Building the Friendship of Neighbours in Business

Photo Collage: Building the Friendship of Neighbours in Business
Wo-Built at "Venus Creation in the Neighbourhood" Gathering
Hacienda Mexicano Grill (1353 St. Clair Ave W.), October 21, 2010
2010 @ Olga Goubar, wobuilt.com

In the Corso Italia area, there is a community of merchants, residents, schools, visitors who come to see the goings on in this little village and even the construction workers who have been in, around and all over the area breaking and making roads. Merchants in the community have come together by the efforts of Venus Creations to market for one another to help develop more business within the neighbourhood.

However, this group of business operators has become more than just a network marketing organization - they have become friends who show kindness to each other, help one another with their problems and issues and get to know the personalities of the people. To name a few, Sunnyville Grill, RE/MAX Realtor, Amar Flowers, FunClips Coupons, Optometrist, Tiger Dragon Kung Fu, Agio Ristorante, IC Savings, AMS Advertising, Guardian St. Clair Village Pharmacy, Via Espresso, Portuguese Book Store and Venus Creations.

Just west of Davenport on St Clair Avenue, there are two restaurants next door to each other but at virtually opposite ends of the globe and styles of food. Chef Marino at Agio Ristorante creates four-star high style Italian cuisine in our very diverse neighbourhood of casual eateries. And, immediately next door to Agio you find the Mexicano Grill Restaurant where owner-manager Alejandro Rangel serves up a taste of his homeland.

This past Friday, Venus Creations held another of its evening social events where our local merchants meet and get to know about what's on offer in our area and to enjoy the friendship of neighbours in business. In Alejandro's Mexicano Grill, the food is a pleasant surprise for the uninitiated into Mexican food as you will see below.

Once people started to arrive, course after course stated to arrive each surpassing the previous one in flavours, texture and colour. Of course there were homemade nachos and dips that spanned from creamy guacamole to a hot cilantro-pepper dip that left our mouths tingling.

But, the most interesting and interesting looking dish was the carne mole - spiced chocolate beef in a soft tortilla. This was wonderful and not at all what it looked like. This dish looked like wedge shaped slices of tortilla drizzled with chocolate sauce. But, the flavour is rich, beefy, and spicy with a familiar trace of chocolate flavour and aroma. This was brilliant. Don't think of the chocolate so much as a chocolate bar - all sweet and chewy. Instead, image the delicate and complex flavours in an aged glass of port. Now map this complexity into the form of a beef dish and you start to experience this dish.

If for no other reason than to try this mole dish, do make a point of visiting the Mexican Grill for lunch or dinner. You will not be disappointed.

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This article was contributed by Ari Berman, a Management Consultant from Toronto, Canada, with a specialization in operations and process change. He has helped companies spanning aircraft builders to soda drink manufacturers to increase their value - finding and improving important details that never got attended to in past. His work in the construction industry includes overseeing commercial construction projects in retail shopping malls across Canada. He can be reached at 647-235-8181 or via e-mail on ari.berman@cmc-advisor.com.

By the way, the next gathering with Venus Creations in the Neighbourhood will be at Vivid’s Pizzeria on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 anytime from 6:30 pm. Come to try authentic Italian pizza, to meet and mingle with other local business owners and operators, to help develop more business within the neighbourhood. For reservations call Joe at 416-890-2692.

See you there!

links:
thetravelzine-torontosc: Agio Ristorante
thetravelzine-torontosc: Mexicano Grill
Urbanspoon Toronto: Old Toronto: Corso Italia Restaurants: Caribbean / Greek / Italian / Japanese / Mediterranean / Mexican / Portuguese / Vietnamese
MyStClair.com: Our Neighbourhood, Online
Toronto Corso Italia BIA
Facebook: AMS Advertising
AMS Advertising Inc.: Graphic Design, Web Development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Creative Printing, Copy Writing, Social Media Development
http://shoponstclairwest.com/
Shop on St Clair West: Your Guide to a Mosaic of Different Cultures
Portuguese Book Store
Facebook: Joe Furtado
Venus Creation in the Neighbourhood