KITCHENER, Ont. — Ignite Restaurant Group celebrated the launch of its newest concept,
Graffiti Market, at a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
Originally opened on Aug 3, the multi-concept space features a restaurant, retail market, coffee shop and bakery (Red Circle Coffee Co.) and microbrewery (Red Circle Brewing Co.), which offers five core beers made in-house.
The interactive restaurant is part of the world’s largest Internet of Things (IoT) manufacturing hub at Catalyst 137, which is located at Glasgow Street and Belmont Avenue in Kitchener. The project cost approximately $3 million and took just under two years to complete. The space also boasts 23 interactive tables where customers can place orders, see their food prepared live, draw pictures or even upload documents for meetings.
“We wanted to find something that would differentiate ourselves from every other restaurant and we have with the digital tables,” says Ryan Lloyd-Craig, co-owner of Ignite Restaurant Group. “We wanted to have great beers, so we found a great brewmaster. We wanted to make great coffee, so we found what we think is the best coffeemaker in Ontario. Graffiti started as an idea to open a pizza concept, but I didn’t want to do the pizza that everyone else was doing.”
Specializing in Detroit-style pizza, house-made pastas and rotisserie chicken, culinary director Brian McCourt says the lunch spot combines art, food and technology in a way that no other restaurant is doing.
“The menu was meant to be Italian, but we wanted it to be approachable. We tried out many styles of pizzas from Sicilian to Neapolitan…It seems to be [a trend] that’s going to blow up in the next few years. My heart’s always been with Italian food and [we offer] that, but with a modern twist,” says McCourt.
Ignite Restaurant Group partnered with Ukraine-based Kodisoft, to provide a unique dining environment that requires very little interaction with a server — becoming the first restaurant in North America to offer the company’s Interactive Restaurant Technology (IRT) Dining Tables.
Dan McCann, president of Kodisoft, North America, says his company plans on working closely with Graffiti Market to add even more interactive features to the restaurant over the next few months and plans on unveiling the technology in U.S. markets later this year.
“We think it can be a launching ground for more restaurants around in Ontario and the U.S. as well,” he noted at the event.
