Three decades, two owners and one love of fish and chips in Toronto
One night over thirty years ago, Susan Purvis had an urgent craving. She was heading home from the movies, walking along Harbord Street, when a desire for fish and chips struck. But to her disappointment, there was nowhere to grab the deep-fried duo.
“Instead of opening a chocolate bake shop, I decided to open a little fish and chip shop,” she said.
At the time, Purvis was baking desserts for Daniel et Daniel catering, making $6.50 an hour. While banks refused to lend her money, she found an abandoned storage unit on Harbord Street just west of Brunswick Avenue.
The bricks were discoloured and decayed, a plank of wood boarded up one of the windows and unclaimed junk spilled out of the front door. But with zoning changes, intensive repairs, a re-paint and a nearly barren bank account, Harbord Fish & Chips opened in 1988.
“There was a lot at stake,” Purvis said. “I think once you have an idea, you just want to open it. It’s like a baby, you really want to see it bloom and flourish.”
Purvis transformed the storage unit into a one-storey burgundy brick building with black and white checkered floors and a painted-polka-dot bench perched by the front door.
“Finally, it opened to great acclaim of the neighbourhood,” Purvis said.
A meal at Harbord Fish & Chips is seen in this photoghraph. (Abby Neufeld/CTV News Toronto)
A year later, Purvis found out she was pregnant and knew she couldn’t be at the shop seven days a week once the baby was born. In the storefront window, she placed a sign that said, “Owner pregnant, business for sale.”
Harbord Fish & Chips saw two more owners after Purvis. The latter ran the operation for 22-years before he was ready to retire in 2018 and that’s when John Arockiaraj Savarimuthu took over the business.
Savarimuthu immigrated from India to Canada in 2005 and eventually, began opening his own restaurants in Toronto. One in particular, Matha Roti, was located on Harbord Street, right beside a small fish and chips shop.
“He came up to me….and asked if I could take it over,” Savarimuthu said. Five minutes later, he ran next door and said yes.
His allure to fish and chips was rooted in his first job out of college. In 1999, he was hired on a Disney cruise ship. On the deck of the boat, he hosted a fish and chips station well-acquainted with a line-up of vacationers.
Savarimuthu grappled with whether to paint the storefront. He wanted to maintain its soulful character, but also display his dedication to up-keeping the institution. In the end, he did both, painting it with a bold blue, while marking the side of the building with “Est. 1988” in big block letters.
To this day, Purvis visits the shop once a week, religiously ordering the golden halibut sitting on a generous bed of fries. That strong tie to tradition has served as solid ground, not just for her, but for the entire neighbourhood.
Susan Purvis and John Arockiaraj Savarimuthu are seen in this photograph outside Harbord Fish & Chips. (Abby Neufeld/CTV News Toronto)
A column written in 1988 about Harbord Fish & Chips read: “The moment the doors opened, the customers came…The store was never empty. The french fries disappeared like magic.”
Echoing words written decades ago, Savarimuthu could not dip snowy pieces of halibut and haddock into his breaded batter fast enough during a recent lunch-hour.
Still, customers are willing to line-up for that familiar, unchanged pairing of fish and chips, the identical indulgence Purvis craved one night, as she was walking home from the movies 30-years ago.
ABOUT TABLE TALK
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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
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.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.