Sam Genkov is renovating the King Street West restaurant he has run for 15 years and reopening it in fall 2026 as Strella Strella by Modus, a complete redesign from Figure3 and BUILD IT, with his daughter Victoria Genkov stepping into a leadership role for the next chapter.
“Strella Strella is deeply personal to us,” Genkov said. “It reflects everything I’ve learned over three decades in hospitality, about quality, simplicity, consistency, and creating experiences that stay with people. To build this restaurant alongside my daughter Victoria makes this opening especially meaningful, because it carries forward our family’s values while embracing a new energy and vision for the future.”
The name itself carries that intention. Strella is Latin for star, and the branding doubles it, Strella Strella, matching the star motif already on the storefront glass at 145 King West. It’s a detail regulars will likely notice before they notice anything else has changed.
The timing wasn’t incidental. “One of my children is now involved in the business, so this is really about the next generation,” Genkov said. “We wanted to build a brand that felt fresher and younger for the Financial District, and it felt like the right time to make that shift.”
At its core, the new concept is built around what Genkov calls new old classics reimagined, a reinterpretation of timeless Italian dishes presented with a more modern point of view, rather than a wholesale departure from what Modus has served.
Strella Strella by Modus (Rendering: Figure3)
Sam Genkov at Strella Strella by Modus (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
A Legacy Built in the Financial District
Modus opened at 145 King Street West in 2011, following nearly 30 years of Genkov running Bravi Ristorante on Wellington Street East, an institution he describes as having grown up alongside its regulars. “A lot of people still remember the old restaurant,” he said. “People got older with us.”
Longevity like that, Genkov said, comes down to a hands-on style of ownership he intends to carry forward. “That kind of personal attention, understanding what people want, has to happen hands-on,” he said. “It’s not like a corporate restaurant, where today you have one manager and tomorrow it’s another. It stays consistent, week after week.”
That same instinct for continuity is why the new name keeps “Modus” attached rather than dropping it entirely. “We have a very loyal following on Bay Street, a lot of corporate relationships built over the years,” he said. “Our two private dining rooms are well known in this city, a lot of significant deals have been made in those rooms, along with countless celebrations. We didn’t want to abandon the clients who’ve stayed with us all this time. We wanted to bring them into this new concept with us.”
Fifteen years has built a level of recognition Genkov doesn’t take lightly. “The name is very well recognized,” he said. “People know us after 15 years. Pretty much anyone on Bay Street has been through here.”
A New Generation Behind the Concept
Strella Strella by Modus (Rendering: Figure3)
At the center of the project is Victoria Genkov, who has spent years around the restaurant and is now stepping into a larger leadership role. Her father describes her as having come to the business naturally. “She’s very knowledgeable about food. She travels frequently to Italy and France for research, dines out often, and has worked in restaurants herself,” he said. “She’s got a younger take on things, having grown up in it.”
Victoria used the same word her father did to describe what the project means to her. “This restaurant feels deeply personal to me because it’s rooted in everything I grew up around, hospitality, family, rhythm, and the idea that how a place makes you feel matters just as much as what’s on the plate,” she said. “With Strella Strella, we wanted to create something that honours that legacy while giving it a new voice, one that feels elegant, welcoming, and built to stay with people long after the evening ends.”
Sam sees the handoff itself as the rarer story. “The bigger story here is the generational transfer of a family restaurant, which is genuinely rare,” he said. “I got lucky. My daughter loves it, and it’s come naturally to her, the dishes, the kitchen, the food, all of it. Most restaurant owners’ kids don’t want to get into it. I still work alongside her, but she’s the one running it now.”
Victoria’s own perspective, along with a look inside the finished space, will be the focus of 6ixRetail’s second feature on the project, closer to opening.
The Vision: Figure3 and Understated Luxury
Strella Strella by Modus (Rendering: Figure3)
Design for the project was handled by Figure3, a design firm selected directly by Genkov after he was inspired by another of their nearby hospitality projects. “I saw a project they had completed nearby and reached out to them directly,” Genkov said. The collaborative design process took approximately four months, from initial concepts through to the final approved plan.
For Genkov, the approach comes down to atmosphere over trend. “The feeling is the most important thing for us,” he said. “We’re only slightly modern, blending traditional design with elements of today’s modern Italian style. The flow from the door through the dining room and into the bar and lounge, that’s what matters most.” He describes the overall aesthetic as understated luxury, a style meant to be sensed rather than announced, deliberately avoiding anything that reads as a loud statement the moment guests walk in.
That restraint is most visible at the bar. “The most important part of this renovation is the bar,” Genkov said. “It’s going to be a very special cocktail bar, designed as a square so guests can sit on all sides of it, rather than facing a wall the way a traditional bar works. It changes the entire atmosphere of the room.” The design translates that into a fluted wood surround with a marble bullnose edge, topped by a reeded glass canopy for bottle storage, details drawn from Figure3’s finished plans for the space. The rest of the room follows the same approach: soft seating, a lot of wood, and a number of custom designed booths meant to give guests their own sense of space.
The main dining room carries its own signature piece overhead: a custom ceiling treatment developed with an artist collaborator, conceived as a modern take on the Italian fresco. It’s a detail meant to root the room in history while still reading as current, in keeping with the new old classics idea guiding the rest of the restaurant.
The seating numbers are notable for the address. The restaurant will seat roughly 120 to 140 guests indoors, including the private dining rooms, with a patio along King Street adding approximately 150 more seats in warmer months. Having full capacity indoors and outdoors simultaneously is unusual for a Financial District location, something Genkov pointed out himself: most restaurants in the area have one or the other, not both at full scale.
Inside the Build with BUILD IT
Strella Strella by Modus (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
BUILD IT has worked this corner of the Financial District for years, and that track record is part of why Genkov brought the firm on for this project. The company’s résumé in the immediate area includes Black + Blue at 130 King St W and Earls Kitchen + Bar at 150 King St W, both occupying space at the intersection of King and York, along with Hello Nori at 70 York. That kind of repeat presence, working the same few blocks across multiple hospitality brands, gives BUILD IT a working knowledge of the corner that an outside firm coming in cold wouldn’t have.
“Design trends and guest expectations have evolved significantly over the years Sam’s been in operation,” said Tyler Fraser, Director of Business Development at BUILD IT. “Today’s diners are looking for an elevated hospitality experience, and that’s exactly what Sam and BUILD IT are working together to deliver.” The scope covers the full restaurant, front of house, bar, and kitchen. “We’re opening up the layout to improve guest flow while introducing premium millwork and carefully selected finishes that will completely refresh the space,” he said.
Fraser sees the collaboration between owner, designer, and contractor as central to how the project has come together. “The best hospitality projects happen when the owner, designer, and contractor work as one team,” he said. “That collaborative approach lets us protect the design vision while making sure the finished space performs operationally for years to come.”
BUILD IT’s approach to the build reflects the scale of the investment. “Every material and finish has been selected with longevity in mind,” Fraser said. “A restaurant like this sees tremendous daily traffic, so durability matters just as much as aesthetics. The goal is a space that looks exceptional on opening day and continues to perform for years to come.” The firm also draws on a network of international design partners to source finishes, an approach aimed at meeting the same benchmark Toronto diners increasingly expect after experiencing hospitality in other major cities.
The Menu and the Bar Program
Strella Strella by Modus (Rendering: Figure 3)
Genkov is calling the menu direction “the new old classics,” a celebration of timeless Italian dishes refined through simplicity. “People like to try different things now, rather than commit to one large dish the way old-school dining works,” he said. “We’re designing a menu built around sharing and smaller plates, so guests can experience a range of styles and ingredients in one sitting. The idea is to reintroduce, in a more creative way, dishes that have been around for hundreds of years, dishes people know but haven’t had in a long time, or rarely get to experience made with real care.”
“At Strella Strella, we want guests to feel like they are on a journey through the great classics of Italian cuisine and its countless regional specialties,” Genkov said. “Every meal is an opportunity to discover new flavours or rediscover well-known ones.”
The cocktail and wine program follow the same instinct. Strella Strella by Modus will feature a dedicated martini bar alongside an Old World-focused wine program, leaning into European regions and traditional winemaking rather than a broader, trend-driven list, a decision consistent with the new old classics approach guiding the kitchen.
Betting on the Corner
Strella Strella by Modus (Rendering: Figure 3)
The timing of the renovation itself is strategic, Genkov said, pointing back to his own start in the business three decades ago. “When I opened my first restaurant, conditions were much the same, a recession, things going up and down,” he said. “You spend the money on the downside, and by the time you’re ready, things have turned. You’re there for the beginning of the upside. Business is slower right now for every restaurant, which makes this the right time to do the work. I’ve always believed in investing when things are down.”
He extends that same logic beyond any single project. Across two restaurants and one name change in the Financial District, the lesson has stayed consistent: relationships and reliability outlast any single trend or downturn, a belief that shows up as much in how Genkov talks about his regulars as in how he talks about materials or menus.
The renovation lands at an intersection with significant weight of its own. 145 King West is a 640,000-square-foot, LEED Platinum office tower anchoring King and York, home to a concentration of major financial and legal tenants, and the kind of address where a restaurant’s reputation is built as much on repeat corporate business as public foot traffic. For Genkov, staying put and reinvesting rather than relocating was never really in question.
Strella Strella by Modus is targeting a fall 2026 opening. 6ixRetail will follow the buildout as it progresses, with a first look feature planned closer to launch.
Strella Strella by Modus (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Dustin Fuhs is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail, Toronto’s premier source for retail and hospitality industry news. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication, Dustin brings over two decades of expertise spanning retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality sectors. His experience includes roles with industry giants such as The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, The Canadian Opera Company, Starbucks Canada and Blockbuster.
Recognized as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024, 2025 and 2026, Dustin delivers insider perspectives on Toronto’s evolving retail landscape, from emerging brands to established players reshaping the city’s commercial districts.
Dining and Cooking