Why one Toronto restaurant got rid of their menu and switched to prepared meals
The food industry is pivoting to keep afloat during the pandemic, and one Toronto restaurant known for locally-sourced ingredients has announced its ditching its old business model completely to keep up.
Farm'r, the restaurant near St. Lawrence Market dedicated to farm-inspired dishes, has just launched a program called Farm'r At Home: a weekly rotating menu items designed to be heated in the oven or frozen for later.
According to co-owners Kyle Webster and Greg Martin, transitioning to a regular takeout and delivery model like other restaurants during the pandemic just wasn't working for them.
"It was devastating for us at first. We tried to stay open, but takeout and delivery orders dried up," said Webster.
Martin says it didn't make sense to continue with Foodora and Ritual when the restaurant re-opened on April 17, since that had never really been the brand's forte anyway.
"...We realized people were planning ahead more and getting tired of cooking. Prepared meals they could heat at home was what they were looking for, so we adapted our menu to this."
Instead of doing same-day deliveries, the restaurant now offers home deliveries and pick-ups at set times on Wednesdays and Fridays between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Anyone within an 8-kilometre radius of their location on the Esplanade can order through their website.
You can order from their menu, which rotates weekly, of dishes that come refrigerated and packaged in foil so that they can go straight into the oven upon arrival, or in the fridge for a rainy day.
Servings come in two sizes: small, which serves up to two people, or large, which serves up to four. There are tons of vegan or gluten- and dairy-free options, with hormone-free meat dishes supplied by VG Meats and Woodward Meat Purveyors.
On top of that, Farm'r is also tacking on local products like Pilot Coffee beans, Ontario-grown quinoa, or chocolate bars from ChocoSol.
Their beer and cider options, which arrive in packs of four tall cans, come from brewers like Collective Arts and Henderson's.
Farm'r
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