INK Entertainment
INK Entertainment is a hospitality and entertainment company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company maintains various properties, primarily nightclubs and restaurants. Additionally, INK Entertainment operates a country club, two annual music festivals, two talent agencies. The Bisha Hotel & Residences is also part of its portfolio. Most of its properties are located in Toronto, with a few others in Montreal, Niagara Falls, the Miami area, and Las Vegas.
Founded and run by Charles Khabouth, INK currently owns and operates Toronto's Product nightclub, Dragonfly nightclub, Cube nightclub and La Société restaurant. 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. Their partnership has since grown to include the Coral Gables Country Club located in south Miami, Florida. INK has also teamed up with Lifetime Developments with the launch of Bisha Hotel & Residences, the newest private label hotel and residence brand to originate in Toronto since The Four Seasons in the 1960s.
Venues
Nightclubs
REBEL Nightclub (formerly known as Sound Academy)
As of October 1, 2016, the Sound Academy changed its name to REBEL and reopened, completely renovated. Ink Entertainment collaborated with Studio Munge to design the 45,000 square foot nightclub, with a 65-foot stage. The nightclub will be hosting multiple global artists such as DJ Snake, DVBBS, Tory Lanez, and Passenger, among many other.Cube
Cube, previously known as Ultra Supper Club from 2003 until 2012, is a nightclub located in downtown Toronto on Queen West near Spadina that can hold up to 650 people between its indoor lounge and rooftop patio. Catering to affluent 25-plus young professionals, 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 such as the 65-foot-long bar and handblown brass railings and sculptures.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 of the space that previously housed the iconic BamBoo tropical-themed nightclub from July 1983 until its closing bash on 31 October 2002. Before BamBoo, during the 1970s, the building housed a laundromat and later a Wicker World shop. Khabouth reportedly got alerted that the building was for lease by the same real estate agent who almost 10 years earlier helped him turn RPM and the Warehouse into the Guvernment and Kool Haus. From the start Khabouth envisioned Ultra as an upscale restaurant and club that attracts Toronto's moneyed crowd, much like his successful Stilife club at the corner of Richmond and Duncan Street did back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In pursuit of creating an exclusive spot, he spared little expense, including putting in fortress-like exterior doors from India that cost Can$15,000 and another Can$15,000 to install them because the entire building had to be reinforced. Run as Khabouth's partnership with Brenda Lowes 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.
The new club was an instant hit with its rooftop patio crowded every summer. Sleeker and much more upscale than BamBoo's ramshackle vibe, Ultra put more emphasis on food than a regular nightclub. Instead of live acts, its bookings mostly focused on DJs with the tables and chairs removed around 11pm to make room for dancing. 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, Paris Hilton with then-boyfriend Benji Madden in September 2008, Lindsay Lohan who got paid to show up accompanying then-girlfriend DJ Samantha Ronson in 2009 on the day of their engagement, Beyoncé, etc.
In February 2009, Ultra Supper Club underwent a bit of a makeover, dropping the 'Supper Club' from its name and adopting a new Asian fusion fare and cheaper menu offerings — all of which was seen to be initiated in response to the diminishing number of corporate events at the venue due to the global recession.
By early 2012, despite the club/restaurant being profitable, Khabouth had decided that Ultra ran its course, investing $1.8 million into the venue makeover and re-opening as Cube on 28 February 2012. 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. 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. Cube also continues with the practice of promoting parties around the presence of prominent pro athletes such as Chris Weidman who hosted an event at Cube in September 2013, one day ahead of UFC 165 in Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
Dragonfly Nightclub
Dragonfly Nightclub is built into the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario with a capacity of up to 800. Spread over 12,000 square foot space, it features Asian themed decor invoking an ancient forbidden city.Uniun
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, immediately initiating its complete makeover.The club was in the news in late August 2013 after Justin Bieber stopped by with bodyguards and got involved in a melee after which he got hustled out by his security detail into a waiting SUV.
Toybox
Toybox opened on Adelaide Street West in October 2018, a space previously that was Uniun, INK had rebranded this venue to appeal to college students in the hip hop scene, as the EDM scene at Uniun had faded. Toybox features a small teddy bear mascot that runs around the venue to entertain the crowd, and has been facelifted from Uniun to feature a black and red heavy-themed venue.Restaurants
Spice Route
Spice Route is an Asian themed bistro-bar located on King Street West, Toronto, Ontario that opened during spring 2008. It is run as a collaboration between Ink's Khabouth and Liberty's Nick Di Donato, two veteran moguls of the Toronto entertainment scene who after directly competing with one another for the city's upscale clientele throughout the 2000s via their respective properties Ultra Supper Club and C Lounge now joined forces in a venture also targeting ritzy young professionals. Spice Route can hold up to 500 guests over multiple rooms and an outdoor patio.La Société
La Société is a 1920s-inspired Parisian-style eatery located on Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario that opened in June 2011. The restaurant includes two European-style terraces, and an outdoor patio. Located in the space previously occupied by the long-running Dynasty Chinese Cuisine dim sum restaurant, the Can$4 million renovation that included installation of a 20 by 30 foot stained-glass ceiling took five months before La Société opened. It also included putting in a mosaic tile floor, which by itself cost almost Can$400,000 and entailed flying in 27 workers. La Société draws inspiration from various brasseries and bistros, including Keith McNally's Balthazar restaurant in New York City's SoHo as well as Hôtel Costes in Paris on Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement, La Fontaine de Mars in 7th arrondissement, and Brasserie Bofinger in 4th arrondissement.Due to its location, opulence, and flair, La Société also invoked comparisons to the famous Toronto restaurant Bemelmans, a glamorous eatery owned and operated by Tom Kristenbrun that ran from 1977 until 1994 just up the street at 83 Bloor Street West. 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. Within months of opening, La Société hosted various 2011 Toronto International Film Festival parties, including the closing one on 17 September 2011 that featured NKPR Inc's Natasha Koifman, Bill Nighy, Robert Lantos, Suzanne Rogers, Glenn Baxter, Yannick Bisson, George Stroumboulopoulos, Jian Ghomeshi, Ben Mulroney & Jessica Brownstein, Colin & Justin, Drew & Jonathan Scott, designer Kirk Pickersgill, Suzanne Boyd, and Shinan Govani.
Weslodge Saloon
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. During the Weslodge preparation stage, Khabouth, who was initially set to open it by himself, got introduced to Harji who was opening Patria next door and the two restaurateurs soon decided to go into business together on both venues. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Victory Condos building at 478 King Street West that was completed in 2011 and is co-owned by Toronto real estate developers Lifetime Developments and BLVD Developments.Designed by the Toronto-based Munge Leung interior design firm, Khabouth's and Harji's plan for Weslodge was attracting the Downtown Toronto urban crowd that doesn't spend much time in their condos, but rather likes to go out right after coming home from work. With its interior featuring imitations of taxidermy hunting trophies mounted on walls, in keeping with the Wild West and hunting themes, the restaurant's bartenders and servers wear gun holsters around their shoulders. Weslodge's kitchen is run by executive chef Stuart Cameron while its first chef du cuisine was Kanida Chey who joined from Claudio Aprile's Origin.
The restaurant was in the news in June 2015 due to its 24-year-old former pastry chef Kate Burnham who had been employed at the venue from July 2012 until January 2014, alleging to have been sexually harassed while working at Weslodge by three former bosses — day sous chef Dan Lidbury, chef du cuisine Kanida Chey, and night sous chef Colin Mercer. She filed an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, seeking Can$225,000 in damages as well as formal apologies from each of her alleged harassers. After first appearing in the Toronto Star on Saturday, 13 June 2015, the story got a lot of attention, including from established Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg, owner of the Black Hoof, who in addition to supporting Burnham announced a conference named 'Kitchen Bitches: Smashing the Patriarchy One Plate at a Time'. All the media attention prompted INK Entertainment into releasing an official statement, posted on the company's Facebook page. The story received more national coverage in Canada via The Current radio programme hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti on CBC Radio One, sparking a debate on the poor workplace treatment of women in restaurant kitchens. Jen Agg's Kitchen Bitches conference was later held in Toronto in September 2015. Furthermore, the same month, Burnham's legal case against Weslodge got resolved through mediation as she agreed to a confidential settlement.
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.