INK Entertainment

Furthermore, Ink, in partnership with Nick Di Donato's Liberty Entertainment Group, is the parent company of Tattoo Queen West rock club and Spice Route bistro bar.

[3] Catering to affluent 25-plus young professionals,[3] Cube's black and gold interior is inspired by 1960s and 1970s design and features nostalgic retro detailing to reflect the cubist art and fashion of the time[4] such as the 65-foot-long bar and handblown brass railings and sculptures.

[5] Ultra Supper Club opened in December 2003 following an investment of over Can$3 million by the INK Entertainment owner Charles Khabouth into year-long renovation[6][7] of the space that previously housed the iconic BamBoo tropical-themed nightclub (co-owned by Richard O'Brien and Patti Habib) from July 1983 until its closing bash on 31 October 2002.

[6] Run as Khabouth's partnership with Brenda Lowes[11] and inspired by supper clubs in New York City and Montreal, Ultra was among the first Toronto venues to push that concept in addition to being an early adopter of the bottle service model.

[9] Ultra's glamorous reputation further benefited from the media coverage of the steady stream of international celebrities dropping by such as David Beckham in August 2007,[13] Paris Hilton with then-boyfriend Benji Madden in September 2008,[14] Lindsay Lohan who got paid to show up accompanying then-girlfriend DJ Samantha Ronson in 2009 on the day of their engagement,[15] Beyoncé,[9] etc.

With the restaurant aspect mostly dropped, Cube functions primarily as a nightclub — hosting glamorous, celebrity-packed TIFF parties and booking more high-profile big room house DJs for gigs such as Dubfire, Hardwell, and Victor Calderone.

[9] In August 2013, following that year's OVO Fest the club hosted an impromptu after-party for the festival performers including Drake, Lil Wayne, P. Diddy, Kanye West, Big Sean, French Montana, Mase, and TLC.

Uniun opened on Adelaide Street West in November 2012, in the same space that previously housed the Devil's Martini nightclub, a popular destination for bachelorette parties that Khabouth bought several months earlier in July 2012,[17] immediately initiating its complete makeover.

[25] Located in the space previously occupied by the long-running Dynasty Chinese Cuisine dim sum restaurant, the Can$4 million renovation[7] that included installation of a 20 by 30 foot stained-glass ceiling (courtesy of Toronto's Solarium Design Group)[26] took five months before La Société opened.

[30] La Société opening party on Wednesday, 15 June 2011 brought out the Toronto glitterati from the city's business and media scenes, including Moses Znaimer, Roots Canada founder Michael Budman, architect and designer Dee Dee Taylor Eustace of Taylor Hannah Architect Inc., Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine, Blake McGrath, Polly Shannon, Kevin Brauch, Jake Gold, Jian Ghomeshi, Seamus O'Regan, Melissa Grelo, and gossip columnists Shinan Govani, Bernadette Morra, and Suzanne Boyd.

[33] Classified as modern American-style gastropub with a saloon twist, Weslodge opened in mid-July 2012 on King Street West in Toronto's Fashion District as a partnership between INK Entertainment's Charles Khabouth and Icon Legacy Hospitality's Hanif Harji.

[50] Also in September 2015, it was announced that the Weslodge Saloon brand would be expanding to the Gulf countries in early 2016 as part of a deal between Daman Investments PSC, a Dubai-based financial services company, and a consortium of partners including Harji's ICON Legacy Hospitality.

[34] Reportedly, they invested Can$2.5 million into getting Patria off the ground,[52] enlisting the Toronto-based Commute Home design company to do the restaurant's interior[52] and getting chefs Stuart Cameron and Claudia Gibson to run the kitchen.

[53] Even before officially opening, the restaurant hosted 2012 TIFF events such as the Seven Psychopaths premiere party in September 2012 with Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, and Colin Farrell on hand.

Originally envisioned as a fish and seafood eatery,[60] its opening took place during a time when Toronto experienced a bit of a spike in restaurants serving Mediterranean and Middle Eastern (Middleterranean) fare,[61] a trend that Khabouth and Harji took note of and decided to join.

[70] In September 2014, before it was even open to the general public, America hosted The Imitation Game party attended by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley as the movie played at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

[73] In late November 2014 America was subject of an extremely negative review[74] by The Globe and Mail restaurant critic Chris Nuttall-Smith whose elaborate takedown went viral,[75] garnering big reader reaction as well as attention from various other media outlets.

[83] Spending Can$5 million, he hired Ink's go-to interior designers Munge Leung to remake the outdoor space by installing 12 poolside white-tent cabanas and several dozen tables and couches all in an effort of appealing to the "25-plus crowd that has traveled to the south of France, been to Miami, been to Vegas".

[86] Celebrity presence, a staple of Khabouth's nightclubs and restaurants, played a large part in Cabana Pool Bar's initial promotion as well — Justin Bieber, Drake, Milos Raonic, deadmau5, P. K. Subban, Phil Kessel, and Nazem Kadri were all on hand during its first summer in operation.

[104] In addition to attracting the rich of Toronto, Stilife soon gained a reputation as a celebrity hangout with notable guests such as Madonna (dropped by in late May 1990 during her Blond Ambition World Tour), George Michael, and Prince further fueling its success and enhancing its status.

[104] Vermeulen particularly proved adept at combining genres, spinning an eclectic mix that covered the range from Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" over to James Brown, disco, funk, and hard rock, until Bomb the Bass' "Beat Dis", Eric B.

[104] In late 1995 after eight years of successful operation, Khabouth sold Stilife, describing the decision as being motivated by his desire to expand and the inability to do so at the Richmond and Duncan location due to space, capacity, and ceiling height constraints.

[6] The high-profile failure of Oceans got Khabouth a bit of a tarnished reputation on the Toronto entertainment scene that followed him in various forms throughout subsequent decades as far as his involvement with dining is concerned — the charge that food is secondary in his restaurants.

[6] Opened in Yorkville in October 1989[108] as a collaboration between Khabouth (at the time owner of successful upscale nightclub Stilife) and fellow young Lebanese-Canadian Rony Hitti, Boa Café was a venue that brought fine dining and club culture together.

[109] Despite his continued success with Stilife nightclub in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Khabouth experienced trouble expanding into the dining aspect of the hospitality industry with his involvement in two high-profile restaurants - Boa Café and Oceans - quickly turning sour.

[115] In 1991, Kristenbrun, who in the meantime opened and established additional lucrative fine dining properties such as Rhodes near Yonge & St. Clair and Bistro 990 on Bay & Wellesley, got out of the Bellair Café venture and the venue closed.

This complex hosted Tiësto, Coldplay, Deadmau5, Avicii, Afrojack, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Common, N.E.R.D, The Black Eyed Peas, Armin Van Buuren, and many more over the years.

[126] After getting introduced to one another in 2011, Ink's Charles Khabouth and Icon Legacy's Hanif Harji forged a business collaboration that began with their October 2011 purchase of the Storys building and continued by opening two restaurants on King West in 2012 — Weslodge Saloon and Patria.

Inspired by a bar called The Aviary in Chicago,[28] The Cocktail Parlour featured an extensive 60-cocktail menu along with snacks overseen by executive chef Stuart Cameron who simultaneously performed the same duties at Weslodge and Patria, the other two Khabouth-Harji venues at the time[127] along with decor that referenced the prohibition era[128] as well as 1920s and 1930s in general.

[140] The restaurant tried to generate some buzz by hosting promotions such as a September 2015 pop-up from prominent Brooklyn hipster pizzeria Roberta's,[141] however, Città continually struggled for patrons compared to other CityPlace neighbourhood eateries like Hunter's Landing.