TORONTO — Toronto’s Colborne Lane restaurant officially shut down this past weekend after a seven-year run, and owner and chef Claudio Aprile recently told F&H about his reasons for closing and his future plans.
“My accountant doesn’t understand why I’m walking away from a successful place,” laughs the modernist chef. “We lasted seven years — it really accomplished beyond what we set out for it. It was featured internationally, and we had a lot of great reviews.”
The entrepreneur closed the restaurant to shift focus to the expansion of his other restaurant, Origin. “It’s not a financial move whatsoever. It’s about where my passion is right now, which is Origin,” says April, referring to the global food-bar concept. “I’ve been in talks with people from New York, and they want to bring the Origin brand to the States, but for now I’m holding off. I have an incredible opportunity with Origin north [the Bayview location], and I want to hit it out of the park. And the only way to do that is with laser-beam focus.”
The space vacated by Colborne Lane will be replaced with a new concept to be opened by a colleague of Aprile’s. “I won’t get into any details, but I can say a very good friend of mine is taking it over, and it’ll be a different concept, with a different name and a different direction,” he said.
