FEATURE
Korean Village Restaurant in Jeopardy
The pandemic has hit many businesses hard, including Korean Village Restaurant, which has been in business for over 40 years.
MARCH 5, 2020
On March 5, 2020, it was business as usual at the Korean Village Restaurant on Bloor Street West. With over 40 years in business, the restaurant in the heart of Toronto’s Koreatown was thriving thanks to their incredible dishes, prepared with fresh ingredients and presented simply, with a focus on Korean flavour and quality. Jason Lee ’00 started working as the restaurant’s General Manager in 2008. His parents, who started the restaurant in 1978, were getting older and needed help. He had to learn the ropes, so he did everything from working in the back and front of house, to taking care of administrative duties. In October 2019, his mother passed away suddenly, and Jason was forced to take over as owner of the restaurant overnight. “I was always passionate about the restaurant, but when you work with your parents, it’s different,” said Jason, whose wife is also involved in the family business. “My mother and I had our differences, and we would scream at each other. In hindsight, I would do anything to hear her scream at me again.” Jason managed to take over the business and continue to serve his mother’s food to his loyal customers. He had 20 employees – several of whom had been with Korean Village Restaurant for almost 40 years, including the chef, who had cooked meals for him as a child. And then the novel coronavirus arrived in Canada with a vengeance.
Above: After Jason's mother passed away, Rickesh Kotecha '00 stopped by the restaurant with fellow grads of the same year to offer support. From L to R: Andrew Pettit, Adam Smith, Galen Davies, Michel Mainardi, Justin Young, Arden Church, Jason and Rickesh.
MARCH 30, 2020
By March 30, 2020, the Korean Village Restaurant had been closed to indoor dining for two weeks, with only takeout available. Takeout had typically been ten per cent of its overall business, with no outdoor space available thanks to the building’s proximity to the bike lanes. It was a huge hit for Jason and his beloved family business. They went from doing $14,000 in business on a typical Friday and Saturday to doing $1,800. “We had 20 staff members, full- and part-time, and I had to let them go. It hurt so much – some of them were practically family. In this instance, I’m glad my mom wasn’t around,” said Jason, who started at RSGC in Grade 7. “I hope no one has to go through that – laying people off for things they didn’t do wrong. It was so wrong emotionally, it’s demoralizing. From March until August, it was literally just me, my wife and a chef. My wife and I would take orders and then run back to the kitchen to help the chef.” With the restaurant closed to indoor dining and no staff on hand other than the chef, Jason counts his blessings that his family owns the property that houses the restaurant. Government grants were able to go towards paying bills in February and March. “We’re pretty much going month to month to month. In the food industry, the margins are very low. You rely on people continually supporting you. You have to factor in all these costs. Our margins are super slim to begin with, and now, they’ve gotten even slimmer,” said Jason. “If we had to pay rent, we would have closed last June. What you’re seeing now across the city is so many businesses that have closed permanently. In Koreatown alone, there have been almost 30 businesses that have shut down.” Jason has had to adapt his business in an attempt to keep Korean Village Restaurant afloat. “We’ve had to learn how to run a restaurant amongst three people. We’ve had to learn how to package our food better, how to accommodate specific requests, we’ve changed some of our pricing in hope that people would order and support us, and we’ve had to adapt on the fly every single day,” said Jason. “We also didn’t realize how much we’d have to rely on delivery programs like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Ritual. We use those programs because they have such enormous reach. They take a huge cut, but we don’t offer our own driver because it doesn’t make sense.” There were some touching moments, however, like when fellow Georgian Daniel Green ’01, a regular visitor to Korean Village Restaurant, along with his brother Adam Green ’99 and their family, made a generous donation. Jason used it to make meals for Toronto Western Hospital and other frontline workers in the city.
After his mother's passing in October 2019, Jason took over as the restaurant's owner. Now, he is working day and night just to keep the family business afloat.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
After a major deep clean, Jason opened the restaurant to indoor dining at the beginning of September. Despite indoor dining being allowed since the end of July 2020, Jason wanted to be extra cautious. “We wanted to ensure the safety of everyone. Loss is loss, no matter how it happens, and I know what it’s like to lose someone suddenly,” said Jason. “We didn’t want to open right away because we didn’t want to jeopardize the safety of our staff or anyone who comes in.” Jason, who has always been reluctant to ask for help, reached out to fellow Georgian Andrew Harris ’03 to see if he could help with the deep clean. Andrew, an actor and comedian who goes by the stage name Andrew Oporto, had been frequently checking in on his friend to see if he needed help. “I saw his stress. I knew Jason and I knew his mom – she had provided the food for a short film we did. He was stressing out and worried about closing,” said Andrew, who, after his best year ever as a performer, had to go on CERB due to the pandemic. “I kept pushing Jason to see if he needed help, and finally he asked if I could help clean because he was going to reopen, so I said I would and that I could also serve.” Andrew had serving and bartending experience 10 years prior, but had never served Korean food that involved lots of little dishes and bowls like rice, kimchi and sauces. It has been a learning experience. “It’s nerve-wracking, but I’m now a Korean food connoisseur,” said Andrew, who is a Georgian lifer. “Jason and his wife are like family to me. And they feed me.” Jason is truly humbled by his friend’s gesture. “Andrew has worked here for over a month and we haven’t compensated him at all. He has only received tips. It hurts my pride and I feel bad that we can’t pay him,” said Jason. “It is such an honour to have him here helping us.” For Andrew, it was a no-brainer to volunteer his help. “I kept talking to him and he seemed so stressed. Even before the lockdown. When you see a buddy who’s in trouble, you want to do something. Besides, my professional life has come to a halt and I need to always be out doing stuff, so this gets me out too.” As for Jason, he believes that Andrew’s efforts are helping the restaurant stay open, and that’s the most important thing for him and his family.
Georgian Andrew Harris '03 has been working as a server without a paycheque to help out his friend.
“Like most small businesses, we’re not focused on making money – we’re just focused on staying open. We truly care about the people who walk through our doors. My goal and my mission are that if you’re walking through my doors, I want you to have a memorable experience. If we can do that, we’re doing something right,” said Jason. “This place is my mom’s legacy. I had the greatest teacher and I learned how to care about the quality of food. I still love it and I have so much passion to be here every day.” Staying open has been a constant struggle. Jason said that one week, he and his wife put in 165 hours between the two of them and were unable to pay themselves a single cent. “This whole experience has had a huge effect on me and has been weighing on me. My wife and I haven’t had time to go out on a date. We’re literally living, eating and breathing this restaurant for the purpose of staying open,” said Jason. “I have a real emotional attachment to this place. When I visited my mom’s grave on the one-year anniversary of her death, I asked her to send me more strength. Making money is not my main priority, it’s keeping the lights on and keeping this business going.” Unfortunately, even with indoor dining open, business has been tough. The restaurant, which can usually accommodate 138 customers, was never at the new maximum of 100 patrons. Jason says the highest number he remembers having over the summer was 40.
OCTOBER 19, 2020
With Toronto back into a modified Stage Two, indoor dining is no longer allowed and the Korean Village Restaurant is back to takeout only – a mere ten per cent of their pre-pandemic business. Jason is scared, but better prepared. And he has Andrew by his side to help however he needs. “This time, we’re trying to focus on takeout. We revamped our menu again and we lowered our prices,” said Jason. “We recently introduced a first-time-ever lunch special called Mom’s Lunch Special that encapsulates what my mom was all about. We gave some of them away to people in the community and they said they were so full! We just want the opportunity to serve my mom’s food to people every day.” Andrew has been impressed by the community support for the neighbourhood staple. “They have customers who have been coming for over 20 years,” said Andrew. “There was even an Italian customer who brought in some tiramisu for us. It’s incredible.” But what has brought Jason to tears has been the support from the RSGC community. Staff, alumni, students and parents who have heard about his plight have come out in droves to dine in or order takeout. “People from RSGC have been coming, and it means a lot. I always knew I was lucky, but I am so thankful to be an RSGC Knight and I’m so thankful that my mom sent me to a school like RSGC. I learned a lot in terms of community, in terms of looking out for one another and the bonds that you make,” said Jason. “The amount of support that we still get from RSGC means so much. “Thank you to anyone from the RSGC community who has ever walked through our doors. Thank you.”
Korean Village Restaurant is located at 628 Bloor Street West. www.koreanvillageto.com If you can, please order and pick up directly, rather than going through a food delivery service. Jason is grateful for your support.
