24 Jun They’re talking about an evolution
Local luminaries discuss Toronto’s dynamic Entertainment District in video series for The Bond condos
Zark Fatah has been part of a decades-long evolution in the Entertainment District that began, for him, working as a nightclub bartender in the mid-’90s.
Back then, recalls Fatah — now a partner in Capture Group, the firm behind high-profile downtown spots such as nightclub Maison Mercer, Hammam Spa and Blowfish Restaurant — Toronto had just a handful of clubs.
Fast forward through years of intense effort by Fatah and fellow promoters to inject energy into Toronto’s nightlife scene. They brought in DJs, threw theme parties and did all sorts of other cool and creative things to “give people a reason to go out.”
By the dawn of the new millennium, the city’s nightlife scene “really blew up,” he says. “I think at one point there were 84 entertainment liquor licences for nightclubs.”
The evolution continued and shifted, and recent years have seen a decline in Toronto’s clubs with a corresponding rise in the restaurant scene — particularly in the Entertainment District, a change in which Fatah has again been a catalyst.
“We have a world-class entertainment scene now, and I’m proud to talk about that any time.”
And talk about it is what Fatah does in a new video campaign by Lifetime Developments called The Connected Collection that spotlights the dynamic, diverse community the Entertainment District has become.
Full article: Toronto Star (Saturday, May 23, 2015)
