Canada
Business Spotlight
Calgary Caribbean Cuisine
Fay Bruney
F
ay Bruney owns a restaurant in Calgary. She can attest to the fact that every day she is able to keep her business open is a blessing to her workers who depend on the income to support their families. LCCMedia was in Calgary recently and we met Fay at her restaurant. We were warmly welcomed, and we enjoyed the conversation and indeed the food! Tell us a little bit about yourself My name is Fay Bruney. I was born in the Caribbean and moved to Toronto, Ontario as a pre-schooler at age 4. Shortly after college, I moved out west with my husband with whom I share two beautiful children. After spending most of my adult life in the corporate world, I made a leap of faith to open my own business in 2014, with the support of my husband. I am currently the proud owner and operator of Simply Irie Caribbean Cuisine. How did you get into the restaurant business? The vision to open a Caribbean restaurant came mainly from missing some of our favourite foods that were so easily available to us growing up in Toronto and the desire to offer some of
those great flavours to the Calgary and surrounding areas. One of the ways I get to connect with my Caribbean roots is through food, so this was a win for all of us. Has the pandemic affected you in any way? Yes, the pandemic has and unfortunately affected the restaurant business. At Simply Irie, we are juggling new health and safety protocols and staff-cuts. We have had to temporarily lay-off staff members at this time but are looking forward to having them come back once pandemic measures are lifted. As a result of staff-cuts, our wait-times are little longer than usual at times so I would love the opportunity to apologize for this and thank everyone who has supported us during this time for their patience and consistent encouragement and support. I miss seeing my regular customers and welcoming new customers inside the dining area as well. Considering the ever-changing regulations, we have managed to build an outdoor patio and seating area for when patio-dining is allowed again. At this moment, we are currently only providing take-out and delivery services. LadiesCorner.ca – Summer 2021
What inspires you to carry on? My inspiration is my family. Everything I do, I do for them. I want to leave a legacy for my children. I want to show them that you can have a dream, work incredibly hard, and turn that dream into reality. As a Caribbean-Canadian business owner, I am very proud of how far I have come, and I am extremely motivated and inspired for the future of my restaurant. Describe your menu? The vibe of our upbeat cozy restaurant is predominantly a Caribbean flavour with a small selection of Western dishes. Our menu is composed of appetizers, soups, seafood, roti, Jamaican patties, Caribbean dishes, and desserts. Where can we find you? You can find us at our storefront location on 1510 6 St SW, Calgary. On social media, you can find us on our website: simplyirie.ca Facebook: Simply Irie Caribbean Cuisine & Instagram: @simply.irie.
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