The Upper Echelons Of Hospitality

Steven Salm has redefined what it means to run a restaurant. Developing and managing venues that take guests on a culinary journey, Salm has permanently changed Toronto’s food scene with establishments such as Arthur’s Restaurant and Planta Queen

- Victoria Scott

For many of us, a restaurant is a place of luxury and comfort, a temporary escape from the responsibilities of everyday life. We don’t typically sit back and think about how that oasis came to be. From ideation to design, construction and menu development, a number of factors affect the success of creating a single restaurant. Now imagine doing that 10 more times.

It’s not just an exercise of the imagination for Steven Salm; he’s done exactly that since founding Chase Hospitality Group in 2013. Working on his laptop in the back booth of Arthur’s Restaurant, he fits in perfectly with the ambience of the space. Salm has spread his vision across the city, opening restaurants that can only be described as enchanting.

“I think a lot of my inspiration and drive came from exposure − living in New York, having the ability to be in a place where dining and being around tons of people in a service environment are very normal,” he says. Salm got a first-hand taste for the industry while working for both BLT restaurants in New York City and for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in Toronto as a general manager. He was determined to take on a more leading role. “It was always a passion and a drive for myself to be my own boss and have a business of my own [with which] I could shape the dynamic for the future as I saw it,” he says.

In 2013 he accomplished that goal by creating Chase Hospitality Group with co-founder Michael Kimel. The company grew quickly, debuting with the Chase Fish and Oyster, and following that up with fine dining restaurant The Chase. The Colette Grand Café came next, followed by Little Fin, Kasa Moto, Planta Yorkville, Planta Burger and Palm Lane in subsequent years. The company branched out to the United States to open Planta South Beach and has since returned to Toronto with Arthur’s Restaurant and Planta Queen.