Food Dudes’ Pantry Opens New Location on King Street West
TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pantry, the industry-leading quick service dining concept from The Food Dudes, has officially opened the doors to its latest outpost. Located at 613 King Street West, in the heart of Toronto’s vibrant entertainment district, Pantry King is a standalone restaurant built for convenient upscale meals that are affordably priced and customizable in hundreds of different ways. Featuring the same healthy, made-in-house dishes that put Pantry on the map, this newest branch also expands the Pantry concept with novel design elements and improved service methods to make the experience even smoother for guests.
“We’ve been calling this new iteration Pantry 2.0,” says Food Dudes CEO Lindsay Klein. “The scratch-to-go options our guests know are all here, along with state-of-the-art equipment to help us serve fresher dishes and offer more seasonal variety. Our dependable proteins, sides and starches create an experience that’s almost like a home-cooked meal, and now we have the ability to provide that for a higher number of guests in less time, thanks to the growth of our operation.”
With a flagship in Rosedale, a newer location at Yonge & Lawrence, and a pair of highly in-demand counters in the PATH, the Pantry team has learned and evolved to make their offerings more efficient and enjoyable. Newly designed service counters require more frequent turnover, meaning more freshness, while enabling the restaurant to favour hot items in winter time and cold items in summer. With a focus on in-season dishes, as well as expanded hours to include breakfast and late-night fare, Pantry King is the most adaptable Pantry yet.
“We’ve spoken with customers for years about potential improvements, along with our team of course,” explains Executive Chef Tyson Porcellato. “Our constant drive to serve the best meal possible has led us to Pantry King, where dynamic replenishment ensures we offer the highest quality in quick service. You won’t find a fresher meal in the city.” Asked about the process of rethinking Pantry for a new clientele, Chef Porcellato said, “We’ve learned so much from our Commerce Court location, so we’re bringing that knowledge above ground in a neighbourhood that values what’s emerging and exciting. We’re all in on redefining the standard for the Pantry brand, and this is the perfect opportunity to level up. The benefit to Pantry King guests will be tremendous.”
In addition to the infrastructural measures aimed at improving quality, increasing efficiency, and limiting waste, table seating at Pantry King creates a social atmosphere befitting the King West vibe. The option to dine in for three meals a day, or into the wee hours for the nightlife set with custom menus and a specially curated bar program, is huge for a sophisticated area of the city that’s still growing by the day. And when the business lunch crowd or unwinding midnight crew settles in for a bite, they will be enchanted by the artful aesthetic of the space itself. As Pantry customers have come to expect, a major emphasis has been placed on the design of this latest location, with Denizens of Design once again tapped to build a world in which to luxuriate in a casual yet elevated dining experience.
“King West has its own dynamic, so we wanted to invert some of the existing elements of Pantry’s other locations and forge new ground on this project,” recounts Dyonne Fashina, Denizens’ Principal Designer. “We flipped some colours from black to white and added some red and blue to reflect the vibrancy of Toronto. Another aspect was the transition from day to night, which we made seamless by dimming to a warm amber glow. Late night patrons will notice our space from the street, thanks to that integrated light and the abstracted, over-scaled basket weave pattern of our ceiling installation, which maintains the keystone of classic Pantry design in its own fresh approach.”
With rounded edges softening Pantry’s signature wooden elements, and added colour for a richer visiting experience, the design of Pantry King matches its new wave service style in lockstep. The freedom of flexibility is apparent in every aspect of the restaurant, as variance in menu options and in the time of dining make it more possible at Pantry than ever before. The recent announcement of The Food Dudes’ partnership with Compass Group Canada indicates that the revitalized Pantry approach is to continue expanding and evolving within the concept’s core focus of top quality customizable meals served with speed and precision.
Pantry King is now open 7 days a week from 11am-9pm.
