Loka Snacks’ Dave Mottershall is Kickstarting a restaurant (and he’s looking for a west-end location)
Chef Dave Mottershall, who operates Loka Snacks out of Riverside’s Hi-Lo Bar, has a goal: to open his own restaurant. But what sets him apart from his peers is that he’s hoping to do it with the public’s help. After leaving PEI’s award-winning Terre Rouge last year Mottershall moved to Toronto, working at The Chase before setting up his own business (and tempting Instagram followers with his feed). In this video, Mottershall shares his concept for Loka. With endorsements from some of the city’s culinary heavyweights including Carl Heinrich (Richmond Station), Rob Gentile (Buca), Nick Liu (DaiLo) and celebrity chef Michael Smith, the all-or-nothing campaign is seeking crowd funding to help raise $25,000. In true Kickstarter fashion, project-backers will be rewarded with swag, exclusive dinners, culinary experiences and more.
As for where Mottershall would like to see Loka land: “We’re looking into the west end—Queen West,” he says. “We want a high-traffic area, where people can come in for a sandwich at lunch and try out what we’re doing, and then have that same flow of traffic at night when people can come hang out with us at the bar, have some food and a great time. We started in the east end and we did think about opening there, but that section of Riverside is pretty saturated with restaurants. So to open another one there, we’re just too afraid with the budget that we have. Without the walk-in traffic of lunchtime to help facilitate dinner service, we could lose our shirts within the first year or so.”
&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/toronto-restaurants-loka-snacks-chef-dave-mottershall-kickstarter.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_319901" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Graham Tingle)[/caption]
Chef Dave Mottershall, who operates Loka Snacks out of Riverside's Hi-Lo Bar, has a goal: to open his own restaurant. But what sets him apart from his peers is that he’s hoping to do it with the public’s help. After leaving PEI's award-winning Terre Rouge last year Mottershall moved to Toronto, working at The Chase before setting up his own business (and tempting Instagram followers with his feed). In this video, Mottershall shares his concept for Loka. With endorsements from some of the city's culinary heavyweights including Carl Heinrich (Richmond Station), Rob Gentile (Buca), Nick Liu (DaiLo) and celebrity chef Michael Smith, the all-or-nothing campaign is seeking crowd funding to help raise $25,000. In true Kickstarter fashion, project-backers will be rewarded with swag, exclusive dinners, culinary experiences and more.
As for where Mottershall would like to see Loka land: “We’re looking into the west end—Queen West," he says. "We want a high-traffic area, where people can come in for a sandwich at lunch and try out what we’re doing, and then have that same flow of traffic at night when people can come hang out with us at the bar, have some food and a great time. We started in the east end and we did think about opening there, but that section of Riverside is pretty saturated with restaurants. So to open another one there, we’re just too afraid with the budget that we have. Without the walk-in traffic of lunchtime to help facilitate dinner service, we could lose our shirts within the first year or so.”){kind=link}
Riverdale is saturated with restaurants but Queen West isn’t?
Ok then…
riverdale is saturated with restaurants that have staying power. queen west is saturated with short-term hipster joints that don’t last and are then replaced with more of the same, but with a different name.
that doesn’t even make sense.
it’s a way to raise SOME capital and it is also a great way to advertise your restaurant
What’s with all this negative talk ! Dave Motershall has an amazing and unique concept that we can see with his success at Terra Rouge and HiLo. Having the pleasure of dining at both his restaurants I am impressed at his dedication and the delectable food he brings to the table. He is a chef that is truly dedicated to his craft and his intent in sharing his knowledge and creations. The support show to him is evident that he is a chef we can stand behind proudly! I’m on team Dave! Let’s make this happen:)
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Well, for one, the stretch of RIVERSIDE he’s referring to is only about 3 blocks, and for that very small stretch, it IS
And wherever the location is for this restaurant, it will be saturated as well.