Industry | Hospitality and Entertainment |
---|---|
Founded | 1993 |
Founder | Peter Oliver Michael Bonacini |
Headquarters |
2323 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people
|
Peter Oliver Michael Bonacini |
Total assets | Jump, Canoe, Auberge du Pommier, Biff's Bistro, O&B Canteen, Luma, Bannock |
Number of employees
|
1,200+ (2013) |
Website | www |
Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants also known as O&B is a Canadian hospitality and entertainment company. Based in Toronto, it was founded in 1993 as a partnership between Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini when they opened their first collaboration — a restaurant named Jump.
In the years since, the company has expanded and it currently owns multiple venues and properties in and around Toronto. According to a 2013 Globe and Mail piece, the company employs a staff of 1,200 people.
In operation for more than two decades, Jump is O&B's flagship restaurant. During that time it became a well known business lunch and dinner spot in Toronto's Financial District.
When it opened at the corner of Bay & Wellington West in late 1993 during the early 1990s recession in Canada, Jump was a major investment by the 44-year-old South African-born former stockbroker and real estate entrepreneur Peter Oliver who had been an active restaurateur in Toronto since 1978 and 33-year-old Michael Bonacini who had made his name as chef at Centro, a popular Franco Prevedello-owned Italian cuisine fine dining spot at Yonge and Eglinton. Furthermore, at the time, Oliver owned successful midtown and uptown Toronto restaurants Oliver's Old Fashioned Bakery and Oliver's Bistro (also in the Yonge and Eglinton area), Bofinger Brasserie (near Yonge & St. Clair), and Auberge du Pommier (in North York near Yonge and York Mills); though he opened Jump as a partnership with Bonacini in 1993, Oliver kept the sole ownership of those four restaurants. Their collaboration occurred almost by chance - Oliver had been setting up the Jump project for years before his chef-to-be fell through and he turned to Bonacini who was the executive chef at Centro, across the street from Oliver's Old Fashioned Bakery.
Located adjacent to the old glass-covered walkway in Commerce Court East, Jump aimed to bring a New York-style restaurant/bar with an offbeat menu and vibe. Launched with a blowout party with 600 guests and a rock band, the restaurant quickly established itself as the favourite of the business lunch crowd.
In February 2013, ahead of its twentieth anniversary, the restaurant closed down for a month in order to undergo a C$1 million upgrade including the installation of state-of-the-art audio visual equipment to better meet the needs of clients who book space for private business meetings as well as renovation to the dining room, bar, and kitchen.