17 replies to this topic

[osmich]

Has anyone been to Verjus and how is it?

[gumgum]

I was curious about this one myself. And my wife went there recently. She's a foodie and she said it was good.

[Coreyburger]

This is technically in Victoria, being just across the municipal line. Shows how arbitrary those borders are.

[G-Man]

But could you not say Verjus on Oak Bay and be correct

[osmich]

It's here. Thanks CB. I am going Friday night and I will report back. The menu looks very good however it is not up on their site but they will e-mail it to you if you ask. The food is styled "New Canadian" with French and Italian influences.

[FunkyMunky]

This is technically in Victoria....

This reminds me of the James Bay gal who angrily denounced, at the public hearing, Cielo Properties' Vicino development on Menzies Street. Her argument revolved around the idea that the same company's previously approved Fiori development on the corner of Oak Bay Avenue and Clare Street was only three storeys but the Vicino was four. She demanded to know why the people of Oak Bay were entitled to a more "human-scaled" development then the fine folks in James Bay (i.e. Oak Bay council does a better job of protecting their neighbourhoods from developers than Victoria council). She didn't know that most of Oak Bay Avenue is, in fact, in the city of Victoria. It just goes to show most people have no idea what they are talking about.

[Baro]

Someone railed against a project for being 4 rather than 3?!?! Is victoria insane?!

[Nparker]

Someone railed against a project for being 4 rather than 3?!?! Is victoria insane?!

In a word: YES.

[yodsaker]

....Her argument revolved around the idea that the same company's previously approved Fiori development on the corner of Oak Bay Avenue and Clare Street was only three storeys but the Vicino was four. She demanded to know why the people of Oak Bay were entitled to a more "human-scaled" development then the fine folks in James Bay (i.e. Oak Bay council does a better job of protecting their neighbourhoods from developers than Victoria council). She didn't know that most of Oak Bay Avenue is, in fact, in the city of Victoria. It just goes to show most people have no idea what they are talking about.

Was she a real estate agent?
More then a few of them have advertised properties several blocks west of Foul Bay Road as being in Oak Bay.

[FunkyMunky]

Was she a real estate agent?

No, she was just a concerned James Bay resident. Real estate agents are the ones who make a vague reference to the architect Samuel Maclure in their ad to justify the price and then misspell his name because they don't really know what they're talking about.

[yodsaker]

No, she was just a concerned James Bay resident. Real estate agents are the ones who make a vague reference to the architect Samuel Maclure in their ad to justify the price and then misspell his name because they don't really know what they're talking about.

Maclure-esque... with ocean glimpses?

[osmich]

We had an excellent meal at Verjus. Everything was very good and I will most definitely be going back.

[osmich]

Just rode by there today and saw everything shut done, notes on the doors and thank yous from the owners.

Too bad. It was quite good.

[Baro]

Opening a restaurant even more risky than development, I hate seeing decent places fail while mediocre or bad ones last. You gotta have a blend of business sense and culinary skill, sadly the first is often more important than the second even when running a restaurant. I really feel for anyone who's done their best to start a business and realized it just isn't working. When do you give up? You'll almost never make a profit right away. What a hellish roller coaster ride. If you wait too long you'll loose everything, if you give up too soon you'll always wonder what could have been if you just stuck it out. I wish there was more we could do to help incubate and grow small business in this town. Just like development, so much of their startup time is spent dealing with often ridiculous and out of control red-tape and restaurants are one of the worst for this. All the red tape and delays just makes it harder for the little guy to get his foot in the door, let alone succeed.

[G-Man]

I can usually tell if a place will last by the time I hear the name. This one was a goner just as Ooh La La Hot Pot Restauant was.

[yodsaker]

I'm actually surprised it lasted as long as it did. It doesn't exactly look like a fine dining place, more like a diner.
Still, he gave it a shot in a business where aproximately 80% new starts don't make it. Hopefully he didn't take a bad financial haircut.

[julienne]

Opening a restaurant even more risky than development, I hate seeing decent places fail while mediocre or bad ones last. You gotta have a blend of business sense and culinary skill, sadly the first is often more important than the second even when running a restaurant. I really feel for anyone who's done their best to start a business and realized it just isn't working. When do you give up? You'll almost never make a profit right away. What a hellish roller coaster ride. If you wait too long you'll loose everything, if you give up too soon you'll always wonder what could have been if you just stuck it out. I wish there was more we could do to help incubate and grow small business in this town. Just like development, so much of their startup time is spent dealing with often ridiculous and out of control red-tape and restaurants are one of the worst for this. All the red tape and delays just makes it harder for the little guy to get his foot in the door, let alone succeed.

Well said Baro.
I would like to add that along with business sense and culinary skill, one needs cash flow, and hopefully the Verjus folks got out with a bit of flow still left.

[hotdoglegz]

I would expect the owners walked out with a handful of debts.

Even if the restaurant was extremely busy, there would not have been enough money generated in the short time that they were open to pay off the start up costs, let alone the costs of doing business incurred during that short period.

As Baro said, it's a tough start and it could be a long time before money is made and there isn't much of it to be made. From Stats Can (June 08):
average pre-tax profit margin in restaurants is only 4.3 % (where as the average for all other industries is 8.8%).