Mallard Cottage's new owner says he fell in love with the restaurant in one night
CBC
Mallard Cottage's new sole owner says he has navigated the St. John's restaurant out of potential bankruptcy and plans to reopen by the end of the month.
Quebec entrepreneur Blair McIntosh said he became enchanted with the restaurant, in the city's Quidi Vidi during a visit to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015.
"My son and I were in town, just visiting some friends, and decided to get down there, and … fell in love with the place that night," McIntosh told CBC News from southeastern Quebec.
McIntosh spoke with then co-owner Todd Perrin that night, telling Perrin he was impressed with the restaurant and was interested in participating in some way.
"As time went on, I slowly but surely got involved as a minority shareholder and worked with Todd and one of the other former owners over the course of the last six years."
McIntosh, whose companies include Muskox Impact Investments and electric industrial vehicles manufacturer Motrec, says Mallard Cottage is his first time being involved with a restaurant.
Perrin created a beautiful restaurant, McIntosh said, and he wants to carry that forward.
"I want to preserve that tradition and maybe bring it to a different level. And that's what we're going to do now that the obstacles have been cleared out of the way."
Mallard Cottage is a one-of-a-kind restaurant in North America, he said, and it's important for his team to preserve that while adding improvements, like increasing the restaurant's capacity. Over the course of the winter, he said, the kitchen was renovated and new equipment was added, and work is now being done on the exterior, which he said should be done by early next week.
McIntosh said he has hired a new general manager and assistant general manager, who will also be running The Inn by Mallard Cottage, and he's also bringing in an executive chef in the next few weeks.
They will be working hard to keep costs down and make sure the business is profitable while ensuring patrons have a good culinary experience, he added.
In April, the Business Development Bank of Canada filed an application with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to force Mallard Cottage Inc. into bankruptcy and place it under a trustee. McIntosh said that has been resolved.
"We were able to come to a cordial agreement settlement two weeks ago when I was down there," he said. "This is something that's been in the works for about a year now."
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.
A group of Halifax residents is asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to look at a provincial decision to greenlight a controversial Fall River development.
Parkside Drive is closed in both directions following reports of a sinkhole, Toronto police say.
The Quebec government will present its fall economic update today.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.