PaintBox Catering & Bistro closes operations after serving Regent Park residents since 2012

By -

Award winning and popular Regent Park hospitality hub PaintBox Catering & Bistro closed indefinitely according to a letter written by its founder and owner Chris Klugman and published in the restaurant’s website and social media, citing being defeated by the pandemic.

“PaintBox is closed” says a written statement to customers and partners. 


 “I am writing this letter with a heavy heart to inform you Paintbox is closing effective immediately – and to apologize for any inconvenience or challenges this may cause anyone.

This was not an easy decision to make. However, like many companies and organizations, this 22-month long pandemic with no end in sight has simply been too much to manage. With a new surge and other variants on the horizon, with a renewed government lockdown and cancelled catering, Paintbox is out of financial resources and no longer tenable.” Klugman said in the letter.

Chris Klugman expressed his deepest thanks to Daniels Corporation President and CEO, Mitchell Cohen, for conceiving Paintbox and in realizing the significant positive impact Paintbox has had on Regent Park and the broader community.

“I will always be proud to have been part of this vision.” Chris wrote.

In reflection, some of the high points and legacy of Paintbox include:

· Preparing over 35,000 meals for hunger relief since the start of pandemic.

· Recognized internationally for a unique for-profit social enterprise.

· Incubating food business startups like Batch Cookies, Spike your Food, and DoGood Donuts.

· Bringing the Regent Park community together as a community hub, hosting bazaars, buffets, youth events, meetings and opening our kitchens to local initiatives.

· Mentoring staff who have gone on to success in overcoming personal and systemic barriers, from winning cooking competitions to becoming important voices for gender and racial equality and becoming mentors themselves.

“One thing I value the most has been the opportunity to work alongside Regent Park residents, grassroots groups and agencies as co-chair of the SDP Community Building working group and other neighbourhood programs.” Klugman said in the letter.

“While the pandemic has defeated Paintbox, I personally intend to continue to work toward equity, inclusion, belonging and building opportunities for all moving forward. I do hope the space can continue to contribute to the vitality of the Regent Park community, whether it’s supporting entrepreneurs, arts and cultural programming, neighbourhood feel, excitement and happiness, or economic drivers. Again, I would like to thank everyone for their support and inspiration over the years.” Said Chris Klguman in his letter.


Paintbox was recognized by the BMW Foundation and named "Best For The World" by B Corporation in 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019 for its efforts.

PaintBox Bistro will be remembered by Regent Park residents as a company that embraced environmental and social responsibility while providing a superior level of food service, and being able to collaborate with the community to fight poverty, promote environmental sustainability and create employment opportunities.

So far, more than 140 bars and restaurants have closed in Toronto since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

 

Written by
Fred Alvarado

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Park Portrayed in Film and Television

By -
Image
Toronto has a rich history of being a go-to shooting location for many television and film production companies. Some notable films shot here over the years include Good Will Hunting (1997), Billy Madison (1998), American Psycho (2000), and X-Men (2000). Regent Park has also had its share of showcases in film. This article aims to review the general content of movie dramas and televisions shows shot in Regent and explore their relationship to the community. Clement Virgo is a director, producer, and writer from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was born in 1966 and moved to the Regent Park area in Toronto in 1977. During this time Regent Park was generally populated by low-income families and as a hot spot for drugs. Virgo is most recently known for his roles in Greenleaf (2016-2018), The Book of Negroes (2015), and The Wire (2002) as Director and/or Producer. His first feature-length film, however, was Rude (1995), which was filmed almost entirely in the old Regent Park. “The film told
Read more

Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officers – PC Mircea Biga and PC Farzad Ghotbi

By -
Image
Community-based policing is a proactive law enforcement strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with a community’s members to create partnerships and plans for preventing and reducing crime. While community policing will look differently depending on the community it serves, a central feature is that the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis. Currently there are 17 community-based police programs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but what most people don’t know is that Toronto’s community policing started in Regent Park in May of 2017. We know this because the original officers involved in setting up the Regent Park community policing program continue to work here today. The officers are PC Mircea Biga, PC Farzad Ghotbi, and PC Edward Parks; the newest officer assigned to the Regent Park community is PC Nigel Thomas (who is replacing PC Melissa Huntley while she is on maternity leave). Symptomatic of the increasing diversity of
Read more

What Social Inclusion Means to Me

By -
I had moved into Regent Park only a few days before I saw the pink, fuchsia, strawberry, indigo, yellow, green, neck streamers and sparkling robes worn by children, parents, aunts, uncles, and elders as they marched passed my kitchen door. Soon, the nearby Athletic Grounds was blazing with colour. Although it was the first time I heard them, the intonations on the microphone were recognizable, even to me, as prayers. It was Eid, the concluding celebration after Ramadan. It was a beautiful sight. I am a White Jewish senior and I hunted for a stairless condo for years before I chose to live in Regent Park and then only because a relative did business with the new seniors’ building there. “Regent Park?” a friend exclaimed. “You are going to have ethnic problems.”  “Not I.  I come from a long line of fiery leftie activists.” I replied. Stage four and five of revitalizing this post-war subsidized development into a multi-income community was just beginning and I jumped in w
Read more