A letter, from Avling’s owner/operator Max Meighen:
In a few short days, Avling will be celebrating its 2nd anniversary. Or is that our 1st? From July 2019 to now, we have been able to serve our wonderful customers and neighbourhood for just over twelve months. Despite that monumental setback, we are still here, and that makes us one of the lucky ones. And we think that’s worth celebrating!
Starting out, Avling was meant to be a place for people to gather, laugh and catch up; a place to enjoy delicious local food prepared thoughtfully paired with beers brewed with equal consideration given to the seasons and local flavours. With regards to this mission, we feel like we have only begun to scratch the surface of what flavours are out there. Fermented and foraged foods, radical waste reduction and exciting partnerships are just a few areas of exploration that we will be diving into this coming year.
While our gaze is fixed on what lies ahead, at a moment like this, it is worth acknowledging the road that has led us here. Just getting open was a struggle. We faced union strikes, supplier bankruptcies, underground rivers and uncooperative city officials, all of which at times felt like an organized conspiracy against us (Kidding… sort of…). Sometimes, we got in our own way by trying to do too much right out of the gate. Noble visions like creating a totally reinvented hospitality working environment were met with the cold hard realities of business. Try to put a smoker on your roof, and the city shuts you down pretty quickly (maybe we should have seen that one coming, eh?).
That does not mean we have ever given up on trying to continually grow, innovate and improve. We have never wavered from our attempts to develop a trusting and vital workplace for our staff, where exceptional and collaborative work is done. We are constantly looking for better ways to engage with our suppliers, driving our interactions with the local food system to be more circular and regenerative. Our rooftop farm has become a living lab of sorts where we have had the pleasure of holding workshops and the privilege of learning new things everyday.
Throughout all of our ups and downs, the one constant source of strength for Avling has undoubtedly been our staff. Having made it through the worst of the pandemic (we hope!) we have welcomed back several team members that have been with us since day one. In fact, no fewer that 20 people have been with Avling for all twenty-four harrowing months. It is to them, the veterans and newcomers alike, that I owe an incalculable debt. Their passion, dedication, talent and kind-heartedness has made the last two years much easier to navigate, one might even say a pleasure. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
To our customers and neighbours, thank you so much for shopping online, visiting our farm stand, and dropping by the retail window for all these months. Thank you to all the Avling faithful that came out to support us for our reopening on June 16th, and every day since. To everyone else, we hope to see you at Avling soon!
There are some truly exciting days ahead. We are so thankful you have been with us throughout these early, fretful days. But the real fun is just beginning.
Max