubt there’s different zoning for the two stretches of road.

There is no reason to deny Ici’s application.

The problem is soley this: pissy NIMBYism by very few pissy individuals and Pantalone the ball-less wonder who’s afraid he’ll anger a bunch of old Portuguese guys who stand around the sidewalk smoking all day.

By: James

James — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:59:26 +0000

To be very clear, the issue of precedence is a non starter. It is contrary to the standards and processes set by the AGCO, the provincially mandated governing body regarding such matters.

In the real world (not the one the nay-sayers allude to so frequently) every liquor license application is considered individually and according to what business is being proposed, by what people, in what neighbourhood, and how those factors appear in the light of the greater good.

What happens with this application will have no bearing on any other license applications in the area. They will be judged on their own merit.

By: Mr Hate

Mr Hate — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:56:11 +0000

Yeah, look at Boulevard Cafe directly across the street from a school.

Look how horrible that stretch of Harbord is.

So full of hookers and drug dealers and drunk high school kids stabbing each other in the face.

Pantalone is a moron.

Residents opposed to the bistro are morons.

By: JPL

JPL — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:58:17 +0000

I’m a member of PARA and I know that this issue is a little more complex than Chatto is reporting. That location has been denied a liquor license in the past at the insistence of local residents.

No one thinks that a nice neighbourhood bistro is going to destroy the lives of high school students who will drink too much Pouilly Fuisse at lunch, but ya, the concern is the precedent and ICI’s possible successors.

I’m definitely not an apologist for Pantalone, with whom I have locked horns before, but there are at least two quite interesting sides to this story.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:43:28 +0000

I am in full support of this new venture. Having an upscale restaurant serving fine French cuisine would definitely be a welcome addition to our neighborhood. Nothing wrong with trying to evoke some much need life into this feeble stretch of Harbord. I am a Manning Avenue resident and think he’s on the right track. Hey Mr. Pantalone, why don’t you invest some of your time into trying to instill some deterrents and repercussions for those social degenerates who continue to spray graffiti all over my neighborhood? Or is that because it infringes upon their right to willfully vandalize someone’s else’s property??

By: Manning Avenue Resident

Manning Avenue Resident — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:40:37 +0000

There are several bars and restaurants that are around the surrounding area of Mannning and Harbord streets. I have personally spoken to the restaurant owners who are the sweetest people. It would be nice to have some class around the area which is much needed. They have had to paint over the graffiti so many times I have lost track, and Mr. Pantalone is concerned about their liquor license? What about the damage that is created from the school of garbage, walking through laneways, graffiti etc.,? Why is something not done about that?

I am not sure why the concern would be to stop a liquor license when I cannot see school patrons walking into a fancy french restaurant for lunch and order a glass of wine? Can you give us residents some credit and not think we are a pile of drunks walking around the streets?

By: Mary Jane M

Mary Jane M — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:39:07 +0000

The closed mind of Mr Pantalone needs to be opened to the restaurants in our city that are located very near to high school. Madonna Catholic High School is across the street vrom a licensed restaurant. Don Bosco High Schooll is down the street from a hotel with a licensed restaurant. The students are not interested in these restaurants and would rather meet in coffee shops which they can afford. Does Mr. Pantalone think he will win votes with his tactics? What a wonderful opportunity to build a neighbor and bring quality food for the residents and others in the city. Chef Challet and his team are well known for their ourstanding menus. Chef Challet and his team saw an opportunity to give something to the neighborhood and that area of the city. I guess Mr. Pantalone wants to keep his riding stagnant? I would be more concerned with developing neighborhoods than trying to pull the plug. Doees Mr. Pantalone not listen to the residents and thier needs? The residents see this as a positive venue in their neighborhood. Beisdes, the high school students are not of age and are not going to hang around until 6:00 PM. I would be more concerned that the venue would be empty for a less desirable venture. Then what will Mr. Pantalone do? I say “wake up to smell the aromas of the wonderful and atmosphere wafting from ICI.
This is also a wonderful opportunity to work with high schools and increase the student and faculty awareness of great cuisine and the chefs that prepare it. What a great thing to have a nice spot to go to for a wonderful tasting meal. Resdidents can walk and bring their friends. Isn’t this what building community is all about? Chef Cahllet and his team obviously saw this and could think “outside the box”. They were willing to launch a restaurant that would bring life back to the community. I comomend them for their efforts and not backing down. Toronto is a diversity of neighborhoods and Chef Challet and his team wanted to add to the community. Let them go ahead and just watch what happens. Mr. Pantalone, you will be presently surprised. I thought you wanted a thriving community in your riding. What did you want in that space? Are you looking to win votes? That is not the way. Look and listen to what those around you are saying. They obviously know better than you what is best for their community.

GO FOR IT Chef Challet and your team.

By: Joanne C.

Joanne C. — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:44:23 +0000

Alcohol and restaurants do not destroy children or the moral fibre of a community. Fear and closed minds is far more dangerous to a community. A bistro on the corner serving delicious food by talented, hospitable and passionate neighbours can never be a bad thing. The city is missing so much conviviality and sociability these days and these important things are only found in places where people share food and drink together. Embrace the possibility of something very positive and you will empower the neighbourhood.