Parisian-style market set to take over courtyard next to now-closed Toronto restaurant 

A fire might have shuttered a popular brunch restaurant in Toronto’s east end, temporarily putting its spacious and picturesque courtyard patio out of commission, but it appears a new tenant has big plans for some prime real estate.

For several summers, popular Turkish brunch hotspot Pasaj was known for the sun-soaked patio that ran alongside the restaurant at 1100 Queen St. E. and the fate of the outdoor space–along with the entire restaurant–has been up in the air following a devastating blaze last fall that, operators say, rendered the kitchen inoperable. 

Now, Venelle Courtyard is slowly but surely making the space its own, setting up vendor booths and overhead lighting in preparation for the summer opening of its new “Parisian-style” market. 

The courtyard concept is helmed by the operator of the now-closed Vandenberg House, a Leslieville event venue that shuttered earlier this year. 

“For years, The Vandenberg House has been a place for music, gatherings, creativity, and community. Over the past year, I kept asking myself a bigger question: What would happen if we could become a bigger space, something people could experience not just rent? So for the past few months, we’ve quietly been building something new,” Venelle’s operator wrote in a May Instagram post. 

“It’s called Venelle. New Space. New Location. A new chapter rooted in community, culture, connection, creativity, food, music, markets, and experiences designed to bring people together in a different way.”

 

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Venelle’s Instagram post emerged shortly after Christiane Tetreault, the operator of The Vandenberg House, took to a local Facebook group to announce that the venue–along with the Little Moo ice cream shop–would be closing following the landlord’s decision to sell the property. 

At the end of May, Tetreault shared a post on Instagram confirming that construction on the Venelle Courtyard was underway.

“For years, I’ve created spaces where people could gather, connect, discover, celebrate and feel inspired. Now, I’m building something that brings all of that together in a new way,” she wrote in a May 23 post. 

In the post, Tetreault said Venelle, once complete, will be an outdoor social market courtyard with vendors, a patio and live music.  

“Think long tables, local brands, vendors, wine in hand, DJs playing, wellness on Sundays, creative energy, and the feeling of discovering something special in the city,” she wrote. 

While the courtyard is not yet fully open, passersby can drop in and grab ice cream from Little Moo, which set up a counter last month. 

According to Venelle’s website, the open-air “micro-market” will bring “European slow-living to Toronto” and showcase Canadian brands, seasonal food pop-ups, artisanal drinks and local art. 

The courtyard is expected to open fully in July.