A Toronto Italian restaurant is shaking its concept up after almost 20 years, and its owner says it’s all a response to today’s economic and working conditions.
If opening a restaurant that survives for five years is the mark of success in Toronto, then Dundas West’s Clandestino (formerly Wine Bar, now Food & Drink) is a success story nearly fourfold.
Founded in Parkdale in 2007, the restaurant has since moved from its original location to new Dundas West digs, never failing to keep patrons satisfied with the restaurant’s Italian fine dining menu and exquisite wine selection.
Though the restaurant has been an unshakeable fixture on the Toronto dining scene for longer than current high schoolers have been alive, it’s also gained a more recent surge of popularity thanks to its incomparable date night deals.
Now priced at $100 for two people, Clandestino offers a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and spritzes, no matter whether the Aperol, Limoncello or Hugo variety, at just $10.
The restaurant’s owner, Desaret Dulaj, is implementing an even bigger change to appeal to the masses of Toronto residents who are trying to be more conservative with their cha-ching on nights out.
At a time when plenty of restaurants are being forced to increase their prices, any shift towards affordability is undoubtedly a welcome one for diners.
Starting Nov. 1, Clandestino will be open for weekday daytime service, operating as a casual cafe that serves espresso-based beverages, in-house baked pastries and paninis, as well as a weekend brunch service, which, for $27 a person, will grant you one drink of choice, a main course and a dessert.
Why the sudden change after being focused on dinner for so many years? Duraj tells blogTO that it all comes down to the current economic conditions in the city.
“With the economy downhill and lots of young people working from home, we find that more and more people are looking for quick service places that offer budget items,” he explains, “places that offer a chance to bring your own laptop and work, in peace and quiet.”
Inspired both by his own desire to simplify the operation at Clandestino and by contemporaries like Manita and I DEAL Coffee, who run similar daytime programs, kicking off a casual daytime service felt like the perfect option, Duraj explains.
Where a date night dinner at Clandestino might set you back $100, a sandwich and coffee in the morning will only be about $10, inviting a whole new crop of budget-conscious customers in to experience the restaurant, albeit in a whole new light.
“Now is the time to slowly move toward being more casual,” Duraj tells blogTO.
A departure from Clandestino’s more recent approach, though it may be, the shift is actually something of a return to form for the Italian restaurant, which followed a coffee by day, wine by night model in its early days 18 years ago.
“Bottom line, the era of mass fine dining is finished,” Duraj believes.
“There will always be 20 to 30 elite restaurants where some people save all year to go, but most restaurants need to adjust to the new trend of accepting customers with a maximum of $20 budget a day to spend, and we have started to slowly move towards that.”
Clandestino’s new daytime hours kick off at 10 a.m. on Nov. 1, but, Duraj assures, once they get the hang of operating as a cafe, they’ll start opening “much” earlier.
Clandestino Food & Drink is located at 1183 Dundas St. W.
Dining and Cooking