Regulars of Kitchen Craft Eatery on Esplanade can continue to dine at their favourite restaurant.
Posts on social media that its owners had sold the business has been interpreted by some as news that Kitchen Craft is closing for good. But that’s not the case, say Maile and Louie Deligianis, the couple that co-founded the eatery in 2021.
Instead, with their lease renewal coming next year, they decided now was a good time to sell the business.
It’s much easier to sell when there’s time still left on the lease, Maile said.
“And then we’re in our mid 50s, so we’re not getting any younger. We definitely are feeling aches and pains. So the time was right,” she said.
What they didn’t anticipate is how quickly it would sell.
“That came as a big surprise,” Maile said. “We thought we’d probably be working through the summer, and maybe in the fall someone would have come in with their own concept.
“But the best scenario happened. Someone came in and they liked what we’ve built here, and so they’ve purchased the business,” she said.
The new owners take over May 30, and Louie will stay on site for the first weeks of June to help with training.
Unlike the scores of other restaurants and pubs that have closed in recent years due to financial troubles, things have been going well at Kitchen Craft, Louie said.
“We’ve created it to a point where it is as busy as it’s ever been. At least for the last year and a half, it’s been completely busy,” he said. “It’s not like we were hurting and we needed to sell.”
Founders 'so happy' that restaurant will carry on
Maile, a French-trained chef and pastry chef, said the couple has put everything into Kitchen Craft.
She chalks up the success of their business to their daily presence at the restaurant, and creating a family feel.
“We got to know a lot of our customers on a first-name basis,” she said. “We were able to deliver on a friendly, open space with excellent, consistently good food.”
Now, they’re excited to be able to pass on that legacy to the new owners.
“It makes us so happy,” Maile said, adding that some changes will be coming to the restaurant.
“We do know they’re doing something that the people of the Lower Lonsdale community have wanted for a long time. I’m not going to say what that is, but people will know because it’s [the new owners’] news to share,” she said.
Louie and Maile didn’t reveal who the new operators are, but said they are restauranteurs with other business in the Lonsdale area.
As for the couple’s future plans, Maile – former owner of Pemberton Heights Pastry – said she wants to return her focus to sweet treats.
“I’m going to go back to that under a new name,” she said. “I’m not ready to announce what that is … but I will be announcing that on our social media probably next week.”
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