Creativity x Community: The Art of “All Tides Rise All Boats”

Interior DesignCommunity LoveThe Susan Edit
Written By The SAMily

By now, your social media feeds are probably blowing up with pictures from Stella’s Brassiere. With a heart full of pride and a mood filled with love, I have been quiet letting it all absorb in the background. But now, I would like to share a little piece of my perspective on Stella's with you.

Stella’s Brasserie is the newest dining experience from the Hungry Heart Café and Stella’s Circle.

 

First and foremost, I should begin with my gratitude and blessings for the relationship I have developed with the Stella’s Circle organization and its incredible people. I joined the Foundation board in early fall; it's been a long time since I have stepped up to volunteer in a significant way. One could say I was on a "volunteer vacation" since my youngest daughter Sophie graduated high school in 2020. Don’t get me wrong, I have done stints here and there, but nothing of this magnitude. My commitment to myself if I were to take a seat on a volunteer board at this age was that I was to not be just a placard but that I would join as someone who made a great impact.

From here, the seeds of a complete makeover of the Hungry Heart Café (as we once knew the space) began. Like many other businesses coming out of COVID, the café was not immune. Frankly, I hope I am not speaking out of turn, but the restaurant was in real danger of not surviving.

Ideas began to swirl among a group of people and the notion of a complete café makeover and community effort began. I dreamed up a way that we could, on extremely limited funds, turn one of the most treasured social enterprises in our city into something even more special.

I thought long and hard about how and who would need to come together to make this happen, and in just four short weeks we had a plan. 

 
 

I am not one to go it alone ever. There is a reason I lovingly call my SAM team the SAMily, but I knew we needed more talent and more reach outside of our small but mighty team to complete this project. At this point, we reached out to the talented and community-minded Krista Wells of Georgetown on My Mind to invite her to join us on this incredible journey. Fortunately, she accepted our invitation to collaborate, and together with a good plan, we received the blessing from the Stella’s Circle team to forge ahead.

Krista from Georgestown On My Mind in her DIY element

While the completed Stella’s space is beautiful, and no doubt, going to be an incredible success, I want to focus on the things I think are most important from this project.
 

THE PLAN

The first one may seem a little boring, but it is ever so important, and that is THE DESIGN PLAN.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is ever executed smoothly without a plan. Our team plans for a living. To accomplish this feat, we created the most ironclad budget, design plan, and execution plan ever possible. It was subject to many things out of our control, but nonetheless, it was ironclad. And guess what? It paid off. 

We created and executed our plan efficiently, on time, and on budget. This entire project, from start to finish, took only two months (yes, you read that correctly), with only 15 days from demo to completion.

The inner workings of our plan involved a physical overhaul of the café space, a large fundraising effort, and procurement of all materials, many of which needed to be shipped from off the island.

 

THE TEAM

The second is our TEAM, and boy, did our team deliver! In the beginning stages of the project, we agreed that the SAM team would take on the design plan, fundraising, and project management, and Krista over at GOMM would take on the DIY pieces and the storytelling on social media. And well, that turned out to a match made in heaven to say the least. For the last three days, everyone on our team (and beyond) worked at the highest level possible, showing up in spades to paint, move, organize, clean, and do whatever else was required to make this project perfect. 

 

THE SUPPORT

And third, we were blessed with GENEROUS SUPPORT. The people we needed showed up in incredible ways and truly made this project a great success.

The build team at Stella’s knocked it out of the park. From the beautiful handmade arches to the painting and trim installation and whatever else we needed along the way, they made it happen skillfully, gracefully, and with smiles on their faces.

 

Bonavista Living rose to the occasion and brought our millwork dreams to life, taking our designs and making them a reality within just 5 days! I don’t think I will ever live to see such a feat again. Our friends at DSF Granite & Tile worked with us to find us leftover pieces of Caesarstone countertops to suit our budget and then manufactured and installed them for us without charge.

Then there was my very dear friend Dermot of Kildare Renovations. When I put out the call to him for help, he didn't walk — he ran. Dermot and his talented team took care of the installation of our beautiful tile feature wall, made table tops to suit existing bases, installed feature trim in our bathrooms, painted walls, hung curtains, installed hooks and handles, and pretty much took care of whatever extra finishing jobs we could think of. 

 

We were also lucky to have assistance from some pretty amazing people — Jason Baker, who fortunately squeezed us into a big work commitment of his to hang our wallpaper; Vincent from Ideale Upholstery, who made our banquette cushions on short notice; and Matt the electrician, who followed us around to make our lighting sparkle. We had glass shelving installed in the bar area by P&B Hunt Contracting, bathroom tiling completed by Avalon Ceramics, wall tile by Ceramica, a fresh new brand for Stella’s from WaterWerks, and Parisian-inspired café curtains made by local neighbour, Barry Buckle. 

And then, there were the local suppliers and partners who graciously answered the call for material donations. Benjamin Moore and the Paint Shop, one of the most generous and incredible community partners behind the scenes doing their thing one can of paint at a time; Kent, who contributed to some of the building materials for Krista's DIYs, and Bennett's Home Hardware who saved the day with some last minute plumbing fixtures; plus Imprint Speciality Promotions who brought some beauty to the bar area with custom bottle labels. 

Stella’s honours Dr. Stella Burry, just as the dining room has always embodied her belief that simple acts of friendship, like sharing food and conversation, can create communities of inclusion and compassion.

 

We had significant contributions from local businesses, including Roebthan McKay Marshall, Penny Group, BMW St. John's, Realtor and great friend Robert Decker, and my amazing significant other Bert's business, DBA Consulting Engineers.


Next, we can't forget to thank the team from Stella’s — Laura I., Evan, Laura W., Rob, Karen, and Daniel, to name a few. Without your support and unwavering trust, this project would not have happened.

But lastly, I had my SAMily. Somehow, it seems that when I believe something is good, they do, too. While they all contributed in many ways, picked up a paintbrush or a hammer, or shared an opinion on the design, it was Matt, Peyton, and Erin who all worked incredible hours to make this dream happen. And as a special touch, Erin worked closely with the brand team at Stella’s Circle to ensure all restaurant collateral matched the design and décor and brought things together in a cohesive way. I have some of the best humans I have ever met on my team.

 

I would like to finish this message with a quote from Grace Lee Boggs —

"You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself belonging to it, and responsible for changing it."

It's the little steps, everyone. Small and big, they make a difference.

With love, gratitude, and a heart full of wishes for the success of Stella’s Brasserie — we'll #SeeYouAtStellas!

 

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