Irish Authenticity at The Ceili Cottage

By on November 3rd, 2009
4 Comments »

I’m not a food critic and this is not a restaurant review.  This is about what happens when autheticity matters.

The Ceili Cottage is a cozy Irish Pub in Toronto’s Leslieville neigbourhood. In a town known for a string of pubs Irish in name only, The Ceili Cottage strives to deliver a remarkable experience. But, the experience is all in the details.

First off, if you needed evidence of Patrick and his wife Alison’s commitment to all things Irish and Local, the fact that they are providing The Gilchrist-Canavan School of Irish Dance space behind the cottage should be all the proof you need. The additional Irish music lessons and a Shucker Club ought to knock your cynicism out cold.

Beyond this, there are tartan blankets distributed when it’s chilly on the patio, a fine array of Irish beers on tap, pickled eggs on the menu, and oyster shells literally built into the patio floor. Their menu offers a roast dinner on Monday, and then transforms the remaining meat throughout the week (curried on Thursday, broth on Sunday).

What is most interesting about Ceili Cottage are the responses it’s generated. A positive review on Martini Boys generated 24 comments. A negative review on Blog T.O resulted in 84 comments. Given Groundswell’s 10/9/90 rule these are pretty impressive stats.

These comments seem to fall into 2 camps:

  • Disappointed Downers: Seem overjoyed that Ceili’s cottage has fallen short in terms of service or food
  • Loving Loyalists: Rush to support Ceili’s Cottage despite whatever shortcomings one may encounter

This is the basic Vegetarian Conundrum. Take a stand (“I’m a vegetarian”) and many will do whatever it takes yank you off your pedestal (“what about leather, you wear leather right?).

Caplansky’s ran into the same issue. They claimed to be an authentic Jewish deli. 1/2 the world will loved them even though they (sometimes) run out of smoked meat. The others, bash them at every opportunity.

So what’s a brand to do? Both The Ceili Cottage and Caplansky’s offer some hints at how to maintain authenticity, support the loyalists and quiet the nay sayers:

  • Be Part of the Conversation: Both Zane Caplansky and Patrick McMurray blog, Tweet and respond to comments.
  • Keep Calm and Carry On: Respond to the naysayers with measured calmness. Never lose your cool. Patrick begins his response to some scathing comments on BlogTO with “Thanks for all of the comments, and the review. All is fair.” How can you hate a guy like that?
  • Thank the Fans: For his final restaurant review, the Toronto Star’s Corey Mintz wrote a glowing review of Caplansky’s and Zane, in turn made a point of thanking Corey in his blog
  • Don’t get distracted. The naysayers will always be there whenever you try to do/be something special. But remember, no one bothered to comment on The Pickle Barrel’s smoked meat or the Irish Stew at the Fox and the Firkin



  • http://porkosity.blogspot.com/ Corey Mintz

    A review always aims to balance intentions against results. There is a lot to like and dislike about both these places. I had many prejudices siding with Caplanksy's, not the least of which was location. It's blocks from my home. Most of us welcome a restaurant in our neighbourhood that has a couple good dishes. We cut it slack because it's within walking distance. If I drove in from the suburbs and the deli was out of smoked meat, I'd never come back.

    Not getting distracted is good advice. A business needs to satisfy customers one meal at a time. THE INTERNET is not a customer. It's an amorphous blob with mean-spirited, anonymous points sticking out of it.

  • http://porkosity.blogspot.com/ Corey Mintz

    A review always aims to balance intentions against results. There is a lot to like and dislike about both these places. I had many prejudices siding with Caplanksy's, not the least of which was location. It's blocks from my home. Most of us welcome a restaurant in our neighbourhood that has a couple good dishes. We cut it slack because it's within walking distance. If I drove in from the suburbs and the deli was out of smoked meat, I'd never come back.

    Not getting distracted is good advice. A business needs to satisfy customers one meal at a time. THE INTERNET is not a customer. It's an amorphous blob with mean-spirited, anonymous points sticking out of it.

  • hypenoticbam

    First off Jodi, congrats on making a series of solid points.
    I'd guess the vocal negative bunch are in the minority. This is a shame because their bitching can make for great free research you can turn into improvements for everyone.

    That said, ultimately, the cash register is the arbiter of what works sustainably and profitably. I find many critiques use the same formula or model for review–most restaurants are innovations, visions of an auteur. A passion auteur if they're craze enough to get into an industry with the reputation for difficulty and failure rate this one has.

    If they can divine, define and manifest a winning formula, why should the metrics of a critic only qualified to review a couple of dimensions of the experience matter? The Steve Jobs' of the world move mountains by sticking to their vision in spite of what the experts tell them.

    On a broader level, both Ceili and Caplansky's get an “A” for effort in my book. Ceili's combines solid fare with atmosphere in a town where atmosphere talk is mostly about smog warnings. And Caplansky's creates an accessible artisan experience. Public access to the person making the fare is a welcome re-emerging theme.

    Time for a coffee.

  • http://www.hypenotic.com/ Barry A. Martin

    First off Jodi, congrats on making a series of solid points.
    I'd guess the vocal negative bunch are in the minority. This is a shame because their bitching can make for great free research you can turn into improvements for everyone.

    That said, ultimately, the cash register is the arbiter of what works sustainably and profitably. I find many critiques use the same formula or model for review–most restaurants are innovations, visions of an auteur. A passion auteur if they're craze enough to get into an industry with the reputation for difficulty and failure rate this one has.

    If they can divine, define and manifest a winning formula, why should the metrics of a critic only qualified to review a couple of dimensions of the experience matter? The Steve Jobs' of the world move mountains by sticking to their vision in spite of what the experts tell them.

    On a broader level, both Ceili and Caplansky's get an “A” for effort in my book. Ceili's combines solid fare with atmosphere in a town where atmosphere talk is mostly about smog warnings. And Caplansky's creates an accessible artisan experience. Public access to the person making the fare is a welcome re-emerging theme.

    Time for a coffee.


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