Montreal's favourite salad sisters are coming to Toronto
Nearly two decades after customers started snaking outside of a women’s clothing store in Montreal — not to buy sweaters or jeans, but instead, seeking a tiny 200 square foot salad bar set in the back — Mandy’s Salads is coming to Toronto.
“It’s a tried, tested and true recipe and we’re just hoping that Toronto loves it as much as Montreal does,” Mandy Wolfe, co-founder of the salad chain, told CTV News Toronto alongside her sister Rebecca.
A Mandy's signature salad photographed and soon to be sold in Toronto (Supplied). On Mar. 1, the city will get its first taste of Mandy’s signature salads, soon-to-be located in a Notting-Hill-like space with arched windows and a pink French bistro-inspired interior at 52 Ossington Avenue, between Queen and Argyle streets.
To start, Mandy’s is launching pickups and deliveries before welcoming customers into their 1,500-square-foot indoor dining space the following week.
The doors of their first Toronto location haven’t opened just yet, but already, the Wolfe sisters are in lease negotiations for a second space at King Street West and Spadina Avenue, aiming for a summer opening.
While gourmet salads may no longer be considered a culinary novelty in Toronto, the salad sisters are dedicated to a more meaningful mission that ventures beyond the act of chopping kale and carrots.
“Our mission statement is really that the experience while eating the food is just as important as the food itself,” Mandy said. “We hope to convey that in the Toronto experience as well.”
A variety of Mandy's signature salads photographed and soon to be sold in Toronto (Supplied). “We wanted to change the way that people saw salad as not just a side dish….and not just something that you're having when you're on a diet. We want people to be excited about salad,” Rebecca added.
When they first set out on their journey in 2004, Mandy and Rebecca were determined to shift the narrative surrounding salads from a meal that was brushed off as rabbit food to one people craved and genuinely wanted to eat five times a week.
At the time, Rebecca’s partner had a clothing store with spare space. While he had visions of a panini shop, placing an oven in a clothing store was impractical. Instead, “It turned into salads,” Rebecca said.
Between the two sisters, neither one had prior professional business or cooking experience, but Mandy was naturally gifted in the kitchen and Rebecca had a knack for interior design. The partnership was organic.
“As sisters, we are cut from the same fabric,” Mandy said. “All our values are the same.”
Admiration for family is visibly at the centre of their business — with framed family photos and Mandy’s infamous chocolate chip cookies, which she first started baking in their kitchen as a 10-year-old — both staples at their growing list of locations.
“We want to make [customers] feel like they're home,” Mandy said.
Background
Table Talk is a weekly CTV News Toronto series that explores the people who shape Toronto’s food scene, published every Friday at CTVNewsToronto.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING King Charles' cancer treatment progressing well, says Buckingham Palace
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
BREAKING Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
'Unacceptable': Trudeau reacts after AFN chief says headdress taken from plane cabin
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief said her headdress was taken from an airplane cabin this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident 'unacceptable' and a 'mistake' on the part of Air Canada.
DEVELOPING Bird flu outbreaks: WHO weighs in on public health risk
The World Health Organization said on Friday that the current overall public health risk posed by H5N1 bird flu virus is low, but for those with exposure to infected birds or animals the risk of infection is considered low-to-moderate.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
From faulty kids' cribs to flammable kids' bathrobes, here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including kids’ bathrobes, cribs and henna cones.
Taylor Swift dons Montreal designer's dress in 'Fortnight' video
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
'Violation': CSIS had officer investigated after she reported a superior raped her
A CSIS officer's allegations that she was raped repeatedly by a superior in agency vehicles set off a harassment inquiry, but also triggered an investigation into her that concluded the alleged attacks were a “misuse” of agency vehicles by the woman.