'Love of my life': Pandemic shutters Toronto restaurant serving Louisiana specialties for 37 years

Local independent restaurants forced to close Local independent restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area are being forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TORONTO — As more dining establishments fold due to the economic hardship caused by COVID-19, two long-time Toronto restaurateurs say they too are closing down their business permanently due to the pandemic.

Southern Accent opened in Mirvish Village in 1984. It served Cajun and Creole dishes and drinks for 37 years.

“It was the love of my life. That was it. No room for boyfriends, it was just the restaurant,” said co-owner Frances Wood.

When redevelopment of Mirvish Village pushed the restaurant out three years ago it moved to a new location on College Street near Ossington Avenue.

The plan was to eventually sell Southern Accent, but Wood and her co-owner, Thessavan Maniceavasakan, said reopening again was just too hard. They announced the restaurant would close for good in the spring.

“This year we were just seeing the benefits and we just saw the restaurant doing an uphill curve until COVID-19. So that’s what is disappointing,” Wood said.

“You’re up on a ladder and then you just fell off ten steps down again, and we don’t have much of an energy to hold on to it anymore,” said Maniceavasakan, who started working at Southern Accent as teenager 20 years ago.

Restaurants Canada told CTV News Toronto that of the 4,800 independent restaurants and bars in the Greater Toronto Area about half said in surveys they may not make it through the pandemic.

“I”m really so sad about the people. I’m one of the lucky ones because we had a good run,” Maniceavasakan said. “Some people just opened six months ago. They lost their life savings.”

Wood and Maniceavasakan said they are thankful for all the good times and customers they have met over the years.

“It’s so unique, the music, the food. Everything that is part of restaurant culture is so fun. It’s always a party time,” Maniceavasakan said.

Wood said she started the restaurant out of love of Louisiana music and culture.

“It was a fun place, everyone had fun,” she said. “We were like a family.”

The pair now hope to sell the works of art that hang on the wall, including some from New Orleans, as well as their cookbook and hot sauce to recoup the about $40,000 dollars in debt.