INK Entertainment
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

INK Entertainment is a hospitality and entertainment company headquartered in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada. The company maintains various properties, primarily
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s and restaurants. Additionally, INK Entertainment operates a
country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...
, two annual music festivals, two talent agencies. The Bisha Hotel & Residences is also part of its portfolio. Most of its properties are located in Toronto (either in the city's
Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
, Fashion District or in its ritzy Yorkville neighborhood), with a few others in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
, the
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
area, and
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. Founded and run by
Charles Khabouth Bechara "Charles" Khabouth is a Lebanese Canadian nightclub owner, restaurateur, music promoter, and hotelier. Controlling several Toronto-based hospitality properties and venues, he's been dubbed the "King of Clubs" due to his influence on the ...
, INK currently owns and operates Toronto's Product nightclub, Dragonfly nightclub (on
Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, commonly known as Fallsview Casino, is a resort casino located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, the $1 billion complex opened to the public on June 10, 2004, and has since ...
grounds), Cube nightclub and La Société restaurant. Furthermore, Ink, in partnership with Nick Di Donato's Liberty Entertainment Group, is the parent company of Tattoo Queen West rock club and Spice Route bistro bar. Their partnership has since grown to include the Coral Gables Country Club located in south
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Ink has also teamed up with Lifetime Developments with the launch of Bisha Hotel & Residences, the newest private label hotel and residence brand to originate in Toronto since The Four Seasons in the 1960s.


Venues


Nightclubs


REBEL Nightclub (formerly known as Sound Academy)

As of October 1, 2016, the Sound Academy changed its name to
REBEL A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...
and reopened, completely renovated. Ink Entertainment collaborated with Studio Munge to design the 45,000 square foot nightclub, with a 65-foot stage. The nightclub will be hosting multiple global artists such as
DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is a French DJ and record producer. He was first credited with production work on several singles for other artists—including " Shut It Down" by Pitbull an ...
, DVBBS,
Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. First discovered by Sean Kingston, he received initial recognition for his mixtape ''Conflicts of My S ...
, and
Passenger (singer) Michael David Rosenberg (born 17 May 1984), better known by his stage name Passenger, is an English indie folk singer, songwriter and musician. From 2003 to 2009, Rosenberg fronted a band by the same name; he opted to keep the Passenger moniker ...
, among many other.


Cube

Cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...
, previously known as Ultra Supper Club from 2003 until 2012, is a nightclub located in downtown Toronto on Queen West near Spadina that can hold up to 650 people between its indoor lounge and rooftop patio. Catering to affluent 25-plus young professionals, Cube's black and gold interior is inspired by 1960s and 1970s design and features nostalgic retro detailing to reflect the cubist art and fashion of the time such as the 65-foot-long bar and handblown brass railings and sculptures. Ultra Supper Club opened in December 2003 following an investment of over
Can$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...
3 million by the INK Entertainment owner Charles Khabouth into year-long renovation of the space that previously housed the iconic BamBoo tropical-themed nightclub (co-owned by Richard O'Brien and Patti Habib) from July 1983 until its closing bash on 31 October 2002. Before BamBoo, during the 1970s, the building housed a laundromat and later a Wicker World shop. Khabouth reportedly got alerted that the building was for lease by the same real estate agent who almost 10 years earlier helped him turn RPM and the Warehouse into the Guvernment and Kool Haus. From the start Khabouth envisioned Ultra as an upscale restaurant and club that attracts Toronto's moneyed crowd (real estate barons,
Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District, Toronto, Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Economy of Canada, Canada's financial services indust ...
moguls and leveraged-buyout specialists), much like his successful Stilife club at the corner of
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
and Duncan Street did back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In pursuit of creating an exclusive spot, he spared little expense, including putting in fortress-like exterior doors from India that cost Can$15,000 and another Can$15,000 to install them because the entire building had to be reinforced. Run as Khabouth's partnership with Brenda Lowes and inspired by
supper club A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class imag ...
s in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Ultra was among the first Toronto venues to push that concept in addition to being an early adopter of the
bottle service Bottle service is the sale of liquor by the bottle, mostly in North American lounges and nightclubs. The purchase of bottle service typically includes a reserved table for the patron's party and mixers of the patron's choice. Bottle service ...
model. The new club was an instant hit with its rooftop patio crowded every summer. Sleeker and much more upscale than BamBoo's ramshackle vibe, Ultra put more emphasis on food than a regular nightclub. Instead of live acts, its bookings mostly focused on DJs with the tables and chairs removed around 11pm to make room for dancing. Ultra's glamorous reputation further benefited from the media coverage of the steady stream of international celebrities dropping by such as
David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...
in August 2007,
Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...
with then-boyfriend
Benji Madden Benjamin Levi Madden (né Combs; born March 11, 1979) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the rock band Good Charlottefor which he has received various awardsas well as pop rock collaboration the Madden Br ...
in September 2008,
Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...
who got paid to show up accompanying then-girlfriend DJ
Samantha Ronson Samantha Judith Ronson (born 7 August 1977) is an English DJ, singer, and songwriter. Early life Ronson was born in Camden, London, England, as the daughter of writer and socialite Ann Dexter-Jones, and one-time music executive and real estat ...
in 2009 on the day of their engagement,
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
, etc. In February 2009, Ultra Supper Club underwent a bit of a makeover, dropping the 'Supper Club' from its name and adopting a new Asian fusion fare and cheaper menu offerings — all of which was seen to be initiated in response to the diminishing number of corporate events at the venue due to the
global recession A global recession is a recession that affects many countries around the world—that is, a period of global economic slowdown or declining economic output. Definitions The International Monetary Fund defines a global recession as "a decline ...
. By early 2012, despite the club/restaurant being profitable, Khabouth had decided that Ultra ran its course, investing $1.8 million into the venue makeover and re-opening as Cube on 28 February 2012. With the restaurant aspect mostly dropped, Cube functions primarily as a nightclub — hosting glamorous, celebrity-packed
TIFF Tag Image File Format or Tagged Image File Format, commonly known by the abbreviations TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is w ...
parties and booking more high-profile
big room house Big room house or simply big room is a fusion subgenre of house music (notably progressive house and electro house) that gained popularity in the early 2010s. Although the term "big room" started appearing in news articles circa 2007, the curr ...
DJs for gigs such as
Dubfire Ali Shirazinia (), commonly known by his stage name Dubfire, is an Iranian American house and techno DJ and producer. Prior to his solo career, Dubfire made up half of the duo Deep Dish. Dubfire's style is noticeably different from that of Deep ...
,
Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born 7 January 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in ...
, and
Victor Calderone Victor Calderone (born March 20, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American electronic music producer, DJ and remixer. Biography Raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, Calderone was introduced into New York City's nightli ...
. In August 2013, following that year's
OVO Fest OVO Sound (short for October's Very Own) is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group until 2022, after which it b ...
the club hosted an impromptu after-party for the festival performers including
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
,
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
, P. Diddy,
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
,
Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...
,
French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...
,
Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Mase (often stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean Combs, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 ...
, and
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
. Cube also continues with the practice of promoting parties around the presence of prominent pro athletes such as
Chris Weidman Christopher James Weidman (born June 17, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. An accomplis ...
who hosted an event at Cube in September 2013, one day ahead of
UFC 165 ''UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson'' was a mixed martial arts event held on September 21, 2013, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main event was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing in 2021. Background The main ...
in Toronto's
Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...
.


Dragonfly Nightclub

Dragonfly Nightclub is built into the
Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, commonly known as Fallsview Casino, is a resort casino located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, the $1 billion complex opened to the public on June 10, 2004, and has since ...
in
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
with a capacity of up to 800. Spread over 12,000 square foot space, it features Asian themed decor invoking an ancient forbidden city.


Uniun

Uniun opened on Adelaide Street West in November 2012, in the same space that previously housed the Devil's Martini nightclub, a popular destination for bachelorette parties that Khabouth bought several months earlier in July 2012, immediately initiating its complete makeover. The club was in the news in late August 2013 after
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
stopped by with bodyguards and got involved in a melee after which he got hustled out by his security detail into a waiting
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...
.


Toybox

Toybox opened on Adelaide Street West in October 2018, a space previously that was Uniun, INK had rebranded this venue to appeal to college students in the hip hop scene, as the EDM scene at Uniun had faded. Toybox features a small teddy bear mascot that runs around the venue to entertain the crowd, and has been facelifted from Uniun to feature a black and red heavy-themed venue.


Restaurants


Spice Route

Spice Route is an Asian themed bistro-bar located on King Street West,
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
that opened during spring 2008. It is run as a collaboration between Ink's Khabouth and Liberty's Nick Di Donato (owner of C Lounge and many other venues), two veteran moguls of the Toronto entertainment scene who after directly competing with one another for the city's upscale clientele throughout the 2000s via their respective properties Ultra Supper Club and C Lounge now joined forces in a venture also targeting ritzy young professionals. Spice Route can hold up to 500 guests over multiple rooms and an outdoor patio.


La Société

La Société is a 1920s-inspired Parisian-style eatery located on
Bloor Street West Bloor Street is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Dan ...
,
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
that opened in June 2011. The restaurant includes two European-style terraces, and an outdoor patio. Located in the space previously occupied by the long-running Dynasty Chinese Cuisine
dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cu ...
restaurant, the Can$4 million renovation that included installation of a 20 by 30 foot
stained-glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
ceiling (courtesy of Toronto's Solarium Design Group) took five months before La Société opened. It also included putting in a mosaic tile floor, which by itself cost almost Can$400,000 and entailed flying in 27 workers. La Société draws inspiration from various
brasserie In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves dishes and other meals. The word ''brasserie'' is French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing busine ...
s and
bistro A bistro or bistrot (), in its original Parisian form, is a small restaurant serving moderately priced, simple meals in a modest setting. In more recent years, the term has become used by restaurants considered, by some, to be pretentious. Style ...
s, including
Keith McNally Keith McNally (born 1951) is a British-born New York City restaurateur, the owner of several establishments including the Parisian-style brasserie Balthazar (restaurant), Balthazar, and formerly Nell's, Nell's nightclub. Early life McNally was ...
's
Balthazar Balthazar, Balthasar, Baltasar, or Baltazar may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Balthazar (novel), ''Balthazar'' (novel), by Lawrence Durrell, 1958 * ''Balthasar'', an 1889 book by Anatole France * ''Professor Balthazar'', a Croatian a ...
restaurant in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's
SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
as well as
Hôtel Costes The Hôtel Costes is a luxury hotel in Paris, France. Located at 7 Rue de Castiglione, it is perhaps best known for its bar and courtyard café. History The hotel was commissioned by the Costes brothers, Jean-Louis and Gilbert, from the design ...
in Paris on
Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...
in the city's 1st arrondissement, La Fontaine de Mars in 7th arrondissement, and Brasserie Bofinger in 4th arrondissement. Due to its location, opulence, and flair, La Société also invoked comparisons to the famous Toronto restaurant Bemelmans, a glamorous eatery owned and operated by Tom Kristenbrun that ran from 1977 until 1994 just up the street at 83 Bloor Street West. La Société opening party on Wednesday, 15 June 2011 brought out the Toronto glitterati from the city's business and media scenes, including
Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Canadian media executive. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia. Early life and education Znai ...
,
Roots Canada Roots Corporation is a publicly traded Canadian brand that sells apparel, leather bags, small leather goods, footwear, athletic wear, and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario, by Michael Budman and Don Green. In ...
founder Michael Budman, architect and designer Dee Dee Taylor Eustace of Taylor Hannah Architect Inc., Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine,
Blake McGrath Blake Andler McGrath (born November 21, 1983) is a Canadian professional dancer, pop singer, actor, model, and choreographer. He was known for being on the first season of ''So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2005, and on the MTV reality dance show ...
,
Polly Shannon Polly Shannon (born September 1, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Margaret Trudeau in the 2002 miniseries '' Trudeau'', a film about the Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau. Biography Polly Shannon was bo ...
, Kevin Brauch,
Jake Gold Jake Gold (born April 4, 1958) is an American-born Canadian music manager. He was a judge on the ''Canadian Idol'' television program. In addition to ''Idol'' participants, he has managed Canadian artists The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen, The ...
,
Jian Ghomeshi Jian Ghomeshi (born June 9, 1967) is a Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician, producer and former CBC personality. From 1990 to 2000, he was a vocalist and drummer in the Thornhill-based folk-pop band Moxy Früvous. In the 2000s, he became ...
,
Seamus O'Regan Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan (born January 18, 1971) is a Canadian politician and a former cabinet minister in the government of Justin Trudeau. He resigned from cabinet effective July 19, 2024. A member of the Liberal Party, O'Regan was first ...
, Melissa Grelo, and
gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities fr ...
s Shinan Govani, Bernadette Morra, and Suzanne Boyd. Within months of opening, La Société hosted various
2011 Toronto International Film Festival The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, between September 8 and September 18, 2011. Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening fil ...
parties, including the closing one on 17 September 2011 that featured
NKPR Inc NKPR is a Toronto, Canada-based public relations, artist management, and digital media agency with locations in Toronto and New York. NKPR was Founded in 2002 by Natasha Koifman. History Natasha Koifman started NKPR in 2002 as a public relation ...
's Natasha Koifman,
Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work in numerous stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and ...
,
Robert Lantos Robert Lantos (born 3 April 1949) is a Hungarian-Canadian film producer. Life and career Lantos was born on 3 April 1949 in Budapest, the son of Ágnes (Bodor) and László Lantos, a mechanic and truck company owner. Lantos spent much of his c ...
,
Suzanne Rogers Suzanne Rogers (born Suzanne Crumpler, July 9, 1943) is an American actress with film and television credits. Her stage name was inspired by Ginger Rogers, whom she cites as a personal inspiration for joining the entertainment industry. Rogers ...
, Glenn Baxter,
Yannick Bisson Yannick Denis Bisson (born May 16, 1969) is a Canadian film and television actor and director. He is famous for playing Detective William Murdoch on the series ''Murdoch Mysteries'' for over 15 years, since 2008. Early life Bisson was born in ...
,
George Stroumboulopoulos George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (; Greek: Γεώργιος Μάρκος Παύλος Στρουμπουλόπουλος; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian media personality, television host and podcaster. He is one of Canada's most popular b ...
, Jian Ghomeshi,
Ben Mulroney Benedict Martin Paul Mulroney (born March 9, 1976) is a Canadian radio host and former television host. He is the eldest son of Brian Mulroney, the 18th Prime Minister of Canada. Best known for his 20-year broadcasting career with the Canadian ...
& Jessica Brownstein, Colin & Justin, Drew & Jonathan Scott, designer Kirk Pickersgill, Suzanne Boyd, and Shinan Govani.


Weslodge Saloon

Classified as modern American-style
gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves food of high quality, with a nearly equal emphasis on eating and drinking. The term was coined in the 1990s in the United Kingdom. History The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coi ...
with a saloon twist, Weslodge opened in mid-July 2012 on King Street West in Toronto's Fashion District as a partnership between INK Entertainment's Charles Khabouth and Icon Legacy Hospitality's Hanif Harji. During the Weslodge preparation stage, Khabouth, who was initially set to open it by himself, got introduced to Harji who was opening Patria next door and the two restaurateurs soon decided to go into business together on both venues. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Victory Condos building at 478 King Street West that was completed in 2011 and is co-owned by Toronto
real estate developers Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...
Lifetime Developments (run by Mel Pearl and Sam Herzog) and BLVD Developments. Designed by the Toronto-based Munge Leung interior design firm, Khabouth's and Harji's plan for Weslodge was attracting the
Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...
urban crowd that doesn't spend much time in their condos, but rather likes to go out right after coming home from work. With its interior featuring imitations of
taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...
hunting trophies mounted on walls, in keeping with the
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
and hunting themes, the restaurant's bartenders and servers wear gun holsters around their shoulders. Weslodge's kitchen is run by executive chef Stuart Cameron while its first chef du cuisine was Kanida Chey who joined from
Claudio Aprile Claudio Aprile (born 23 January 1969) is a Uruguayan–Canadian celebrity chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and TV personality of Italian descent best known for serving as a main host/judge on CTV's culinary competition ''MasterChef Canada ...
's Origin. The restaurant was in the news in June 2015 due to its 24-year-old former pastry chef Kate Burnham who had been employed at the venue from July 2012 until January 2014, alleging to have been sexually harassed while working at Weslodge by three former bosses — day
sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...
Dan Lidbury, chef du cuisine Kanida Chey, and night sous chef Colin Mercer. She filed an application with the
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario () is an administrative tribunal in Ontario, Canada that hears and determines applications brought under the '' Ontario Human Rights Code'', the provincial statute that sets out human rights in Ontario prohibit ...
, seeking Can$225,000 in damages as well as formal apologies from each of her alleged harassers. After first appearing in the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' on Saturday, 13 June 2015, the story got a lot of attention, including from established Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, owner of the Black Hoof, who in addition to supporting Burnham announced a conference named 'Kitchen Bitches: Smashing the Patriarchy One Plate at a Time'. All the media attention prompted INK Entertainment into releasing an official statement, posted on the company's Facebook page. The story received more national coverage in Canada via '' The Current'' radio programme hosted by
Anna Maria Tremonti Anna Maria Tremonti (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian radio and television journalist who has been featured on a variety of radio and television programs on the CBC. She has served as a senior reporter for '' The National'', where she won two Ge ...
on
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...
, sparking a debate on the poor workplace treatment of women in restaurant kitchens. Jen Agg's Kitchen Bitches conference was later held in Toronto in September 2015. Furthermore, the same month, Burnham's legal case against Weslodge got resolved through mediation as she agreed to a confidential
settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...
. Also in September 2015, it was announced that the Weslodge Saloon brand would be expanding to the
Gulf countries The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...
in early 2016 as part of a deal between Daman Investments PSC, a
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
-based financial services company, and a consortium of partners including Harji's ICON Legacy Hospitality.


Patria

Patria is another Khabouth-Harji King West restaurant collaboration, this one serving Spanish food. It opened in October 2012. Originally, only Harji was behind Patria, but soon after meeting Khabouth who was getting ready to open Weslodge next door, the two decided to join forces and run both venues in partnership with one another. Reportedly, they invested Can$2.5 million into getting Patria off the ground, enlisting the Toronto-based Commute Home design company to do the restaurant's interior and getting chefs Stuart Cameron and Claudia Gibson to run the kitchen. Even before officially opening, the restaurant hosted 2012 TIFF events such as the ''
Seven Psychopaths ''Seven Psychopaths'' is a 2012 satirical crime comedy-drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh and starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Christopher Walken, with Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, Olga ...
'' premiere party in September 2012 with
Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
,
Abbie Cornish Abigail Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. In film, Cornish is known for her roles as Heidi in ''Somersault (film), Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in ''Bright Star (film), Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch ...
,
Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...
,
Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...
, and
Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...
on hand. Much like other Khabouth's restaurants in Toronto, Patria continually attracts international movie stars and Hollywood celebrities via TIFF parties every September thereby ensuring press coverage and publicity for the restaurant.


Buonanotte Toronto

The Toronto location of the popular Montreal restaurant Buonanotte opened in January 2013 courtesy of Khabouth's INK Entertainment that licensed the name and recipes from the original restaurant's owner Massimo "Max" Lecas who remains in charge of the new venue's management. It opened at 19 Mercer Street, the same location where Khabouth previously ran a Japanese cuisine restaurant named Ame in partnership with Michael and Guy Rubino. The original Buonanotte restaurant in Montreal has been in continual operation since 1991.


Byblos

Byblos is a restaurant serving Eastern
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and Lebanese food, located on Duncan Street near King Street West inside the Storys building in Toronto's
Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
. Opened in March 2014, it is the third restaurant that Khabouth established in Toronto in partnership with Hanif Harji. Originally envisioned as a fish and seafood eatery, its opening took place during a time when Toronto experienced a bit of a spike in restaurants serving Mediterranean and Middle Eastern (Middleterranean) fare, a trend that Khabouth and Harji took note of and decided to join. Most upscale among the string of such spots in Toronto that opened or expanded during the 2013-2014 period (Anthony Rose's Fat Pasha, Dr. Laffa, Me Va Me, District Oven, S. Lefkowitz, etc.), Byblos focuses on dishes from
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
, and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
as well as
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. Byblos' executive chef is Stuart Cameron who also oversees other Khabouth-Harji eateries such as Weslodge and Patria while its chef de cuisine is Jennifer Nickle who came over from Patria where she was a sous chef. Byblos received near universal critical acclaim, getting enthusiastic reviews and accolades for its food blend and becoming perhaps the best-reviewed Khabouth restaurant ever. As Byblos got established on Toronto's restaurant scene and following the successful launch of its second location in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
, it was announced in September 2015 that the Byblos brand would be expanding to the
Gulf countries The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...
in early 2016 as part of a deal between Daman Investments PSC, a
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
-based financial services company, and a consortium of partners including Harji's ICON Legacy Hospitality.


America Restaurant

First opening its doors in early September 2014 for that year's
TIFF Tag Image File Format or Tagged Image File Format, commonly known by the abbreviations TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is w ...
, high-end America Restaurant at the 31st floor of Toronto's Trump International Hotel and Tower didn't officially launch until almost October 2014. It thus replaced the glitzy Stock approximately nine months since its management had been taken over by Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants (O&B) in partnership with Khabouth. At the time of the ownership change, Stock, which opened during spring 2012 simultaneous with the Toronto Trump Tower's launch, had been in operation for some two and a half years. After their limited collaboration on snacks at the Cabana Pool Bar, America Restaurant thus marked a closer partnership between INK and O&B that began in December 2013 with an announcement of the two companies taking over all food operations at Trump International Hotel & Tower from
Alex Shnaider Alexander Yevseyevich Shnaider (; ; born 3 August 1968) is a Soviet-born Canadian entrepreneur and former commodities trader. He co-founded the Midland Group with Eduard Shifrin. Early life Shnaider moved with his family to Israel when he w ...
's Talon International that developed the tower and then later also managed its two dining and drinking venues — Stock restaurant and Suits Lobby Lounge. The new owners hired the Toronto firm II by IV Design, the same company that designed Stock, to now remodel the space. The redesign included doing away with Stock's black leather furniture, which Khabouth described as very "manly", and replacing it with "a lot of velvet, a lot of velures, burgundies, blues and golds in order to make it a little more feminine friendly". Hundreds of pieces of furniture were custom built off-site at a shop in
Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of **Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...
, just outside Toronto, over the course of about four months. The actual remodeling work took place in late August and early September 2014 over just five days as the new owners rushed to be ready in time for
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. While Stock's physical bar remained relatively unchanged, the lounge area was completely revamped with new lighting, furniture and a DJ booth. The spot relaunched as America Restaurant, a venue that's an eatery during daytime, but on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays functions as a supper club, turning into a nightclub with dancing and DJs past 11pm. When it came to the name, O&B and INK wanted "something strong and unapologetic" while for Khabouth,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
himself, "the epitome of everything American", was a source of inspiration. Bill Osborne, formerly of Bar Boulud in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and Canoe in Toronto, got hired to run America's kitchen, working under O&B executive chef Anthony Walsh. In September 2014, before it was even open to the general public, America hosted ''
The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American biographical film, biographical thriller film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore (writer), Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The ...
'' party attended by
Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurenc ...
and
Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...
as the movie played at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...
. In late November 2014 America was subject of an extremely negative review by ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' restaurant critic Chris Nuttall-Smith whose elaborate takedown went viral, garnering big reader reaction as well as attention from various other media outlets. In his zero-star assessment of America, Nutall-Smith referred to it as "tacky, new-money restaurant", eviscerating its bouncers, wait staff, bathroom attendant, hostesses, and even patrons; though praising its food. The scathing review reportedly led to the restaurant's entire front of house staff getting fired. America received a four-star rating from the 2015
Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide or Mobil Travel Guide) is a star rating service and online travel guide for hotels, restaurants and spas. In 2011, Forbes Travel Guide published its last set of guidebooks and, on November 15, ...
, placed in the same category as established Toronto dining spots Café Boulud Toronto, Canoe, One Restaurant, Scaramouche, Splendido, and TOCA. The restaurant was in the news in late March 2015 after a Toronto resident (Darshan Dorka) claimed he got turned away at America along with a party of friends due to wearing turbans.


NAO

Standing for New and Old, NAO is an Asian steakhouse on
Avenue Road Avenue Road may refer to: * Avenue Road, Bangalore, busy shopping and commercial street in Bangalore * Avenue Road, London, street in the Swiss Cottage and St John's Wood districts of London * Avenue Road tram stop, tram stop in the London Borough ...
established by Khabouth and Harji that opened in November 2014.


Byblos Miami

After getting announced in January 2015, Byblos Miami, an offshoot of Toronto's Byblos, opened in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
during late summer 2015. Another partnership between Khabouth and Harji, the Miami restaurant reportedly came on the heels of extensive research as the duo of Toronto restaurateurs aimed at minimizing surprises and risks of launching in the Miami market that they don't know very well.


Figo

Opened in November 2015, Figo is the seventh Khabouth-Harji restaurant collaboration, their sixth in Toronto. Located on the south-west corner of Adelaide West & John in the recently built Pinnacle on Adelaide condo building that's owned by Pinnacle International, the eatery serves Italian cuisine. The partners hired Anna Chen (formerly of
Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...
and Scaramouche) to run Figo's kitchen as its executive chef.


Other


Storys building

In October 2011 Khabouth and Harji announced their purchase of the four-story Storys building at the corner of Duncan & Pearl in the heart of the Entertainment District, around the corner from Royal Alexandra Theater and TIFF Lightbox.


Cabana Pool Bar

After his 2012 takeover of the
Sound Academy Rebel (commonly stylized as REBEL) (originally the Docks Nightclub & Concert Theater and then Sound Academy) is a nightclub and concert venue located on the Polson Pier in Toronto, Canada. Relaunched in October 2016 as Rebel Night Club, the comple ...
, Khabouth opened Cabana Pool Bar on 15 June 2013 on its patio. Spending Can$5 million, he hired Ink's go-to interior designers Munge Leung to remake the outdoor space by installing 12 poolside white-tent cabanas and several dozen tables and couches all in an effort of appealing to the "25-plus crowd that has traveled to the south of France, been to Miami, been to Vegas". With a daytime concept that's an extension of the bottle-service booths in Khabouth's nightclubs — the cost of renting a table, a couch, or a cabana for an entire day is from Can$1,000 to Can$2,500, an amount for which the patrons also get three bottles of liquor to start, a platter of snacks, and wristbands affording access to 10-20 people — Cabana Pool Bar became a big success right away, attracting more than 4,000 people a day on summer weekends if the weather is nice. Open during summer only from early to mid June until late September, Cabana shuts down by 11pm on weekends due to the residents of the neighbouring
Toronto Island The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...
complaining about the noise from the patio. The venue is closed to the general public during summer weekdays though it is available for corporate bookings and functions. Light food offerings and snacks at the venue are handled by Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants, a Toronto-based hospitality company. Celebrity presence, a staple of Khabouth's nightclubs and restaurants, played a large part in Cabana Pool Bar's initial promotion as well —
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
,
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
,
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP ...
,
deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...
, P. K. Subban,
Phil Kessel Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), winger who is an unrestricted free agent. Nicknamed "Phil the Thrill", he has previously played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Lea ...
, and
Nazem Kadri Nazem Kadri (born October 6, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kadri won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, becoming the first ...
were all on hand during its first summer in operation. Over the coming summers,
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
, in town filming ''
Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
'',
Dan Bilzerian Daniel Brandon Bilzerian (born December 7, 1980) is an American businessman and influencer. He gained notability for his extravagant lifestyle and photo ops with scantily dressed female models on social media. The eldest son of businessman Pa ...
,
LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...
, etc. made highly publicized appearances.


Bisha Hotel & Residences

Bisha Hotel & Residences at 80 Blue Jays Way in Toronto's Entertainment District is a hotel and condominium project, currently under construction, executed as a joint venture between INK Entertainment hospitality company and Lifetime Developments real estate development company. It is a new private label hotel and residence brand named after INK founder, Charles Khabouth's childhood nickname, Bisha. It was designed by award-winning ''Wallman Architects'' and ''Munge Leung Design Associates'' and will stand 41 stories tall when complete. The Bisha Presentation Centre has hosted many events including features by
Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
and
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
.


Events


Veld Music Festival

Veld Music Festival takes place over a two-day weekend at
Downsview Park Downsview Park () is a large urban park located in the Downsview, Toronto, Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park's name is officially Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual due to it being federally owned and managed, and was ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Organized annually by INK Entertainment. The inaugural event took place on 4 and 5 August 2012, featuring some of the best stars and labels in
electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
. The inaugural headliners included
deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...
and
Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...
; the 2013 festival was headlined by
deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...
and Above & Beyond. In 2014, the headliners were
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...
, Armin van Buuren, and
Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea ( ), is an Australian rapper. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. She earned public recognition ...
. Veld has featured performances by
Oliver Heldens Olivier "Oliver" J. L. Heldens (; born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart succes ...
,
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
, Ingrosso,
What So Not What So Not is an electronic music project by Australian record producer Emoh Instead (stage name of Christopher John Emerson). What So Not has toured the world, playing in various festivals, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, ...
, DVBBS,
Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...
, and
Knife Party Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum. The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign ...
. On 2 August 2015, the 2015 Veld festival of was cancelled due to a severe thunder storm warning.


Controversy

The 2014 festival had two drug-related deaths — 20-year-old Annie Le of Toronto and 22-year-old Willard Amurao from the
Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
, both of whom died after ingesting recreational drugs they had bought at the two-day event — as well as additional thirteen drug-related illnesses. Questions were raised about the circumstances of Amurao's death, prompting a Special Investigations Unit (Ontario's police watchdog) investigation due to him apparently being handcuffed by a Toronto police officer before receiving medical help. The police officer reportedly approached him after seeing him being carried by two men at which point the 22-year-old reportedly became violent and needed to be handcuffed. A month later, the Special Investigations Unit closed its investigation, concluding that Toronto police had "nothing to do" with Amurao's death, further stating the man was helped to an emergency medical area where he began to convulse and flail "violently," and his movements prevented paramedics from treating him at which point a Toronto police officer handcuffed the man's hands to a stretcher so he could be treated while his one hand was later freed so that medication could be given to him. The SIU report also states the man was subsequently rushed to hospital and went into cardiac arrest en route at which point his remaining handcuffs were removed and the ambulance stopped, but he could not be revived by paramedics or hospital staff. In reaction to the deaths, Toronto
city councilor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counci ...
Giorgio Mammoliti Giorgio Mammoliti ( , ; born George Mammoliti on September 20, 1961) is a former Canadian politician who represented Ward 7 York West on the Toronto City Council from 2000 to 2018. He ran for mayor of Toronto in 2010 and 2023. Mammoliti previ ...
released a statement saying festival organizers INK Entertainment, and INK chief executive Charles Khabouth were partially responsible for the deaths, "due to their negligence and poor security measures". Mammoliti's statement additionally blamed fellow councilors
Gord Perks Gordon Perks (born October 7, 1963) is a Canadian politician and environmental activist who has served on Toronto City Council since 2006, when he was elected to Ward 16 Parkdale—High Park. Since 2018, Perks has represented Ward 4 Parkdale—H ...
and
Mike Layton Michael Layton (born November 16, 1980) is a Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council from 2010 until 2022. Layton most recently represented Ward 11 University—Rosedale. He was first elected in the 2010 municipal election in W ...
for the deaths. Through its lawyer James Zibarras, INK Entertainment immediately demanded full retraction from Mammoliti, threatening legal action if one is not issued within 48 hours. On late Friday afternoon, 8 August 2014, almost a full day after the deadline set by INK's lawyer, Mammoliti formally retracted his earlier statement that blamed Khabouth and INK; the company didn't pursue legal action. With its investigation focusing on party drugs from the very beginning, the Toronto police homicide squad investigation whose findings were announced almost a year later in late July 2015 concluded that the two drug-related deaths were accidental. The police also announced plans of installing so-called "amnesty boxes" at the 2015 Veld where attendees can deposit drugs without any legal consequences. The 2015 edition of Veld was subsequently cancelled due to a severe thunder storm warning.


Former assets


Stilife

Stilife was an upscale Toronto nightclub that ran from 1987 until 1995 in a 1920s six-storey brick building at the southwest corner of Richmond and Duncan Streets. Opening in October 1987 in the building's basement with a dirt floor, it was run in very hands-on fashion by young entrepreneur Charles Khabouth who leased the 6,000 square foot space at an extremely cheap rate of Can$4 per square foot. Despite being located in a then-deserted part of Toronto's former Garment District, Stilife quickly managed to develop an image of exclusivity, becoming a favourite hangout for Toronto's posh crowd. The club was populated by attractive, well-heeled patrons that had to pass a strict door policy designed to attract glamorous, high-income clientele. Soon after opening Stilife, Khabouth sold Club Z, a Yonge and Wellesley area club that was his first entrepreneurial effort in the hospitality industry, in order to fully concentrate on his ambitious new venue. In complete contrast to Club Z that was open to anyone who wanted to dance, Khabouth went out of his way to make every single aspect of Stilife exclusive. The goal was attracting a more mature, sophisticated, and free-spending urban crowd rather than settling for suburban youth that many downtown Toronto clubs catered to at the time. Inspired by the look of the recently opened
Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
club at Sherbourne Street whose interior differed significantly from the standard brass-and-mirrors decor of the numerous clubs in the city, Khabouth devoted particular attention to his new venue's interior design. He hired Toronto-based
Yabu Pushelberg Yabu Pushelberg is an international design studio with offices in Toronto and New York. Founded in 1980 by Canadian designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, the studio has evolved from a traditional interior design firm into creative director ...
design studio (consisting of George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg who would go on to achieve international renown, but were still largely unknown outside of the city) to come up with ideas for the club's interior. They traveled to New York City for inspiration, ending up with dark, sculptured aesthetic and edgy, industrial design, which featured a heavy use of polished steel, concrete, and mosaic tile. The chain walls created by long chains hanging off the club's ceiling were a particularly big draw. Furthermore, Stilife's core interior elements referenced
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
,
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
, and ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...
''. In addition to attracting the rich of Toronto, Stilife soon gained a reputation as a celebrity hangout with notable guests such as
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
(dropped by in late May 1990 during her
Blond Ambition World Tour The Blond Ambition World Tour (billed as Blond Ambition World Tour 90) was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna. It supported her fourth studio album '' Like a Prayer'' (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film ''Dick Tracy ...
),
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
, and
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
further fueling its success and enhancing its status. In terms of the music played, Stilife covered a wide range of sounds and themed nights. Many Toronto DJs worked the venue, but two left their mark especially — Richard Vermeulen who was the resident on Tuesdays for most of the club's run and JC Sunshine whose residency was Fridays. Vermeulen particularly proved adept at combining genres, spinning an eclectic mix that covered the range from
Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...
's "
Stranglehold A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza () is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air (choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1999). Oxford University press. . or blood (str ...
" over to
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
, disco, funk, and hard rock, until
Bomb the Bass Bomb the Bass is an electronic music alias of English musician and producer Timothy Simenon (born June 1967). As a name, Bomb the Bass came from Simenon's approach to collaging and mixing sounds whilst DJing in the mid- to late 1980s; he says ...
' "
Beat Dis "Beat Dis" is a song by British act Bomb the Bass, a studio production group formed by producer Tim Simenon originally as the Rhythm King All Stars, with producer Pascal Gabriel and Adele Nozedar from Indians in Moscow involved too. From Bomb t ...
", Eric B. & Rakim's " Paid in Full", and
Baby Ford Peter Frank Adshead, better known as Baby Ford, is a British electronic music record producer, known particularly for his contributions to the birth of acid house. He has also released material under aliases with Mark Broom (Casino Classix, El ...
's "Oochy Coochy". DJ Mark Oliver joined Stilife in 1990 after the closure of Tazmanian Ballroom and became resident on Mondays that were popular with
voguing Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It is inspired by the poses of models in fashion magazines. It gained mainstream exposure whe ...
gay men; for Oliver this marked the beginning of a long collaboration with Khabouth and Ink that would later continue in his other clubs. By early 1990s numerous new nightclubs opened along Richmond Street West and Adelaide Street West as well as in adjoining streets within the area bound by Front St., Queen Street West, Bathurst St., and Simcoe St. all of which was a consequence of low rent in the said area and Khabouth's success with Stilife there. Among them were: Go-Go (a three-level superclub opened by the Ballinger brothers in 1990 across the street from Stilife at the north-west corner of Richmond & Duncan), 23 Hop (a minimalist all-ages club opened by Wesley Thuro during summer 1990 in a warehouse down the street from Stilife at 318 Richmond that would soon become a catalyst for the Toronto rave scene), Venus, Klub Max (a huge venue started in 1990 by Nick DiDonato and Angelo Belluz in a heritage building on Peter St. just south of King Street West that previously housed DiDonato's P.M. Toronto sports bar and restaurant), LimeLight (in 1993 by businessman Zisi Konstantinou at 250 Adelaide Street West near the corner with Duncan Street), My Apartment (a club in an old shoe factory building at 81 Peter Street playing Top 40 music), and Club 606. At the same time, Khabouth for his part attempted, and mostly failed, to expand into fine dining with his involvement in several restaurants — Boa Cafe, Oceans, Acrobat, and Bellair Cafe — quickly ending, either via him pulling out of the venture or the venues folding. Most of those restaurants were in the Yorkville upscale neighbourhood where in 1992 he also opened Skorpio nightclub that closed by 1994. In late 1995 after eight years of successful operation, Khabouth sold Stilife, describing the decision as being motivated by his desire to expand and the inability to do so at the Richmond and Duncan location due to space, capacity, and ceiling height constraints. Right away in 1995, Fluid nightclub opened at the location vacated by Stilife. The new club was also successful, continuing until 2009 including a slight mid-2000s makeover and re-branding as Fluid Lounge. In February 2010 Pop Nightclub opened in the same location, but folded quickly. Over the coming decades Khabouth has occasionally organized one-off Stilife retro parties in Toronto under the 'A Return To Stilife' moniker.


Oceans

In late 1989, emboldened by the rapid success of his Stilife nightclub, 27-year-old Charles Khabouth opened Oceans restaurant in the same building as a companion piece, attempting to transfer some of the nightclub's sexy upscale vibe into the dining setting. He recruited celebrity chef Greg Couillard and the restaurant even got featured on the ''
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates. Cast and crew Th ...
'' TV show. However, things quickly started to unravel and by July 1990 Couillard quit, taking most of the kitchen staff with him. His replacement was Susur Lee, another high-profile chef, but he only lasted a few weeks. The restaurant got merged into Stilife by year's end. The high-profile failure of Oceans got Khabouth a bit of a tarnished reputation on the Toronto entertainment scene that followed him in various forms throughout subsequent decades as far as his involvement with dining is concerned — the charge that food is secondary in his restaurants. Joanne Kates, ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' food critic at the time, claimed "Khabouth never intended the food to be important at Oceans", further stating that the restaurant imploded "once he realized he couldn't run it as a club and efficiently make money". Khabouth identified the inability of celebrity chefs to subordinate as the main reason for Oceans failure: "I had a hard time working with some of these chefs. With celebrity chefs, it's like you work for them".


Boa Café

Opened in Yorkville in October 1989 as a collaboration between Khabouth (at the time owner of successful upscale nightclub Stilife) and fellow young Lebanese-Canadian Rony Hitti, Boa Café was a venue that brought fine dining and club culture together. Hitti, who studied finance and politics at
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
while DJing at various Toronto clubs during the 1980s befriended Khabouth at Stilife. Traveling to Montreal together, the two went to a place called Lola's Paradise and thought Toronto could use a similar venue — a late-night dining spot catering to the Stilife crowd that had very few eating options after the 1 a.m. last call. They found a spot at 25 Bellair Street that previously housed a daytime coffee shop and after extensive renovations opened Boa Café to much fanfare in October 1989 as 50/50 partners. Chic and trendy, Boa served food and drinks from noon until late night five days a week. Though the venue received plenty of positive notices in local press, it faced financial problems in its first year. These issues coincided with the problems Khabouth was experiencing with Stilife due to the Oceans restaurant that he opened as an adjoining piece in the same building. The relationship between Hitti and Khabouth soured and by 1991 the two decided to go their separate ways. Hitti took over the venue, reorganized it by making it more focused on food than drinking. It continued running with much success until 1998.


Acrobat

Despite his continued success with Stilife nightclub in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Khabouth experienced trouble expanding into the dining aspect of the hospitality industry with his involvement in two high-profile restaurants - Boa Café and Oceans - quickly turning sour. Almost immediately, Khabouth jumped into another high-profile project, again in Yorkville, but this time in partnership with established Toronto restaurateur Franco Prevedello. Following numerous delays and Can$1.4 million in renovations, they opened Acrobat in June 1992 at 1221 Bay Street, catering to upscale Yorkville clientele with a restaurant-nightclub hybrid. However, their relationship quickly soured and Khabouth got out of the venture the same year, selling his share to Prevedello. Apparently, they weren't seeing eye to eye due to Khabouth wanting to make Acrobat a supper club where people dined and danced while Prevedello was only interested in the dining part. The restaurant continued under Prevedello until 1994.


Bellair Café

The famous Bellair Café in Yorkville at 100 Cumberland St. had been closed for four years when Khabouth decided to revive it in 1995. It first opened in 1981 under the ownership of famous Toronto restaurateur and nightclub owner Tom Kristenbrun who had by this time already been involved with the
El Mocambo El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is bes ...
live music venue and the upscale Bemelmans restaurant. Like Bemelmans, Kristenbrun's other fine dining Yorkville menu, nearby Bellair Café also became a place to see and be seen, attracting local stars like
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
as well as visiting celebrities such as
Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...
,
Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...
, and
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
, especially during The Festival of Festivals (later renamed the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
). The celebrity practice of starting the evening off with a cocktail party at Bellair Café before going to their movie's gala opening and afterwards winding up at The Copa nightclub for dancing became well established at the festival. In 1991, Kristenbrun, who in the meantime opened and established additional lucrative fine dining properties such as Rhodes near Yonge & St. Clair and Bistro 990 on Bay & Wellesley, got out of the Bellair Café venture and the venue closed. In 1995, Khabouth (who had already established himself as the owner of influential Stilife nightclub and was in the process of taking over the RPM nightclub, but nevertheless also had a recent string of failed fine dining ventures) decided to try again by resuscitating the famous Bellair Café at the same spot. Staying with the same upscale concept, Bellair under Khabouth continued to attract celebrities as well as movie industry movers and shakers such as
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...
. It closed less than two years later in 1997, this time for good. Right away, a new restaurant, Sassafraz, opened at Bellair's spot and also went on to become very popular.


The Guvernment / Kool Haus complex

The Guvernment was the name of a
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
complex in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. Opened in 1996, it was incarnated from the former RPM nightclub, which closed its doors after ten years at the same location. Kool Haus was often used as a venue for concerts and live performances. In 2008, The Guvernment was voted #8 nightclub in the world in
DJMag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...
's Top 100 Clubs. Additional concept rooms included Haven, The Gallery, Surface, Chroma and the rooftop patio, Skybar. The complex was located directly across from
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
, in downtown
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. The Guvernment / KoolHaus complex was
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
’s largest and longest running entertainment complex, with a capacity of over 5000. This complex hosted
Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( , ), is a Dutch DJ and record producer. He was voted "The Greatest DJ of All Time" by ''Mix (magazine), Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, h ...
,
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
,
Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...
,
Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...
,
Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), known professionally as Afrojack (stylized in all caps), is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''Forget the World ( ...
,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
,
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
,
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...
,
Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...
,
N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) was an American rock and hip-hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists ...
,
The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...
, Armin Van Buuren, and many more over the years. Popular events held in this complex included ''Decadence'' and ''Labour of Love''. The Guvernment and Koolhaus Entertainment Complex closed its doors on January 31, 2015 and is expected to be replaced by a mixed-use project.


Ame

Japanese cuisine restaurant Ame opened in September 2009 on 19 Mercer Street in the
Toronto Entertainment District The Toronto Entertainment District is an area in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is concentrated around King Street West between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue. It is home to theatres and performing arts centres, the Toronto Blue Ja ...
as a collaboration between Khabouth and the Rubino brothers (Michael and
Guy Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...
) at the spot where the Rubinos had previously for almost ten years co-owned and operated Rain, a club-like pan-Asian restaurant. Rain closed down in January 2009 for modest renovations as the Rubinos planned on adding a
sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...
and
sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...
bar and quickly re-opening. However, in the meantime, they went into business with Ink's Charles Khabouth who convinced them to completely change up the concept. The venue thus re-opened with a new name (Ame), new concept (high end Japanese food), new completely renovated space, and Khabouth as the new business partner. In October 2010, Ame held a lavish one-year anniversary party. In June 2011 a re-zoning application was submitted to the City of Toronto from a real estate developer wishing to build a residential condominium building on the plot currently occupied by two old buildings, specifically units from 15 to 35 Mercer Street including Ame at the time. The application was eventually rejected. Ame closed in August 2011 with Michael Rubino attributing its failure to a "difference in vision" between him and Khabouth. After renovations that lasted through the second part of 2012, Khabouth opened Buonanotte at the same location in January 2013 as a licensed offshoot of the eponymous Montreal restaurant.


Briscola Trattoria

Briscola opened in February 2011 at 501 College St. near
Palmerston Boulevard Palmerston Boulevard is a residential street located in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, two blocks west of Bathurst Street, between Koreatown and Little Italy. The street is bounded by stone and iron gates both at Bloor Street and College ...
in
Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...
as a collaboration between Khabouth and Syrian-born Toufik Sarwa at the same spot where Sarwa's short-lived Cinq 01 previously operated. However, Briscola also turned out to have very short lifespan, closing in 2012. By June 2012 Mexican restaurant La Carnita co-owned by Andrew Richmond and Amin Todai opened in its spot.


The Cocktail Parlor at Storys

After getting introduced to one another in 2011, Ink's Charles Khabouth and Icon Legacy's Hanif Harji forged a business collaboration that began with their October 2011 purchase of the Storys building and continued by opening two restaurants on King West in 2012 — Weslodge Saloon and Patria. By summer 2013 they were ready to launch yet another joint venue — The Cocktail Parlor at Storys, a cocktail lounge on the second floor of the building they acquired almost two years prior. Inspired by a bar called The Aviary in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, The Cocktail Parlour featured an extensive 60-cocktail menu along with snacks overseen by executive chef Stuart Cameron who simultaneously performed the same duties at Weslodge and Patria, the other two Khabouth-Harji venues at the time along with decor that referenced the prohibition era as well as 1920s and 1930s in general. With its opening timed for the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...
, The Cocktail Parlor hosted numerous celebrity parties in its first month of operation. With the March 2014 launch of Byblos restaurant on the Storys building ground floor, The Cocktail Parlor soon closed permanently.


Product

Product, previously known as This is London until late 2012, was a multilevel
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
featuring numerous bars, various private lounges, and a ladies spa all with a capacity of 1,200 people. It was set in a renovated 1936 warehouse at 364 Richmond Street West near the corner of Richmond West & Peter in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
's
Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
. The 364 Richmond West building first got converted into a nightclub in 2000. After four years of operation, the venue got acquired by INK Entertainment in 2004. Having gone through several names already, the nightlife venue eventually became known as This is London. INK's idea for the offering of This is London was combining electronic music with Toronto's mid-to-late 2000s upscale scene. To that end, a steady stream of celebrities including Paris Hilton,
Jon Jones Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the ...
,
Michael Sorrentino Michael Paul Sorrentino (born July 4, 1982), also known as The Situation, is an American television personality. He appeared on all six seasons of the MTV reality show ''Jersey Shore'' from 2009 through 2012, and has since returned to the franc ...
, Usher,
Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...
, etc. came through the club's doors. On the musical side, Fridays at the club, billed as Soho Fridays, proved popular — featuring numerous
house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...
acts such as
Deniz Koyu Deniz "Koyu" Akçakoyunlu (born April 29, 1985, in Bochum) is a Turkish-German disc jockey and electronic dance music producer who specializes in progressive house and electro house. He has collaborated with some of the most successful electron ...
,
Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, music producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-fi ...
,
Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
,
DJ AM Adam Michael Goldstein (March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009), known professionally as DJ AM, was an American DJ. Born in Philadelphia, Goldstein became interested in deejaying as a child after watching Herbie Hancock perform his 1983 single " ...
, Chus & Ceballos,
Morgan Page Morgan Wolf Page (born May 31, 1981) is an American DJ and music producer. His tracks include "The Longest Road", "Fight for You" and "In the Air". Page has received two Grammy Award nominations; a personal nomination for best remix with Nadia ...
, Mark Knight,
Fedde le Grand Fedde Le Grand (, ; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch House music, house DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2006, his single "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one on the UK Singles Chart and staye ...
,
Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...
,
Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...
,
Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ and music producer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career as DJ alon ...
, etc. By late 2012, This is London re-branded to Product. From mid 2014, Barcode, night spot with capacity of 450 people, opened on the upper level of Product nightclub. Product closed in late May 2015 with the remaining parties moved to the Polson Pier complex, specifically the Solarium venue that was for these occasions billed as Barcode by the Lake. The reason for Product's closing had to do with the overall trend of residential condos and office buildings being built in the area; after the 364 Richmond West building found itself next to a commercial and office space, the building's landlord offered to buy the nightclub out of its remaining lease.


Città

In December 2014, Città opened in the CityPlace neighbourhood as a three-way partnership between INK's Khabouth, ICON's Harji, and Adam Brown, the owner of Fox & Fiddle pub franchise in Toronto. Located on the ground floor of a Concord Pacific condo tower at 92 Fort York Blvd and serving casual Italian cuisine, the owners' initial idea was to treat the 80-seat venue with a 100-person patio as a base to be grown over time into a franchise with a possible second location at Adelaide West & John already under construction. They hired Ben Heaton who previously worked at
Claudio Aprile Claudio Aprile (born 23 January 1969) is a Uruguayan–Canadian celebrity chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and TV personality of Italian descent best known for serving as a main host/judge on CTV's culinary competition ''MasterChef Canada ...
's Colborne Lane and
Mark McEwan Dennis Mark McEwan (born May 7, 1957) is an American-born Canadian celebrity chef based in Toronto, Ontario. He was head judge on Food Network Canada's ''Top Chef Canada''. McEwan had his own television show on Food Network Canada entitled ''Th ...
's ONE to be Città's first executive chef. The partners also brought on David Mattachioni, a 14-year veteran of the Terroni company, to train the staff and run Città's pizza oven as well as head baker Carlo Lazzarino also of Terroni. Early reviews focused on Città's decor being more modest than other "luxe, spare-no-expense design" Khabouth-Harji eateries and its food not being top-notch when compared with "
Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
cooking throughout the city". The restaurant tried to generate some buzz by hosting promotions such as a September 2015 pop-up from prominent
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
hipster pizzeria
Roberta's Roberta's is a New American pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York. Located in the neighborhood of East Williamsburg, it is known for its wood oven cooked pizza and hipster vibe. The restaurant serves pizza containing ingredients cooked from a rooft ...
, however, Città continually struggled for patrons compared to other CityPlace neighbourhood eateries like Hunter's Landing. With the same trio of Khabouth, Harji, and Brown opening Figo in November 2015 at Adelaide West & John, site once touted as Città's potential second location, Città's days looked to be numbered. The restaurant closed in late December 2015 with further news about its owners hiring chef Guillermo Herbertson of Barsa Taberna to develop a new Mexican-inspired restaurant concept for an April 2016 opening at the same location focusing largely on inexpensive snack and finger foods.


Tattoo

Tattoo, previously known as Tattoo Queen West and Tattoo Rock Parlour, was a nightclub and live performance venue. It opened in December 2007 as Tattoo Rock Parlour via INK's partnership with Nick Di Donato's Liberty Entertainment Group and King Street tattoo shop Black Line Studios. Its co-owners Khabouth and Di Donato reportedly spent Can$2.5 million on renovating the space before the launch. Initially advertised as
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's only tattoo parlor and bar, Tattoo included a two-level event space that could hold over 400 people. Compared to other Queen West rock clubs such as Velvet Underground and the longstanding
Bovine Sex Club The Bovine Sex Club is a bar on Toronto's Queen Street West strip. In operation since January 1991, the Bovine Sex Club (often shortened to 'the Bovine') has at various times found itself at the forefront of Toronto's rock, punk, heavy metal, ...
, Tattoo was going more for designer décor. Its location at 567 Queen Street West was previously, from 1993 until 2004, occupied by the Di Donato-owned Left Bank nightclub (with Crystal Room lounge bar inside it). Initially, Tattoo offered a food menu with items ranging from mac-and-cheese to steak. Shifting between live bands and DJ nights, Tattoo has hosted live performances from the likes of
Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her then husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also i ...
(performed the 2008 New Year's concert on 31 December 2007),
The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
,
Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...
,
Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the ...
(performed on 24 September 2008 as part of the inaugural Verge Music Awards), and
M.I.A. Mia, Mía, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (American band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA. (German band), a German rock/pop band formed in ...
(performed on 3 May 2014 as part of
Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industry conference and music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.David Friend"Canadian Music Week buyers rename event Departure Festival, expand its scope" ...
). Additionally, it welcomed various celebrities via either event after parties or paid appearances such as
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
,
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...
(hosted a party on 14 September 2010 during
TIFF Tag Image File Format or Tagged Image File Format, commonly known by the abbreviations TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is w ...
),
Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...
(attended '' Whip It'' after-party on 13 September 2009), and
Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...
(stopped by with bodyguards and partied on 10 September 2010 as part of a paid appearance following a
live concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
at
Kool Haus The Guvernment, formerly known as RPM, was a nightclub complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was also the name of one of the two main performance venues within the complex. The other venue was Kool Haus (formerly The Warehouse). Other smaller ro ...
, another one of Khabouth's venues). INK sold the venue during spring 2016.


See also

*
List of electronic music festivals The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitars and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (E ...


References

* *


External links

*{{Official website, https://inkentertainment.com/ Companies based in Toronto Entertainment companies of Canada Hotel and leisure companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 1982