E177 Shamez Amlani
Small Business Makes The Culture Of A City
This weeks guest is Shamez Amlani. Having grown up in Toronto, 19 year old Shamez got a summer job as a busser at Le Select Bistro on Queen Street West back in 1989. Little did he know this was the beginning of a lifelong career in the restaurant industry. Quickly moving into his favourite position behind the bar, he found his passion creating opportunities for strangers to meet and setting the scene in that third place - not home, not work, where one can be free.
After extensive travels in Europe and a return home to hone his knowledge as waiter and bartender, Shamez re-located to Paris in '93 to start a new life. There he managed a small bar while continuing to travel and have many adventures touring with a band, pretending to be a writer, teaching English, eventually returning to Toronto in '97. He came back to Le Select as bar manager while his new life partner Maria Flawia Litwin forged a career as fashion designer and eventually contemporary artist.
By the time 2000 had come around, he realized the only thing to do next was open a place of his own, so with friend and chef Mike Harrington and Maria, they opened La Palette in Kensington Market, imagining that their humble French Bistro would last a year, maybe two. Instead, the place became well entrenched in the neighbourhood and Shamez discovered a passion for community activism while helping to create Pedestrian Sundays, car-free neighbourhood celebrations where street food and live music were king. In 2005 they bought out their chef partner and continued to push the boundaries of what a restaurant could be as they laid down deeper roots in Toronto.
When the lease came up for renewal, La Palette cast its net wider and opened a second, bigger and more ambitious place on Shamez's old stomping grounds of Queen West. After closing the original location, he vowed never to run two businesses at the same time again, a promise he couldn't keep. In addition to running the new place with tall ceilings, open kitchen, and a long bar, La Palette was also involved with an artist collective called Fedora Upside Down where he ran the bar and catering at legendary events that brought thousands of people together to celebrate diverse global music traditions.
All of these inspirations came together with the birth of a new venue a block away, Drom Taberna in 2018. It was an Eastern European Tavern that was casual and affordable with live world music every day and a kitchen that stays open very late. Maria and Shamez invited some of their staff to be partners in the business with the opportunity to work off their share with sweat equity. It quickly became a staple on a street known for great bars and live music venues. Drom is as much a community centre as it is a venue, for the staff and artists that fill the space with great vibes and the public that find it to be an incredibly safe, multicultural and queer friendly space.
When the pandemic hit, everyone involved with the two places was too stubborn to quit, having lived the immigrant experience which held creative problem solving and perseverance as core tenets. La Palette became a wine shop and Drom a deli and grocery store, with both places staying a moving target while navigating outdoor dining, repeated lockdowns and re-openings, and insurmountable economic and emotional hardships.
Now, both places continue to be vibrant cultural hubs where you'll usually find Shamez at his favourite place behind the bar at La Palette, enjoying the buzz of a busy night, or on the dance floor by the stage at Drom. One couldn't ask for a better job, making fun for so many friends and strangers alike.
Links
email us: [email protected]
Podcast Artwork by Zak Hannah zakhannah.co