'Destroying my life': Owner of famous Toronto restaurant has popular patio shut down by city
CTV
The owner of one of Toronto’s longest-standing restaurants, who was using his patio as a means of keeping his business alive during Ontario’s most recent COVID-19 lockdown, says the city has forced him to close the popular outdoor space.
“I don’t know how to run my business anymore,” Café Diplomatico owner Rocco Mastrangelo Jr. told CTV News Toronto over the phone. “Every day, we’re on pins and needles. We don’t know if [we’re going to be ordered to] close or open. Like, this is really screwing with people’s heads and livelihoods.”
Mastrangelo took over the College Street landmark 27 years ago that his father, Rocco Mastrangelo Sr., who died last year at 88, started back in 1968.
Since the pandemic began, Mastrangelo explains he’s been trying to navigate the ever-changing nature of Ontario’s COVID-19 public health restrictions, and says his employees and his bottom line have paid the price.
“I had to lay off [my employees] for the first time in March 2020. It was the hardest thing to do. Not only that, I have to lay them off again now,” Mastrangelo said.
